Chokecherry and Saskatoon

A friend from Canada has raised my interest on two species of fruit shrubs that grow native in Canada (and North America), the Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana).

The Chokecherry is not to be confused with the Chokeberry, indeed they are a completely different family. The Chokecherry look and tastes s a lot like the Blackcurrant and indeed it may be why its not a common plant out side of the USA. The plant however is very hardy and would take to UK conditions with out much concern. Sourcing the plant is going to prove very tricky as I suspect its very rare to find in the UK. Should I then find a suppiler, getting growing advice and seeing just how well it can cope with UK conditions would be interesting.

The Saskatoon is another rare plant in the UK, the family Amelanchier is actually quite common in the UK and goes by the common name of Juneberry. The alnifolia species is however the only member of this family to go by the Saskatoon name and is the one I am most interested in. Indeed like the Chokecherry its hardy and could cope with UK conditions with out much of an issue.

Finding the plants aside I am very keenly aware that these species are native species and growing them raises some concerns. Introducing any new species can destroy native species and you have to be very aware of that. As such I am going to see if I can source some advice on these two plants, as yet I am unsure where to get advice from.

Reflection on 2005 and a look at 2006

With the end of 2005 neally here and 2006 about to start its good to reflect on how things have gone in the gardening year. This year has with doubt been a year that my interest in gardening has increased 10 fold, I have only been gardening 3 years and this year has been my first fully focused year.

This blog maps out much of what I have achieved in that time and indeed where I am heading. Next year I plant to grow much more of my own bedding, add more fruits to my list and attempt and try new things. Roll on 2006!

Growing garlic

One winter project this year is growing garlic. I have have attempted this several times before, but always at the wrong time of year. Garlic likes to be planted in October to November, or April-May. Its said that Autum planted Garlic is best as a spell at sub-zero gives you the best favour. I planted mine in November and early December so time will tell if that works out.

In the front border, after the summer clear out I dug in manure and chicken muck and turned it all over. Left for a month I dug it up again and it was ready for planting, when planting Garlic break the bulb up into cloves and plant each clove so its tip is just below the soil. As I planted I first pushed the clove in, removed the clove, added a small amount of some fish\bone\blood and readded the clove. Make sure you space them apart, each clove will become a bulb in time and will space to develop and grow.

Make sure you plant the cloves early enough for them to develop some roots and shoots before the real cold weather sets in. Garlic planted at this time is said to be ready around July time, it may flower and the foilage needs to die down before you earth them up. Garlic does not really suffer with Garden nasties, nothing likes the taste (including so its said, slugs). I have however noticed leaf damage to some of mine, I suspect the french snails.

Winter blues

Winter is a hard time for plants, even hardy plants can suffer in extremes of weather. However, hardy plants can survive through quite a lot, its the tender plants that are the hardest to overwinter. I have already lost one plant to a fungal diease and being within a greenhouse means that the rest of your plants are at risk. The plant I was forced to destroy and now everything else is on watch.

I am now trying to vent the greenhouse as often as possibly to keep the air flowing and reduce humidity. Using a paraffin heater does not help matters as it increases humidity, however by venting I am helping reduce that. Most plants I have cut back hard, the pineapple sage looked to be struggling and I felt it had gotten leggy in the summer, as such its been cut back hard and well wrapped in fleech. Time will tell if it bounces back.

During very cold weather I have also taken to wrapping everything in fleech, with the bubble wrap and heater this should help prevent frost damage to the roots (which would spell the end of everything).

Summer Sunflower

A project during last summer was growing this sunflower from seed. First developinging into a seedling in the spring it was progressively potted on as it grew. During early summer it had a spell in the greenhouse to protect it from a spell of highwinds and rain. It then outgrew the greenhouse and I kept it sheltered until the weather allowed me to keep it in the open. Its final resting place afforded it a lot of shelter should the weather had gotten a bit nasty, the trees and fench kept a lot of the weather off it. As you can see, fully grown it reaches 10 foot and is above the height of the trees its next to.

I had a problem with keeping it upright, when the flower head had developed it was very top heavy and even a slight breeze could cause it to bend. I used various methods to keep it from snapping, starting off with canes and finally tieing it to nearby tree post. The top heavy weight ment that it was also prone to tipping the pot over, I ended up buying a heavy duty clay pot and added extra weight to keep it secure to the ground.

It flowers quite quickly, around two weeks before the the flower is spent. If you can afford the space keep the sun flower as the seed head then develops. When I finally cut the flower done, I kept the stalk, it will be a useful support for the future. The flower head you have to remove the brown surface to get at the seeds, its a messy job then removing all the seeds but for a flower of this size you will normally get hundreds. I feed all mine to the local bird population.

Projects for next year

Apart from bedding, the wildflower garden and the new borders I am adding a few more things to my projects for next year.

Growing old styles

After looking through several seed catalogues I am going to try growing older styles of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. These are more more varied than standard types and you can really opt for something different.

Growing ginger

Inspired by Raymond Blanc's Tai kitchen garden, I am going to try growing Ginger for next year. Using supermarket bought ginger, now is the time to buy and begin planting. Ginger loves sunlight and warmth, at this time of year we are in the deep winter in the UK and both of these requirements are very limited. As such you need to start it off in doors, keeping it moist and warm.

Most of the guides you read about Ginger say opt for bud shaped growths to start from. If you look at your shop bought ginger these are easy to spot, short growths from the main tubers. You need cut a good piece from the ginger from this growth, you can then plant on. Use a well draining compost mix, John Inne's Number 1 with a handful of loam (if you can source it) or vermiculite for added drainage is a good choice.

Add water to make the compost moist and then cover with a plastic bag and put on a sunny windowsill. When shoots appear you can remove the plastic bag, keep moist and warm however. Its said that even the summer in the UK won't afford enough warmth to grow Ginger, as such you should grow Ginger on in a pot and keep under glass. Summer can then afford it enough light and warmth for you to enjoy a crop in Autum (when the foliage dies back).

Thats the plan, its always easier to write than actually do and my results could vary, thats half the fun.

Pomigrante

Unlike Ginger which is considered a tropical plant, this is a desert plant that is grown commerically around the sub-tropic regions of the world but grows native to Iraq. These are very tricky to grow in the UK due to its requirements for warmth and light (like Ginger). Not a commonly grown Fruit in the UK but gaining popularity, this may lead to types that can cope more with UK conditions.

As a desert plant, it likes very well drained soil and while it can cope with drought its best to keep moist during fruiting season. I am going to have a go at growing one from the seed of a supermarket bought fruit. If this fails I will return my seed books (although not easy to find in the UK). I will opt for the same growing procedure as the Ginger. Its said that seed can produce varied results and cuttings are best but these are completely absent in the UK so I can only hope the seed is good enough. The only grower in the UK who as much as I know has had success with these is the great Bob Flowerdew, I will be following his advice on growing these to the letter. Again my results may vary but fingers crossed it all goes well.

Cherry Tree

Now is the time to buy bare rooted trees and shrubs, I came across a bare rotted morillio cherry and temptation was too much. Now housed in the strawberry patch I planning on keeping this as a standard tree but will keep the height down to 8/9 foot rather than dizzy 15 foot it can reach.

Bare rooted trees tend to be cheaper than pot bought plants, they are bare rooted as they are now dorimant and thus only need miminal water to keep going. When you plant these you dig a hole deep enough to give the tree a solid root base and wide enough to spread the roots. Make sure you add some Fish/Bone/Blood and you firm the soil, all that remains is to mulch and then leave alone. When spring arrives you work continues but for now, sit back and think about all that great spring flowers and cherry pies in summer, can't wait.