After three years, GINA PARKINSON’S patience is finally rewarded when a peony flowers in a bed hewn from concrete

THREE summers ago we created a triangular bed in the front garden. The area had been concreted over at some point, leaving a long narrow bed on one side planted with shrubs and a smaller one by the front window, which is home to a climbing hydrangea and low-growing euonymus.

It was rather bleak so we set to and broke up a section.

This bed is now beginning to mature, with a young hedge along the back thickening out and herbaceous plants slowly clumping up.

One of these is Paeonia lactiflora ‘Karl Rosenfield’ which has flowered for the first time this month. Planted as a very young plant in the spring of 2012, it has now got to be a decent sized specimen and the three blooms that have been produced are lovely to see as we come home or spot them from indoors.

Karl Rosenfield has large double magenta flowers that open out from fat silky buds. In the sun the blooms open out completely to reveal bright yellow stamen, then contract a little on a cloudy day.

The plant seems to be strong enough to hold its blooms without staking, but I have put in a few sticks just in case. Heavy rain or a windy day could spoil the display and it would definitely be a good idea to do this for plants in an exposed site.

We are still waiting for another peony to flower even though it was put in at the same time its relative and was a similar size.

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Festiva Maxima’ is a white flowered variety with very large double blooms splashed with pink. It seems to be slower growing than Karl Rosenfield. There are the tiniest flowerbuds at the top of the stems, but they don’t seemed to have progressed during the past few weeks so it looks as though we will be waiting for another year to enjoy the plants flowering together.

 

In the vegetable garden

THINGS have been disappointing so far for our vegetable garden with the damp weather bringing a devastating problem with slugs and snails.

Many of the seedlings had hardly emerged before being eaten overnight and we are on a second lot of lettuce, beetroot, chard, broad beans, runner beans and climbing French beans.

However, things are beginning to improve and those that have struggled through are beginning to put on some decent growth. If we have a wet spring next year, I am wondering if I need to grow everything from seed indoors and delay planting out until mid-June when the plants will be quite large.

Luckily the potatoes are doing very well and are beginning to flower. They need regular earthing up at this time of year to stop any of the developing spuds from developing too near the surface of the soil and turning green.

These cannot be eaten so it’s worth effort of piling up the earth around the plants.

 

Open Gardens

Tomorrow

In aid of community projects.

Marton cum Grafton’s Glorious Gardens. More than 15 gardens of all shapes and sizes will be open to the public in Marton cum Grafton. The elevated position of the area allows for views over the Yorkshire Dales and White Horse and a courtesy bus will take visitors from one end of the village to the other.

Other events include a local art and craft exhibition, a floral display in Christ Church, WI tea and cakes, games, BBQ sausages and ice creams on Grafton Green and food in Marton Village Hall. The event runs from 11am-5pm and a combined ticket is £5. Marton cum Grafton is just off the A168 and lies between York, Harrogate and Boroughbridge.

 

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme

Birstwith Hall, High Birstwith, HG3 2JW, five miles north of Harrogate. Eight acre garden in the Yorkshire Dales with a formal area, ornamental orchard, extensive lawns, stream and Victorian greenhouse. Open 2pm-5pm, admission £4.

Churchside, Station Road, Wressle, Selby, YO8 6ES. Four year old cottage garden new to the NGS with herbaceous perennials, wooded retreat, rose rope, vegetable beds, small wildlife pond and raised fish pond. Open 1pm-5pm, admission £3. Also open today 1pm-5pm.

Linden Lodge, Newbridge Lane, near Wilberfoss, YO41 5RB, ten miles east of York. Owner-designed one-acre garden started in 2000 with mixed borders, pond, kitchen garden, woodland and a further five acres of developing meadow, trees and Shetland sheep. Open 1pm-5pm, admission £4.

Low Sutton, Sutton Lane, Masham, HG4 4PB. Six-acre smallholding started in 2007 with a concentric circular floral colour wheel surrounded by roses and clematis, fruit and vegetables in raised beds, perennial border, grasses and a fernery. Open 11am-5pm, combined admission with Sutton Grange £5.

Sutton Grange, Masham, HG4 4PB. Mature garden new to the NGS with woodland walk, orchard, walled vegetable garden with cutting flowerbeds, summerhouse and lawns surrounded by herbaceous borders. Open 11am-5pm, combined admission with Low Sutton £5.

Westfield farm, Melbourne, YO42 4SX, en miles south east of York. One and a half acre garden with box hedged herb garden, vegetable garden with raised beds and a greenhouse, borders, reed bed filtered fish pond, wildlife pond and a bridge over a stream to woodland area. Open 1pm-6pm, admission £3.

Yorke House, Dacre Banks, Nidderdale, HG3 4EW, ten miles north west of Harrogate. Award winning flower arranger’s garden with colour themed borders, nut and rose walks, large hosta collection, wildlife garden and views across Nidderdale. Open 1pm-5pm, admission £4.

 

Wednesday

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme.

Marton cum Grafton Gardens, YO51 9QJ, two and a half miles south of Boroughbridge. Two gardens open in the village of Grafton, Springfield has evolved over 35 years with colourful borders, climbers, rambling roses, ornamental shrubs and an orchard with geese, ducks and chickens. Well House has a paved garden with cottage garden plants, ramblers and shrub roses. Box lined paths lead to a vegetable garden and orchard with chickens. Open 2pm-5pm, combined admission £3.50.

 

TV Gardening & Radio

Tomorrow

6.20am, BBC2, Gardeners’ World.

6.50am, BBC2, The Beechgrove Garden.

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis. News and features from around North Yorkshire’s gardens and countryside.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Matthew Biggs, Anne Swithinbank and Pippa Greenwood are in Devon where they answer questions from the audience in Tiverton. With chairman Eric Robson.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Eric Robson and panellists Chris Beardshaw, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew answer questions from gardeners in Stottesdon, Shropshire.

9pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Joe Swift goes on a behind the scene tour of the gardens of Eton College and Carol Klein visits a collection of peonies in West Lothian.