LOOK FORWARD TO LOVELY LILIES
For a touch of drama in your borders and containers this summer, there is still time to plant lily bulbs. Lilies are easy to grow, but different varieties need different conditions.
If you are after a reliable border plant, the Lilium regale is your best bet. Tolerant of most conditions, it can grow up to 2m high, with large, trumpet-like white flowers.
Most lilies like to bake in the sun for at least six hours a day so plant them somewhere they will get plenty of sunshine.
Asiatic lilies grow in all well-drained soils, are fully hardy and come in a wide range of colours, including yellows and reds, and are usually unscented. Oriental lilies have highly fragrant pink flowers but require acidic soil.
If your soil is alkaline, you can still grow them in pots of peat-free ericaceous compost. Choose a large container, at least 30cm wide and deep, and place three bulbs to a pot for the best display.
Plant bulbs at twice their depth with the hairy base downwards and the pointed tip facing up. Feed weekly during the summer and ensure the soil is moist but not wet.
For a touch of drama in your borders and containers this summer, there is still time to plant lily bulbs
CUT BACK CLEMATIS
It’s time to prune summer flowering clematis (pictured)
It’s time to prune summer flowering clematis. Don’t touch spring-flowering varieties though, as you won’t get a display.
If your clematis has large blooms in early summer, it will flower on last year’s growth, so cut dead stems and trim back to the strongest, highest pair of buds.
For late-flowering varieties, cut back to around 30-45cm above ground level, again removing old growth.
PEAS IN A PIPE
Sow early varieties of peas such as ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ and ‘Meteor’ indoors or undercover
You can now sow early varieties of peas such as ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ and ‘Meteor’ indoors or undercover.
Fill guttering with peat-free compost and sow the seeds 7.5cm apart in a double row. Water well and keep in a sunny, frost-free environment.
When ready to plant out, prepare a trench and slide the seedlings in, soil and all.
PLANT OF THE WEEK
CALATHEA
I recently moved our Calathea, also known as a prayer plant, into our bathroom, where it is thriving.
In the wild, in Central and South America, this plant, with attractive pink and white striped markings on thick glossy leaves, grows under the jungle canopy, so it is perfectly happy with low light and a warm, humid environment.
Direct light can scorch the leaves, which open flat during the day then flex upwards at night, hence the name prayer plant.
Keep the compost moist but don’t overwater, especially in winter, and repot every few years.
Gardening expert Ciar Byrne recently moved her Calathea (pictured), also known as a prayer plant, into the bathroom, where it is thriving
READER’S QUESTION
Can you recommend a rose for a golden wedding anniversary?
Mary Blackwell, Exeter, Devon.
For my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, I bought them a set of three ‘Perle d’Or’ roses, a highly fragrant hybrid tea rose with lovely pale apricot blooms that is suitable for a small garden.
You can buy them bare root now and plant them before the end of March, or as container roses later in the year.
There is also a floribunda rose called ‘Golden Wedding’ with jolly, bright yellow scented flowers and glossy dark green leaves.