Factsheet_26

Factsheet #26

Date 26/09/2011

Hello and welcome to this week’s factsheet.

INTRODUCTION

The sun had finally come out to play for the last in

the current series of Beechgrove and Jim decided

to take one last look at this year’s trials. He started

first at the Garvinea bed where we have been

sorting out the hardy from the not-so-hardy. Back

in May we planted out the new Garvinea which

are essentially Gerberas that have been bred to be

reliably perennial and winter-hardy in the UK, or

so they suggest. We bought in both mature plants

already in flower and younger plug plants that

were planted into the bed, all of the same

varieties. When we looked at the trial a few

weeks back, the more mature plants had been

flowering non-stop since we planted them and

looked just lovely. Jim plans to lift them and bring

them indoors over the winter.

The young plants, which have been flowering for

the last month now, we will keep outside in the

bed. The real trial here is to see if, as promised,

they really are winter hardy. It’s a big test to see if

they will make it through an Aberdeenshire

winter. We’ll let you know next year how they got

on.

Next up Jim took another look at a real success

story of the trial plot, and Jim’s new favourites:

the single flowered Dahlias. They have now been

flowering away for months and are a really

beautiful addition in August and September, at a

time when the rest of the garden is looking tired

and the early summer flowers have finished. Jim’s

particular favourites were the ‘Happy’ series:

single-flowered varieties producing a prolific

display of often bicoloured flowers set against the

dark coloured foliage of the parent – the ever

popular ‘Bishop of Llandaff’. The whole area was

also teeming with butterflies which are really

attracted to the open, single flowers.

Now, as they have become such a firm favourite,

Jim explained what to do to preserve them for

next year. He had dug up one of the plants to

show the tubers. These plants won’t stand the

frost, so Jim said to wait until the foliage has been

blackened by the first frost, then dig them up. Put

them in a bread tray or similar, cover with

compost to prevent the tuber from shrivelling and

keep indoors in a frost free position. Once spring

comes along, uncover them and bring into some

heat. There should then be some shoots appearing

around the necks of the plants and cuttings can

then be taken from these or you can simply

replant the tubers and new dahlias will grow from

there.

Carole then took over from Jim to take a look at

another success story in the trials plot: the Cambo-

style potager. It has also been flowering for

martine

Highlight

martine

Highlight

martine

Highlight

martine

Highlight

months and Carole pointed out the beet with its

beautiful foliage and one of her favourites, the

Scabious ‘Black Night’. She pointed out the two

varieties of Verbena (Verbena bonariensis, and the

new dwarfer Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’, which

we took cuttings from around 4 weeks ago.

They have already taken root and now need to be

potted on and have the tops pinched off to make

nice bushy plants. The grasses had just started to

go over but still looked pretty with the sun

streaming through them, blowing away in the

wind, Carole pointing out the Squirrel’s Tail grass

in particular which look just lovely. This whole plot

had provided an array of late colour, and looks set

to continue, with the Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’

with lots of buds still to come.

Now this is the trials area, and as one trial comes

to an end, so another starts, and Carole told us the

plan for this plot. It will be cleared soon to make

way for an array of winter pansies.

Garvineas provided by: Florist de Kwakel

www.floristdekwakel.nl

Our Dahlias are;

From Unwins’ Dark Leaved collection:

‘Happy First Love’ (orange)

‘Happy Party’ (yellow)

‘Happy Princess’ (white)

‘Happy Romeo’ (red)

‘Happy Wink’ (pink)

www.unwins.co.uk

Unwins at Elm House Nurseries

Alconbury Hill

Huntingdon

PE28 4HY

Tel: 01480 443395

From Ball Colegrave’s Labello Colection:

Coral

Lemon

Orange

Rose

White

www.ballcolegrave.co.uk

From The National Dahlia Collection:

‘Moonfire’ (red and yellow blend)

‘Roxy’ (Dark Pink)

‘Scura’ (red)

‘Yellow Hammer’ (yellow)

‘Happy Juliet’

www.national-dahlia-collection.co.uk

The National Dahlia Collection Winchester

Growers Limited

Varfell Farm Long Rock

Penzance Cornwall TR20 8AQ

Tel: 01736 335853

Email: [email protected]

From D.T. Brown:

‘Bishop’s Children’

www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/

Customer Services

D.T. Brown

Bury Road

Newmarket

CB8 7PQ

Tel: 0845 3710532

Fax: 0845 3710534

The following plants were used for the Cambo

Potager:

Vegetables:

From Suffolk herbs:

Beet ‘Bulls Blood’

www.suffolkherbs.com

From Kings: Kale ‘Redbore’

Lettuce ‘Cocarde’ oak leaf type

Pak Choi ‘Joi Choi’

www.kingsseeds.com

From Thompson and Morgan:

Kale ‘Black Tuscany’

Customer Care

Thompson & Morgan

Poplar Lane

Ipswich

Suffolk

IP8 3BU

Tel: 0844 2485383

Fax: 01473 680 199

[email protected]

www.thompson-morgan.com

From D.T. Brown’s:

Chard Charlotte

Leek Longbow

From Suttons:

Rocket

www.suttons.co.uk/

Ornamentals:

From Dobies:

Verbena bonariensis 32 pot ready plants

Salvia Victorian Splendour 36 pot ready plant

(substitute for Victoria)

Heliotrope ‘Butterfly Blue’ 24 pot ready plants

(sub for Marine Hybrid)

Salvia ‘Firecracker’ 50 easiplants

From Thompson and Morgan:

Ricinus ‘Impala’

Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’

Cosmos ‘Purity’

From Plants of Distinction:

Cosmos ‘Versailles Red’

Scabiosa ‘Black Knight’

Scabiosa ‘Snow Maiden’

Plants of Distinction

Abacus House

Station Yard

Needham Market

Suffolk

IP6 8AS

Tel: 01449 721

From Mr Fothergill’s:

Hordeum jubatum

GARDEN DIARY

Jim and George were over by the polytunnels

where they were recapping on their plan to trial

D.T. Brown’s new winter collection of 2 types of

Brassica and winter lettuce. Much in the same vein

as Carole’s leek trial he plans to grow the same

varieties sown from our own seed and compare

them with the bought in plug plants from D.T.

Brown. So in one of the polytunnels they laid out

the bought in plants on one side, and then

mirrored the order on the other side with the

plants we had grown from seed. To make things

more interesting, they repeated the trial outside in

one of the raised beds. These are meant to be

overwintering veg after all, so Jim and George

really wanted to put them to the test. George

pointed out that when planting into new soil in a

raised bed it’s important to really firm the plant

down. The bed will then be covered with fleece

held up with hoops. Although the bought in plants

are slightly smaller than our seed-grown ones,

we’ll see how they compare around April time

next year.

FROM DTBROWN: The Tunnel and

Greenhouse Winter Collection comprises

Calabrese Aquiles F1 Cabbage Spring Hero

F1, Cauliflower Mystique F1 and Cabbage

Excel. A pack of 15 plants of any of the four

varieties costs £5.95, five plants each of

four cost £6.95, while a money-saving pack

of 10 of each is priced at only £10.90.

Plants are despatched from late September

2011 onwards.

The D. T. Brown Winter Lettuce Collection includes

Winter Gem, Valdor, Winter Density and Navara,

which is a dark red ‘oak leaf’ variety, the internal

leaves of which are rich green. All four varieties

can be grown in a polytunnel or greenhouse or

outdoors in the open, where Valdor will benefit

from some fleece protection. Twenty plants of

any lettuce or five plants each of four cost £5.95.

Anyone ordering 10 plants of each at £9.90 makes

a saving of £2.00. Plants are despatched from mid

September 2011 onwards. Alternatively, buy five

plants of each of the eight varieties in both

collections for £10.90.

PROBLEM CORNER

For the last problem corner of the year, Lesley and

George had a whole list of jobs that can be done

over the next few months. They started off at the

silver garden pond where already the wind had

whipped leaves off the trees and deposited them

in the pond. A pest in the pond but as Lesley

pointed out, the leaves can actually be very useful

for use as mulch in a few months’ time. They

skimmed them off the surface of the water and

collected them into a hessian sack. Lesley likes to

leave the sack wherever you would like to use the

mulch as the bag itself is biodegradable and will

start to break down over the winter, and the

wetter it gets the heavier the bag gets. They then

covered the pond with a net to prevent any

further leaves getting into the pond, leaving a

small gap and escape plank to allow any frogs and

wee creatures to get out.

George went over to the potting shed where he

talked us through some hints for good tool care. If

you’ve got stainless steel tools then most dirt will

simply wipe off. If it’s really stubborn dirt

however, give it a good scrub with a wire brush

and then use water to get the rest of it off. Once

it’s dried, use tool oil or 3-in-1 and rub it onto the

face of the tool and give it a good coating and this

will prevent it from rusting. As the hoe will be

finished with for the year, it’s a good idea to

sharpen it prior to putting it away for the winter.

Clean it first as above and then make sure the hoe

handle is pushed up against the wall of the shed to

support it then use a flat file to sharpen the edge.

And remember, don’t rub your finger along the

edge to check whether it’s sharp.

Winter comes with freezing temperatures and also

destructive high winds. Pruning plants like

Lavatera and Buddleja can minimise wind damage.

Lavatera is very shallow rooted and Lesley said

that pruning it down by around a third will help

stop wind rock. Make sure you do it after it’s

finished flowering. Buddlejas and tall growing

roses also respond well to this treatment. What

she said she wouldn’t cut down were herbaceous

plants like Lupins, as these have hollow stems- an

overwintering habitat for creatures like ladybirds.

Another job at this time of year is washing down

the greenhouse. It can be quite a big job, so

George brought in some helping hands to get the

work down faster. Use a plant label (or even an old

credit card, George suggested you use ‘the wife’s’)

or something similar to get in between the panes

of glass to clear out the moss and any pests and

diseases, and then use some soft soap to wash the

glass and clear away any remnants. Move the

staging out of the greenhouse and give that a good

wash down. If you plan to bubble wrap your

greenhouse, get that fastened in before you bring

the staging back in.

Our gardens are a really important source of food

for lots of wildlife, particularly birds, so it’s

important that we give nature a helping hand as

well. Make sure you keep all the feeders and bird

tables really clean as they can spread disease if not

looked after. The other important thing we can do

for birds is to give them a source of water. You

don’t need a fancy birdbath, a simple saucer will

do. And keep an eye on it during the winter. If you

find that it is freezing over every day, tip out the

disk of ice and replenish the water. It can be a real

lifesaver.

Another job that can be done at this time of year

in preparation for next spring is to split a clump of

rhubarb for early forcing. Dig the chosen clump up

to expose all the buds on the top to frost. Throw it

under a hedge and leave it there. In the spring,

bring it into the glasshouse, or even a cupboard in

the house, put it into a black plastic bag with some

compost, give it some water and then stand back,

because it will sprout quickly and you’ll get some

lovely early forced rhubarb.

Growing plants in containers can have advantages

and disadvantages when it comes to getting them

through the winter. For example, Lesley showed

us Lavendar stocheas, a French lavender that we

have planted in an attractive metallic silver pot on

wheels. The plant is somewhat borderline with

regards to hardiness, but because it’s in a

container, it can be easily moved into a

greenhouse as soon as it starts to get cold, and

that should provide it with enough protection.

Lesley advised that with all containers it is a good

idea to check that the drainage holes are clear and

not blocked. If they are, you can clear them with a

screwdriver or a nail. When it comes to permanent

plants in containers then the advice is a little bit

different. With something like the ‘Buzz series’ of

Buddlejas, which have been such good value,

flowering for months now, Lesley suggests to

insulate all the pots with bubble wrap. So as a

demonstration, Lesley wrapped the pots of

Buddlejas up and tied attractively with string. She

also lifted the pots up onto feet to make sure that

they had free drainage. When it comes to

evergreen plants, they can be very vulnerable in

the winter, and what you can do to these plants,

like rosemary, sage or bay, is to cover them with

fleece, in this case Lesley used a fleece bag. Only

do this when it really is very cold and those extra

few degrees of protection may just make all the

difference.

BACK TO BASICS

Carole was in the potting shed where she was

catching up on her dried flower trial. This wet

summer has been a testing time to try to harvest

flowers for drying, but despite this we had a

wonderful array of flowers, all provided by our 1 x

6m plot, and the gardeners have worked hard to

utilise the few dry days we have had recently to

harvest. Looking great were the Bells of Ireland.

Carole had both a recently harvested example and

one that had been hanging for a few weeks. On

the older plant the bracts had taken on a much

paler, almost papery look, whilst the new ones still

retained their fresh green look. The straw flowers,

which Carole had used to demonstrate how to

wire a few weeks back looked very pretty with

their shades of pinks and purples, whilst the

grasses had all come up trumps and looked just

lovely and will give different textures to an

arrangement.

All of these flowers and grasses looked great

whilst they were in the bed, but they also are very

useful as dried flowers, so Carole was really

pleased with how her trial had gone. Once again

though, with the trial over for this year, it was

time to put the bed to another use, and Carole

met the gardeners over by the plot to see what

the plan to the trial was.

The gardeners were hard at work planting bulbs

for a trial of dwarf Narcissus and tulips. These will

grow to 6-12inches and Carole had arranged them

in order of when they are supposed to flower, to

allow for an easier comparison. She also explained

that she plans to plant some of the bulbs into a

container in a double layer. This Carole thinks

might extend the flowering period as the bulbs at

the bottom of the container will take longer to

come up. Alternatively it will just mean a more

packed display. Either way, it should be good.

A couple of weeks ago whilst planting bulbs in the

white garden, Lesley had mentioned that we had

got our hands on a few different bulb planters and

that the gardeners would be trying them out over

the next couple of weeks to see how they fared.

Well, they have been planting away and were

ready to give their opinions. First up was Ben, who

had been using the Draper Long Handled Bulb

Planter and the Yeoman Long Handled Bulb

Planter. Despite looking very similar, Ben thought

the Draper planter felt much cheaper and it had

already started to bend under the pressure of use.

The Yeoman on the other hand was much sturdier

and cut a nice core. Ben thought it probably best

suited for use on grass. Moving on, Maddy had

been trialling the Dolmen Long-Handled Bulb

Planter which uses a long handled twisting motion

to cut the core. Maddy thought it great if bending

over is a problem, and recommended using it for a

bed rather than on grass, as the twisting will make

a bit of a mess of the grass. She also tried out

Darlac long handled planter which she thought

would be best for use with small bulbs as it cuts a

good small core. Beth meanwhile was using the

tried and tested Yeoman planter with its short

handle. We have been using it at Beechgrove for

years now and Beth said she was a real fan of it. As

it is short-handled it does need to be used from a

kneeling position so it wouldn’t be much use if

doing this is a problem, and a certain degree of

pressure needs to be used to create the core.

However, Beth likes it as has a button that

releases the soil once the core has been created.

Narcissi:

Bell Song : 12” fragrant.

Jonquilla: early spring

Minnow: 10” Mar/Apr. Species. Multiheaded

February Gold: 10” Mar/Apr. Reflexed petals

New baby: 10” Fragrant. Multiheaded species

Little Gem: 8” Mar/April. Multiheaded species

Spring Dawn: 10” January onwards. Large cupped.

VERY EARLY

Golden Echo: 12”. April. Species. Fragrant,

Multiheaded

Toto: 6”. Early Spring

Silver Chimes: 12”. Mar/April Species. Fragrant.

Multiheaded

January: 10”. January. Species. Early Flowering

Tweety Bird: 10”. Mar/April. Cyclamineus. Swept

back petals

Katie Heath: 12”. April. Species. Multicoloured

Tulipa:

Gold Coin: 12”. Early Spring. Largest Flowers

Water Lily: 8”. Kaufmanniana. Mar/April

Shakespeare: 10”. Apr/April. Kaufmanniana

Pinicchio: 10”. Early Spring. Long lasting early

blooms

Fire of Love: 12”. April/May.

Greigii: Stunning foliage

Lady Jane: 10”. Mar/April.

Clusiana: Elegant flowers

Johan Strauss: 8”. Mar/April. Kaufmanniana.

striped foliage

Show-winner: 10”. Early Spring. Long lasting early

blooms

Praestans Unicum: 12”. Early Spring. Variegated

foliage. Multiheaded

Albion Star: 6”. April/May. Very short

Hearts Delight: 8”. Apr/April. Striped foliage

Narcissi ‘Bell Song’, ‘Minnow’, and ‘February Gold’,

and Tulipa ‘Praestans clinicum’, ‘Albion Star’ and

‘Heart’s Delight’ went into the containers.

Bulbs available from Taylors Bulbs www.taylors-

bulbs.com

O.A. Taylor & Sons Bulbs Ltd.

Washway House Farm

Holbeach

Spalding

Lincolnshire

PE12 7PP

Tel: 01406 422266 Fax: 01406 425468


AND: Simple Pleasures www.simplepleasures.com.

Bulb Planters:

Draper 61205 965mm Long Handled Bulb Planter

(£10)

Yeoman Bulb Planter (£5)

Yeoman Long Handled Bulb Planter, soft grip

handle (£9)

Dolmen Long-Handled Bulb Planter (£15

Long Handle Bulb Planter. Darlac (£21)

THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE

For the last Through the Garden Gate of the year,

Lesley went along to meet Adam Fleming to have a

look at his prize-winning Dahlias. Not content with

winning 31 Best in Show’s for showing Zebra

Finches, four years ago Adam was looking for a

new challenge. After speaking to a friend he found

out that Dahlias are one of the most competitive

plants to show, so Adam decided to turn his hand

to that, and within his first year he had won Best

Novice at the Scottish Chrysanthemum and Dahlia

Society Show.

Judges at shows use rings to determine whether a

Dahlia is the appropriate size for its category.

Adam showed Lesley the two sizes that he grows.

The bloom needs to be able to fit through the

appropriate ring. Lesley asked what else judges

look for in their prize winning Dahlias. First of the

blooms all need to match perfectly with the other

blooms in the set. The blooms need to have the

same size depth as they do width and the centres

also need to match. Adam first showed Lesley

‘Loretta’ which is a miniature decorative variety

and is one of the standard varieties for exhibiting,

but he also has a number of other varieties which

he then took Lesley to have a look at. First off, in

the greenhouse he explained his hopes to create a

new variety for showing. He has picked a variety

that is a single Dahlia with random white petals on

it. His aim is to mix this variety with a collarette

Dahlia, so that this new plant will have random

white petals and random white parts on the collar.

To create this new variety he plans to let the bees

cross-pollinate them naturally, as well as giving

them a helping hand by rubbing the faces together

himself. He’ll then keep the seed pods from the

plants, allowing them to dry out, and then Adam

will keep the seeds for spring. As this will result in

quite a lot of seeds, Adam enlists the help of his

neighbour’s garden to make room for his own

seedling varieties. He took Lesley over to his

neighbour’s` garden to see the how the seeds he

sowed this spring are looking. When assessing

what might be good for exhibition, Adam looks for

something unusual, like the pinky red flower he

showed Lesley. To create this Adam had taken a

seed parent of a very similar colour but without a

collar, and mixed it with a flower that did have a

collar. Lesley picked out an orangey coloured

single that had really interesting foliage, but Adam

told her that for him it just wouldn’t make the cut.

Although the foliage was nice, the petals were

ever so slightly twisted and messy looking, so for

Adam it was a no no. Lesley then moved on to a

very strange looking variety with an odd mishmash

of petal colours. Adam explained that this was the

result of an experiment similar to the one in the

greenhouse that he had just talked her through.

He had hoped to get the flashes of random colour

from one plant, but on a ball type. Unfortunately,

it just looked a bit strange. Adam’s favourite one

from this year was a single flower produced from a

magenta seed parent – it looked very promising. In

about two week’s time Adam plans to cut back the

flowers that he likes and then dig them out. He

will then put it in a seed tray with compost and

keep it protected over the winter.

Back in the greenhouse, Adam showed Lesley the

plants that were in his neighbour’s garden last

year. These are the prime plants from last year

that Adam has kept and nurtured over the year.

Very small looking, Adam explained that he cuts

them back regularly to keep the growth nice and

fresh, with green foliage. If Adam were to allow

them to grow quite tall and spindly then he would

be likely to encounter problems. Most people let

their Dahlias get frosted and then lift them, but

Adam doesn’t do this. By leaving the plants green

he can take earlier cuttings in preparation for

showing at Gardening Scotland at the beginning of

June. Lesley did note that none of Adam’s flowers

have been named yet. Perhaps Lesley would be a

nice name?

BACK TO BASICS

About a week or so ago George and Lesley were in

the poly tunnel where it was time to at last dig up

his show veg. Carefully, carefully George cut open

the innovative Geocells we were trialling for the

first time for George’s show veg. Things looked

really positive with the parsnip which were a

fantastic size with long strong-looking roots. The

beetroot also looked to be a good size. Lesley set

about giving the veg a good clean and getting

them in tiptop condition. The Show Perfection

Peas had formed nicely in the pods, but

unfortunately the plants were suffering from

mildew and therefore were not show able.

A few days later, George took them to the Dalkeith

Horticultural Society Flower Show (17th

and 18th

September 2011) to see what the professionals

thought of his veg, and he arrived back at

Beechgrove for the final programme with quite a

happy look on his face. In dramatic fashion he

revealed that he had won 1st

and 2nd

place for his

beetroot, and 2nd

and 3rd

place for his parsnips and

despite attack from the dreaded carrot root fly, his

carrots won 1st

place in a group of veg… in the

beginners section. The comment from the judge

on the back of the card said ‘Good effort for a

beginner’. It was 1st

place nonetheless and George

planned to spend his £12.50 prize money wisely.

George’s veg were:

Globe Beetroot Giant

Own Long Black Beet

Carrot Sweet Candle

Parsnip Picador

Carrot Purple Haze

Parsnip Gladiator

All available from Medwyn’s of Anglesey:

Medwyn Williams MBE AHRHS FNVS

Llanor,

Old School Lane,

Llanfair P.G.,

Anglesey,

LL61 5RZ

Tel: 01248 714851 (9am to 5pm, Mon to Fri Only)

http://medwynsofanglesey.co.uk

George also planted pea’ Show Perfection;

Geocell made by Gilchrist Lanscapes, and retails at

£55 +VAT. Contact: [email protected]

for more information.

HANDY HINTS

For Jim’s final handy hint of the year, he wanted to

point out the Suttons EasytoGrow Irrigation Kit,

which has been mentioned a few times this year. It

consists of a water reservoir that holds 47 litres

and a tray which takes two pots. The reservoir can

actually supply a further two trays, and Lesley says

she can use hers with six pots and it will last 4-5

days. The key to the system is the aquavalve at the

bottom of the tray which floods and drains the

tray to specification. The tray contains a piece of

gold fabric which prevents the roots from growing

through into the water, whilst each pot contains

landscape fabric to prevent the compost from

falling into the tray. As we get towards winter and

the period for the odd winter getaway, Jim wanted

to sing the praises of this kit and recommend it for

any winter watering you may need. Jim uses it at

home to great success too.

Carole wanted to say that this is still time to

continue growing the micro salad leaves that she

and Lesley featured a few weeks back. New leaves

could be sown every couple of weeks and all you

need is a heated greenhouse or a windowsill.

GOODBYE

Unfortunately, the time had at last come and Jim,

George and Carole gathered in conservatory to

recap on the season and point out some of their

favourite things. It had been an eventful season,

with a warm and dry April giving way to a wet and

windy spring and summer. Jim’s attempt to have

strawberries from May to September pretty much

succeeded, with the first strawberries appearing

just at the beginning of June and with a few more

still promising to come. Our cherries and figs have

been great, and the gourds have been a fantastic

success.

There was a pretty vase of Jim’s sweet peas on

display and the trio noted that they have done

really well given the weather we’ve had, which has

caused there to be very few with straight stems.

George had brought along a few jars of his very

own sweet pickled beetroot, and our Beechgrove

friend Martha Brown has also been beavering

away to provide lots of jams and pickles from

Beechgrove produce. You will find all of these

recipes at the end of the factsheet.

Despite a particularly trying weather pattern this

year with a record breaking warm dry spring

followed by the May storms then followed by one

of the coolest and wettest summers in recent

times, 2011 has proved to be a season with lots of

triumphs (and few of the obligatory failures). Lots

has been learnt and as Jim would say, every day is

a school day and although the series has come to

an end for this year, gardening goes on 365 days a

year, so get out there, and keep gardening.

We are already thinking towards next year, so if

you would like to apply to have Beechgrove to

help you out with a problem corner, or you have a

community garden that needs a bit of advice, then

have a look at the ‘How to Apply’ section of the

website.

See you next year…

EVENTS DIARY

Sunday 2 October

Aberdeenshire Kildrummy Castle

Gardens, Alford

Edinburgh & West

Lothian

61 Fountainhall Road,

Edinburgh

Thursday 6 October

Perth & Kinross Rossie House,

Forgandenny

Sunday 9 October

Peebleshire Dawyck Botanic

Garden, Stobo

Sunday 23 October

Kincardine & Deeside Inchmarlo House

Garden, Banchory

RECIPES

George’s Canadian Pickled Beetroot

Beetroot

Cloves – to taste

Syrup of 10oz sugar in 1pint vinegar

Clean and boil beetroot till tender. Allow to cool,

skin and cut into chunks or slices and drop

immediately into warm jars. Boil up vinegar and

sugar till dissolved.

Add a few cloves to taste to each jar. Pour over

the hot vinegar syrup and seal. Will keep for 6

months to 1 year.

From Martha:

Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam:

3lbs Rhubarb

1lb Strawberries

4lbs Sugar

Heat fruit on medium heat, to boiling and add

sugar. Continue to heat until sugar is dissolved,

stirring frequently. Boil to setting point, and put in

sterilised jar. Put caps on and label jars.

Redcurrant and raspberry jam

Barely cover red currants with cold water and boil

until soft. Mash berries and put mash in a jelly

bag. Hang over a bowl to collect juice for at least 4

hours. Measure juice.

Place raspberries in a pan and heat slowly until

juice starts to flow. Boil for one minute and add

sugar and juice. Heat, stirring frequently, until

sugar has melted. Boil until setting point has been

reached. Put in sterilised jars and label.

Use approximately 1 pint of juice to 3lbs of berries

and 4lbs of sugar.

Zucchini (marrow) pickle.

Grind 10 cups zucchini, 2 peppers and 4 cups

chopped onion. Sprinkle with 5 tbsp salt. Cover

and leave for at least 4 hours. Rinse well to

remove salt and extra fluid. Pace 5 cups sugar, 1

tsp cornflour, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1tsp turmeric 1tsp

celery seed, 1tsp dry mustard, 3 cups white

vinegar in a large pan and mix well. Add veg and

mix again. Bring to a boil slowly and boil for

20mins. Stirring occasionally. Fill jars and seal.

Sweet Chilli sauce.

Cut up 9lbs of tomatoes and simmer 45 minutes.

Grind 3 chillies and 8 medium onions. Add to

tomatoes with 4 cups sugar, 3cups cider vinegar,

1tsp pepper, 3tbsp salt, 1/2tsp ground cloves, 3

tsp cinnamon 3tsp allspice. Simmer till thick,

stirring occasionally. When it is the thickness you

want put in pots.

Blueberry muffins.

2/3cup sugar

1/3 cup oil

1/4tsp salt – mix all of these together.

1 large egg – add to above and mix well.

1 cup milk

2 1/3cups plain flour

5tsp baking powder

Add 2/3rds of the milk to break up the mass. Add

flour mixed with baking powder to this. Add the

rest of the milk. Fold in 1cup of blueberries. Fill

muffin cups, paper lined, 3/4full. Sprinkle tops

with cinnamon sugar (2tbs sugar mixed with 1tsp

cinnamon)

Bake at 190C 18 minutes, 23mins for large muffins.

THE BEECHGROVE GARDEN IS PRODUCED FOR BBC

SCOTLAND BY

73 CROWN STREET

ABERDEEN

AB11 6EX

Tel 01224 211123

SUPPLIER INFORMATION

We would like to express our appreciation to the

many suppliers who help the Beechgrove Garden

throughout the series.

Garden Centres

Ben Reid and Company

Countesswells Road

Aberdeen

Tel: 01224 318 744

Binny Plants

Binny Estate

Ecclesmachan

West Lothian

EH52 6NL

Tel: 01506 858 931

Christie’s Nursery

‘Downfield’

Westmuir

Kirriemuir

Angus

DD8 5LP

F.P Matthews

Berrington Court

Tenbury Wells

Worchester

WR15 8TH

Tel: 01584 810 214

Web: www.trees-for-life.com

Glendoick Garden Centre

Perth

PH2 7NS

Web: www.glendoick.com

Greens Nurseries

New Fleenas Farm

Nairn

IV12 5QN

Highland Liliums

Kiltarlity

Beauly

Inverness-shire

IV4 7JQ

The Hydroponicum

Achiltibuie

Ullapool

IV26 2YG

Tel: 01854 622 202

Kirkdale Nursery

Daviot

Inverurie

AB51 0JL

Tel: 01467 671 264

Web: www.kirkdale-nursery.co.uk

MacPlants

Berrybank

5 Boggs Holdings

Pencaitland

East Lothian

EH34 5BA

Tel: 01875 341 179


O.A. Taylor and Sons Bulbs Ltd

Washway House Farm

Holbeach

Lincs

PE12 7PP

Tel: 01406 422 266


Park Hill Nursery

Parkhill

Dyce

Aberdeen

AB21 7AT

Tel: 01224 722 167

Raemoir Garden Centre

Raemoir Road

Banchory

AB31 4EJ

Tel: 01330 825 059


Speyside Heather Centre

Skye of Curr

Dulnain Bridge

Inverness-shire

PH26 3PA

Tel: 01479 851 359

Web: www.heathercentre.com

JBA Seed Potatoes

Rosefield Farm

Old Carlisle Road

Annan

Dumfries & Galloway

DG12 6QX

Tel: 01461 202567


Web: www.jbaseedpotatoes.co.uk

Tools

La Plata Works

Holme Lane

Sheffield

England

S6 4JY

Mail order sales call - 0114 233 8262

Customer Service

Spear & Jackson

Atlas Way

Atlas North

Sheffield

S4 7QQ

Tel: 0114 281 4242

Web: www.spear-and-jackson.com


www.wilkinsonswordgarden.co.uk

The Great British Trug Company

Beech Barn

Manor Farm Road

Waresley

Cambridgeshire

SG19 3BX

Tel: +44 (0)1767 652929

www.trugs.net

Carl Kammerling International

For a catalogue Tel 01758 704 704


Web www.ck-tools.com

Hard Landscaping &

Building Materials

Bradstone

Hulland Ward

Ashbourne

Derbyshire DE6 3ET

Tel 01335 372222

Web www.bradstone.com

Jewson Ltd

Sales Line 0800 53766

Web www.jewson.co.uk

300 Crown Point Road

Glasgow

Tel 0141 550 6150

OR

Woodside Road

Bridge of Don

Aberdeen AB23 8AF

Tel 01224 703703

Garden Warehouse,

Standroyd Mill,

Cottontree, Colne,

Lancs

BB8 7BW.

Tel: 01282 873370


Solway Recycling Limited

Rigghead Farm

Shawhead

Dumfries

DG2 9SH

Tel: 01387 730 666

Fax: 01387 250 660

[email protected]

www.solwayrecycling.co.uk

Equipment Hire

Access Plus

Tel: 0800 32 88 178

Fax: 01294 466633


Gardening Catalogues

Agralan Ltd

The Old Brickyard

Ashton Keynes

Swindon

Wiltshire

SN6 6QR

Tel: (01285) 860015

The Organic Gardening Catalogue

Riverdene Business Park

Molesey Road

Hersham

Surrey

KT12 4RG

Tel: 0845 130 1304

Composts and Mulch

Carbon Gold Ltd

106 High St

Hastings

East Sussex

TN34 3ES

Tel: 01424 438973

Web: www.carbongold.com

Garden Solutions

Ballencrieff

Longniddry

EH32 0PJ

Tel: 01875 871133

Web: www.gardensolutions.info

Dalefoot Composts

Dalefoot, Heltondale, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 2QL

Telephone : 01931 713281

www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk

email: [email protected]

William Sinclair Horticulture Ltd.

Firth Road

Lincoln

England

LN6 7AH

Tel: 01522 537561


Levington Compost

C/oThe Scotts Company (UK) Ltd

Salisbury House

Weyside Park

Catteshall Lane

Godalming

Surrey GU7 1XE

Tel 0871 2205353

Web www.scottsukonline.com

John Innes Manufacturers Association

PO Box 8

Harrogate

North Yorkshire HG2 8XB

Tel 01423 879208

Scot Bark

41 Culduthel Road

Inverness

Tel 01463 223 821

Easter Queenslee Road

Easter Queenslee Industrial Estate

GLASGOW

Tel 0141 781 4791

Web www.scotbarkuk.com

Westland

14 Granville Industrial Estate

Granville Road

Dungannon

Freephone 0800 0644 300

Web www.gardenhealth.com

GP Green Recycling

The Pleasance

Kirkfieldbank

Lanark

Scotland ML11 9TG

Tel: 0808 100 3120

Fax: 01555 663111


Web: www.gpgreenrecycling.com

Tom Waddell

Brown Soil

Devonhill Farm

Hamilton

ML3 8RL

Tel: 01698 284 632

Fax: 01698 426 556

Web: http://www.brownsoil.com/index.html

E-mail: [email protected]

Seeds

Thompson & Morgan (UK) Limited

Poplar Lane

Ipswich

Suffolk

England IP8 3BU

Seed Catalogue Request

Tel 01473 695224

Web www.thompson-morgan.com

The James Hutton Institute

Craigiebuckler

Aberdeen

AB15 8QH

Tel: 0844 928 5428

Web: www.hutton.ac.uk

Paint & Wood Stain

Cuprinol

Wexham Road

Slough

Berkshire SL2 5DS

Product information or stockist enquiries

Tel 01753 550555

Brochure request Tel 01753 556979

Lawn Care

Qualcast

PO Box 98

Broadwater Park

North Orbital Road

Denham

Uxbridge

Middlesex UB9 5HJ

Service/repairs/stockists/info 01895 838782

Web www.qualcast.co.uk

Pond & Water Products

Hozelock Limited

Haddenham

Aylesbury

Bucks HP17 8JD

Tel Helpline 01844 292002

Web www.hozelock.com

Weather

Meteorologica Ltd

70 Grayrigg Drive

Morecambe

Lancs LA4 4UL

Web www.meteorologica.co.uk

Email [email protected]

Email [email protected]

General Supplies

Gripple Limited

The Old West Gun Works

Savile Street East

Sheffield S4 7UQ

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 114 275 2255

Fax: +44 (0) 114 275 1155

B&Q Plc

Portswood House

1 Hampshire Corporate Park

Chandlers Ford

Eastleigh

Hampshire

SO53 3YX

Tel: 0845 609 6688

Web: www.diy.com

Haxnicks Ltd. - UK distributor of DuPont™

GreenVista®

Beaumont Business Centre

Woodlands Road

Mere

Wiltshire BA12 6BT

Tel: 0845 241 1555

E-mail: [email protected]

Visit us at: www.haxnicks.co.uk

163 Parker Drive,

Leicester,

Leics,

LE4 0JP

Telephone: 0116 234 4644

email: [email protected]

Tel: 0116 234 4682

Fax: 0116 234 4661

Notcutts Garden Centres,

Woodbridge,

Suffolk

IP12 4AF

Tel 01394 383344

www.notcutts.co.uk

LBS

Garden Warehouse

Standroyd Mill

Cottontree

Colne

Lancashire

BB8 7BW

Tel: 01282 873370


Web: www.lbsgardenwarehouse.co.uk/

Haws Watering Cans

120 Beakes Road

Smethwick

West Midlands

B67 5AB

Tel 0121 420 2494

Website www.haws.co.uk

E Mail [email protected]

Harrod Horticulture

Pinbush Road

Lowestoft

Suffolk

NR33 7NL

Web: www.harrodhorticultural.com

Tel: 01502 505300

Fax: 01502 582456

Suttons

Woodview Road

Paignton

Devon TQ4 7NG

Web: www.suttons.co.uk

Tel: 0844 922 0606

Two Wests & Elliott Ltd

Unit 4 Carrwood Road

Sheepbridge Ind. Estate

Chesterfield

Derbyshire

S41 9RH

Advise, information, and order line: 01246 451077,

Monday – Friday 8am to 5.30pm

www.twowests.co.uk

Don & Low Ltd

Newfordpark House

Glamis Road

Forfar

Angus

DD8 1FR

Tel - 01307 452200

www.donlow.com

Bamboo Chic Fences

9 Whitton Drive

Giffnock

Glasgow

G46 6EE

Web: www.bamboochic.co.uk

Tel: 0141 5714202

Mob. 0757 683 7094


[email protected]

Osmogro

Dumbarton

Scotland

G82 3QW

www.osmogro.com


Gilchrist Landscaping & Supplies @ Greenyards

(Geocell Suppliers)

Cowie Road

Bannockburn

Stirling

01786 818112

07836598199

Lanarkshire Hardwoods

HOME TO BEAUTIFUL WOOD

Girdwoodend Farm

Auchengray

Carnwath

LANARK

ML11 8LL

01501 785460 07748 638214

www.lanarkshirehardwoods.co.uk

Golf Buggy Hire

Crank Road

Crank

St. Helens

Merseyside

WA11 8RL

01744 893 787

www.golfbuggyhire.co.uk

Documents

Factsheet_26