now and place on the fire, not the compost heap!!

Herbaceous flowers are back in favour, the old traditional formal border, so loved by the gardeners years ago, has been replaced by a more informal bed system in some of our Municipal Parks and Botanics.  The twin borders at Wisley were done away with years ago, much to my regret, and replaced with island beds.  The old ones were backed by yew hedges and had a wide grass walk down the centre, a truly magnificent sight in the summer time.  Where the old dead tops of HB plants were left this winter, now is the time to cut them down and clean up the beds.  If any of the roots require splitting up and replanting of the younger outside pieces, now is the time to get cracking, weather permitting of course.

The Michaelmas Daisy family is a particular favourite of mine, modern varieties are great in the autumn, just right for the harvest festival decorations.  One of my favourites is the cherry red "Alma Potschka." I grew lots of this on my old Routh nursery: could never propagate enough, it was so popular and it never seemed to get the powdery mildew.

Dick Robinson

Garden Humour

A toddler was found chewing on a slug. 
After the initial surge of disgust, his mother said,
"Well . . . what does it taste like?"
"Worms," was the reply.

What did the snail say when she hitched a ride on the back of a tortoise? Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Do you know what happens when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole at Easter?…….. You get hot-cross bunnies
How do "Keep off the grass" signs get where they are?
What do you call a mushroom who buys everyone drinks and is the life and soul of the party?
A fun-gi.