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Ivydene Gardens Plants: |
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Tree/Shrub Growth Shape with |
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The plants suitable for Lime-Free Soil list is sorted in the following pages under the following Name:-
Surface soil moisture is the water that is in the upper 10 cm (4 inches) of soil, whereas root zone soil moisture is the water that is available to plants, which is generally considered to be in the upper 200 cm (80 inches) of soil:-
Sun Aspect:-
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When selecting plants, you should start by using what you already have in the garden; especially mature trees and shrubs. Each tree or shrub will have one of the following growth shapes:-
When selecting plants, you should start by using what you already have in the garden; especially mature shrubs and some of your perennials.
So, if you wish to see your plant at its best, rather than as a plant within a hedge effect, please give it room to grow to produce its natural growth habit. Mature shrubs and perennials will have one of the following growth habits:- |
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Chalky alkaline soils are derived from chalk or limestone with a pH of 7.1 or above.
Clay soil will absorb 40% of its volume in water before it turns from a solid to a liquid. This fact can have a serious effect on your house as subsidence. |
Explaination of how soil works:- "Plants are in Control Most gardeners think of plants as only taking up nutrients through root systems and feeding the leaves. Few realize that a great deal of energy that results from photosynthesis in the leaves is actually used by plants to produce chemicals they secrete through their roots. These secretions are known as exudates. A good analogy is perspiration, a human's exudate. Root exudates are in the form of carbohydrates (including sugars) and proteins. Amazingly, their presence wakes up, attracts, and grows specific beneficial bacteria and fungi living in the soil that subsist on these exudates and the cellular material sloughed off as the plant's root tips grow. All this secretion of exudates and sloughing off of cells takes place in the rhizosphere, a zone immediately round the roots, extending out about a tenth of an inch, or a couple of millimetres. The rhizosphere, which can look like a jelly or jam under the electron microscope, contains a constantly changing mix of soil organisms, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protozoa, and even larger organisms. All this "life" competes for the exudates in the rhizosphere, or its water or mineral content. At the bottom of the soil food web are bacteria and fungi, which are attracted to and consume plant root exudates. In turn, they attract and are eaten by bigger microbes, specifically nematodes and protozoa who eat bacteria and fungi (primarily for carbon) to fuel their metabolic functions. Anything they don't need is excreted as wastes, which plant roots are readily able to absorb as nutrients. How convenient that this production of plant nutrients takes place right in the rhizosphere, the site of root-nutrient absorption. At the centre of any viable soil food web are plants. Plants control the food web for their own benefit, an amazing fact that is too little understood and surely not appreciated by gardeners who are constantly interfereing with Nature's system. Studies indicate that individual plants can control the numbers and the different kinds of fungi and bacteria attracted to the rhizosphere by the exudates they produce. Soil bacteria and fungi are like small bags of fertilizer, retaining in their bodies nitrogen and other nutrients they gain from root exudates and other organic matter. Carrying on the analogy, soil protozoa and nematodes act as "fertilizer spreaders" by releasng the nutrients locked up in the bacteria and fungi "fertilizer bags". The nematodes and protozoa in the soil come along and eat the bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. They digest what they need to survive and excrete excess carbon and other nutrients as waste. The protozoa and nematodes that feasted on the fungi and bacteria attracted by plant exudates are in turn eaten by arthropods such as insects and spiders. Soil arthropods eat each other and themselves are the food of snakes, birds, moles and other animals. Simply put, the soil is one big fast-food restaurant. Bacteria are so small they need to stick to things, or they will wash away; to attach themselves they produce a slime, the secondary result of which is that individual soil particles are bound together. Fungal hyphae, too, travel through soil particles, sticking to them and binding them together, thread-like, into aggregates. Worms, together with insect larvae and moles move through the soil in search of food and protection, creating pathways that allow air and water to enter and leave the soil. The soil food web, then, in addition to providing nutrients to roots in the rhizosphere, also helps create soil structure: the activities of its members bind soil particles together even as they provide for the passage of air and water through the soil. Without this system, most important nutrients would drain from soil. Instead, they are retained in the bodies of soil life. Here is the gardener's truth: when you apply a chemical fertilizer, a tiny bit hits the rhizosphere, where it is absorbed, but most of it continues to drain through soil until it hits the water table. Not so with the nutrients locked up inside soil organisms, a state known as immobilization; these nutrients are eventully released as wastes, or mineralized. And when the plants themselves die and are allowed to decay in situ, the nutrients they retained are again immobilized in the fungi and bacteria that consume them. Just as important, every member of the soil food web has its place in the soil community. Each, be it on the surface or subsurface, plays a specific role. Elimination of just one group can drastically alter a soil community. Dung from mammals provides nutrients for beetles in the soil. Kill the mammals, or eliminate their habitat or food source, and you wont have so many beetles. It works in reverse as well. A healthy soil food web won't allow one set of members to get so strong as to destroy the web. If there are too many nematodes and protozoa, the bacteria and fungi on which they prey are in trouble and, ultimately, so are the plants in the area. And there are other benefits. The nets or webs fungi form around roots act as physical barriers to invasion and protect plants from pathogenic fungi and bacteria. Bacteria coat surfaces so thoroughly, there is no room for others to attach themselves. If something impacts these fungi or bacteria and their numbers drop or disappear, the plant can easily be attacked." Negative impacts on the soil food web --> |
Negative impacts on the soil food web "Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides affect the soil food web, toxic to some members, warding off others, and changing the environment. Important fungal and bacterial relationships don't form when a plant can get free nutrients. When chemically fed, plants bypass the microbial-assisted method of obtaining nutrients, and microbial populations adjust accordingly. Trouble is, you have to keep adding chemical fertilizers and using "-icides", because the right mix and diversity - the very foundation of the soil food web - has been altered. It makes sense that once the bacteria, fungi, nematodes and protozoa are gone, other members of the soil food web disappear as well. Earthworms, for example, lacking food and irritated by the synthetic nitrates in soluble nitrogen fertilizers, move out. Since they are major shredders of organic material, their absence is a great loss. Soil structure deteriorates, watering can become problematic, pathogens and pests establish themselves and, worst of all, gardening becomes a lot more work than it needs to be. If the salt-based chemical fertilizers don't kill portions of the soil food web, rototilling (rotovating) will. This gardening rite of spring breaks up fungal hyphae, decimates worms, and rips and crushes arthropods. It destroys soil structure and eventually saps soil of necessary air. Any chain is only as strong as its weakest link: if there is a gap in the soil food web, the system will break down and stop functioning properly. Gardening with the soil food web is easy, but you must get the life back in your soils. First, however, you have to know something about the soil in which the soil food web operates; second, you need to know what each of the key members of the food web community does. Both these concerns are taken up in the rest of Part 1" of Teaming with Microbes - The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis ISBN-13:978-1-60469-113-9 Published 2010. This book explains in non-technical language how soil works and how you can improve your garden soil to make it suitable for what you plant and hopefully stop you using chemicals to kill this or that, but use your grass cuttings and prunings to mulch your soil - the leaves fall off the trees, the branches fall on the ground, the animals shit and die on the land in old woodlands and that material is then recycled to provide the nutrients for those same trees, rather than being carefully removed and sent to the dump as most people do in their gardens leaving bare soil." |
The following is from "A land of Soil, Milk and Honey" by Bernard Jarman in Star & Furrow Issue 122 January 2015 - Journal of the Biodynamic Association;_ "Soil is created in the first place through the activity of countlesss micro-organisms, earthworms and especially the garden worm (Lumbricus terrestris). This species is noticeably active in the period immediately before and immediately after mid-winter. In December we find it (in the UK) drawing large numbers of autumn leaves down into the soil. Worms consume all kinds of plant material along with sand and mineral substances. In form, they live as a pure digestive tract. The worm casts excreted from their bodies form the basis of a well-structured soil with an increased level of available plant nutrients:-
Worms also burrow to great depths and open up the soil for air and water to penetrate, increasing the scope of a fertile soil. After the earthworm, the most important helper of the biodynamic farmer is undoubetdly
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To locate mail-order nursery for plants from the UK in this gallery try using search in RHS Find a Plant. To locate plants in the European Union (EU) try using Search Term in Gardens4You and Meilland Richardier in France. To locate mail-order nursery for plants from America in this gallery try using search in Plant Lust. To locate plant information in Australia try using Plant Finder in Gardening Australia. |
a |
Columnar |
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Soil:- AN = Any Soil |
Soil Moisture:- |
Sun Aspect:- |
Plant Location:- |
Plant Name with link to mail-order nursery in UK / Europe Plant Names will probably not be in Alphabetical Order |
Common Name with link to mail-order nursery in USA |
Flower-ing Months |
Flower-ing Colour |
Height x Spread in 25.4mm = 1 inch
I normally round this to |
Plant Type |
Comment |
b |
Oval |
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AC = Acid Soil |
c |
Rounded/ Spherical |
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AL = Alkaline Soil |
d |
Flattened Spherical |
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AN = Any for Acid, Neutral or Alkaline Soil |
e |
Narrow Conical/ Narrow Pyramidal |
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FA = Grow for Flower Arrangers |
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Broad Conical/ Broad Pyramidal |
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FB = Front of Border |
RB = Rest of Border SP = Speciman RG = Rock Garden |
WP = Within Path CL = Climber or Shrub grown against a wall or fence |
g |
Ovoid/ Egg-shaped |
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h |
Broad Ovoid |
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j |
Narrow Vase-shaped/ Inverted Ovoid |
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BE = Bedding |
k |
Fan-shaped/ Vase-shaped |
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GP = Grow in Pot / Container |
m |
Narrow Weeping |
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HB = Grow in Hanging Basket |
n |
Broad Weeping |
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HE = Hedge SC = Screening |
TH = |
p |
Single-stemmed palm |
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q |
Multi-stemmed palm |
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BG = Grow in Bog Area |
1 |
Mat-forming |
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BA = Grow on Bank / Slope |
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Prostrate or Trailing |
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SE = Seaside / Coastal Plants |
3 |
Cushion or Mound-forming |
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CH = Chalk |
EX = Cold Exposed Inland Site |
4 |
Spreading or Creeping |
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CL = Clay |
DP = Dust and Pollution Barrier |
5 |
Clump-forming |
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LF = Lime-Free (Acid Soil) |
D = Dry |
S = Full Sun |
SO = Sound Barrier |
6 |
Stemless |
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PD = Poorly Drained |
M = Moist |
PS = Part Shade |
WI = Wind Barrier |
7 |
Erect or Upright |
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LS = Light Sand |
W = Wet |
FS = Full Shade |
WO = Woodland |
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Climbing and Scandent |
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AN |
CH |
CL |
LF |
PD |
LS |
D |
M |
W |
S |
PS |
FS |
AC |
AL |
AN |
FA |
FB |
BE |
GP |
HB |
HE SC |
BG |
BA |
SE |
EX |
DP |
SO |
WI |
WO |
9 |
Arching |
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SP |
Tree/Shrub Growth Shape |
Shrub/Perennial Growth Habit |
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PE |
DS |
WP |
TH |
a |
b |
c |
d |
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g |
h |
j |
k |
m |
n |
p |
q |
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HE SC |
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Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Tetragona Aurea' |
Hinoki cypress, Golden fern-leaf cypress |
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360 x 72-120 (1000 x 200-300) |
Evergreen Conifer |
Plants for Full Sun |
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Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans' |
Japan-ese cedar. |
No flowers |
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Evergreen Conifer |
Plants for Full Sun |
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Acacia dealbata |
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Acer palmatum |
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Acer palmatum 'Atropur-pureum' |
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Acer palmatum 'Dissectum' |
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Acer palmatum 'Dissectum Atropurureum' |
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Cytisus scoparius e.g 'Firefly' |
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Berberis thunbergii |
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Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Cytisus scoparius e.g. 'Cornish Cream' |
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Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea' |
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Erica mediterranea e.g. 'Brightness' |
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Daboecia cantabrica |
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Erica x darleyensis e.g. 'Arthus Johnson' |
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Cryptomeria japonica 'Vilmoriniana' |
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Calluna vulgaris e.g. 'Gold Haze' |
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Calluna vulgaris e.g. |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Calluna vulgaris e.g. 'Robert Chapman' |
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Erica x darleyensis e.g. 'Silver Beads' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica vagans e.g. 'Mrs D.F. Maxwell' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica tetralix e.g. 'Alba Mollis' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica carnea e.g. 'Springwood White' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica carnea e.g. 'King George' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica carnea e.g. 'Vivellii' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Embothrium coccineum lanceolatum 'Norquinco Valley' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica arborea |
Tree heath |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Callistemon salignus |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Daboecia cantabrica e.g. 'Alba' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica mediterranea e.g. 'W.T. Rackcliff' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Ascelpias tuberosa |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Calluna vulgaris e.g. 'Peter Sparkes' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica vagans e.g. 'Lyoness' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica cinerea e.g. 'C.D. Eason' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica cinerea e.g. 'Pink Ice' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica tetralix e.g. 'Con Underwood' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Erica cinerea e.g. 'Alba Minor' |
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Plants for Full Sun |
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Abies procera |
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Plants for |
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Eucalyptus gunnii |
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Plants for |
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Eucalyptus niphophila |
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Plants for |
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Arbutus unedo |
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Plants for |
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Clethra alnifolia 'Paniculata' |
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Plants for |
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Abies balsamea 'Hudsonia' |
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Plants for |
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Dierama pulcherrimum |
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Plants for |
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Eucryphia glutinosa |
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Plants for |
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Corylopsis willmottiae |
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Plants for |
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Camellia x williamsii e.g. 'J.C. Williams' |
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Plants for |
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Corylopsis paucifloa |
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Plants for |
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Chamae-cyparis obtusa e.g. 'Nana' |
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Plants for |
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Cornus canadensis |
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Plants for |
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Plants for |
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Plants for |
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Acid soils are typically very fertile, nutrient-rich, and moist with good drainage. The right conditions for some acid-loving plants can be created in containers of ericaceous compost. Acid soil is most common in places that experience heavy rainfall and have moister environments. Areas in red have acidic soil, areas in yellow are neutral and areas in blue have alkaline soil in the World Map. Find Me Plants has further details on other plants for acidic soils, when you set Soil ph in Part 1: Surveying the planting area to Acidic (sandy/peaty) soil. 203 plants that love acidic soils. Best plants for acid soil. Action to assist in Lime-Free (Acid) soil maintenance:-
Lime-Free Soil is Acid Soil Type and can be Peaty Soil.
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Height in inches (cms):- 25.4mm = 1 inch I normally round this to |
Site design and content copyright ©December 2006. Page structure changed September 2012. Created New Page structure and Pages before information added to those new pages. May 2015. Data added to existing pages December 2017. Chris Garnons-Williams. DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.
Perryhill Nurseries sells Plants for a Purpose in these lists:-
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Ivydene Gardens Plants: Use the following Index to see if the plant mentioned in the remainder of this table is actually detailed in this website:- |
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Flower Shape |
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DK Pocket Encyclopedia , Flower Arranging by Malcolm Hillier (ISBN 0-86318-434-0) is a complete practical guide with:-
The following plants can be used for flower arranging:-
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Number of Petals |
The small fluffy tufts of the meadow rues (Lesser Meadow Rue) are Petal-less Clusters of stamens. Their is 4 to 8 Sepals for Clematis flowers instead of 4 to 8 Petals and so are Petal-less Clusters of stamens and Sepals (Clematis 'Alba Luxurians'). |
A flower with one large, long, thin petal, typical of ray-florets of the Aster/Daisy Family (Asteraceae). These look like single petals but are all individual flowers, each one capable of producing its own seed. An example is Cosmos bipinnatus - see photo from Higgledy Garden showing the individual petals acting as part of the ray-floret, with their cultivation details. |
An arrangement of 6 segments arranged in 2 whorls, the inner whorl of 3 petals arranged in an equilateral triangle constricted at the base by the 3 outer segments, the sepals (Iris pseuda-corus).
Other examples in Lily and Iris Families. |
Cross-shaped (Cruciform) - A flower with four petals at right angles to one another (Aethionema armenum). Typical of members of the Cabbage Family (Brassi-caceae). An arrange-ment of eight segments arranged in two whorls, the inner whorl of 4 Petals arranged in a cross constricted at the base by the 4 outer segments, the sepals (Veronica pectinata 'Rosea'). |
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The following plants have scented flowers:-
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An arrange-ment of ten segments arranged in two whorls, the inner whorl of 5 petals arranged in a circle constricted at the base by the 5 outer segments, the sepals - Anemone x hybrida. Buttercups, wild rose, larkspur, columbine (aquilegia), and pinks also have 5 petals |
6 or more Petals or Tepals An arrange-ment of twelve segments arranged in two whorls, the inner whorl of 6 petals arranged in a circle constricted at the base by the 6 outer segments, the sepals - sepals form the outer protection of the flower in bud (Anemone blanda).
On many plants, the number of petals is a Fibon-acci number (0, 1, 1, 2, 3 , 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377,610, 987):
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The overall amount of sunlight received depends on aspect, the direction your garden faces:- North-facing gardens get the least light and can be damp South-facing gardens get the most light East-facing gardens get morning light West-facing gardens get afternoon and evening light Sun Aspect, Soil Type, Soil Moisture, Plant Type and Height of Plant are used in the Plant Photo Galleries in the comparison of thumbnail photos |
Surface soil moisture is the water that is in the upper 10 cm (4 inches) of soil, whereas root zone soil moisture is the water that is available to plants, which is generally considered to be in the upper 200 cm (80 inches) of soil:-
Sun Aspect:-
Plants required for different garden sites:-
In the case of some genera and species, at least two - and sometimes dozens of - varieties and hybrids are readily available, and it has been possible to give only a selection of the whole range. To indicate this, the abbreviation 'e.g.' appears before the selected examples ( for instance, Centaurea cyanus e.g. 'Jubilee Gem'). If an 'e.g.' is omitted in one list, although it appears beside the same plant in other lists, this means that that plant is the only suitable one - or the only readily available suitable one - in the context of that particular list. |
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Flower Shape: Simple |
Stars - Stellate (Star-shaped) is a flower with many narrow petals arising separately from a central point (Anthericum liliago). Another example is Sisyrinchium bermudianum album. |
Many flowers have centrally positioned sexual organs surrounded by petals and sepals that curve upwards. Doubling of the segments is common, notably roses. Bowl-shaped - A flower with a deep dish shape, roughly hemi-spherical, with straight sides or with a very slight flare at the tips. Much the same as cup-shaped. An example is Argemone mexicana. |
Saucer-shaped - A flower that is almost flat, with slightly upturned petal tips (Geranium cinereum 'Ballerina'). Another example is Geranium wallichianum. |
Globe-shaped - Incurved petals that give the flowers a globular form. (Paeonia mlokose-witschii with its lemon-yellow globes, filled with yellow stamens). |
Goblet-shaped - Flowers such as magnolias are defined by long tapering stems, outlines that are subtly waisted and incurved petals. They suggest vessels of quality. Example of Magnolia grandiflora. Chalice-shaped - Escallonia 'Apple Blossom' has small chalice-shaped flowers in summer and autumn. |
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Chalky alkaline soils are derived from chalk or limestone with a pH of 7.1 or above.
Clay soil will absorb 40% of its volume in water before it turns from a solid to a liquid. This fact can have a serious effect on your house as subsidence. |
Trumpet-shaped - A flower that starts as a narrow tube, but widens into a flared mouth, where the petals often turn back (Acantholimon glumaceum). Another example is Petunia grandiflora. |
Funnel-shaped - A flower that widens gradually from the base, ending in an open or flared shape (Stachys macrantha) . Salverform - A flower with a long, thin tube, that widens suddenly into a flat-faced flower (Phlox subulata 'Temis-kaming'). |
Bell-shaped (Campan-ulate) - A flower with a wide tube and flared lobes (petal tips), typical of the Bellflower family (Campan-ulaceae). The length of the tube is variable, and the open-ness of the flower, but campan-ulate is generally shorter and fatter than tubular, and more closed than stellate. An example is Campanula cochlear-ifolia pusilla. |
The bell or thimble is open-mouthed, but in the heaths (Erica) and others there is a graduation from fully open bells to urn shapes that are constricted at the mouth. Thimble-shaped - A flower in which the petals are fused into an almost enclosed tube, separating at the mouth into flared recurved back petals. An example is Clematis rehderiana. |
Urn-shaped (Urceolate) - A flower in which the petals are fused into an almost enclosed globe shape, separating at the mouth into individual flared petals. An example is Erica carnea 'Springwood White'. |
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The following is from "A land of Soil, Milk and Honey" by Bernard Jarman in Star & Furrow Issue 122 January 2015 - Journal of the Biodynamic Association;_ "Soil is created in the first place through the activity of countlesss micro-organisms, earthworms and especially the garden worm (Lumbricus terrestris). This species is noticeably active in the period immediately before and immediately after mid-winter. In December we find it (in the UK) drawing large numbers of autumn leaves down into the soil. Worms consume all kinds of plant material along with sand and mineral substances. In form, they live as a pure digestive tract. The worm casts excreted from their bodies form the basis of a well-structured soil with an increased level of available plant nutrients:-
Worms also burrow to great depths and open up the soil for air and water to penetrate, increasing the scope of a fertile soil. After the earthworm, the most important helper of the biodynamic farmer is undoubetdly
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How to Grow Bonsai from Mrs Green Fingers with her Ideas and Advice for your Garden with Amazon selling Flower Genades |
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Flower Shape: |
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Higgledy Garden sells seeds which are chosen for the cut flower patch with Growing Guides, Seed Sowing Guide and Ben's Blog |
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EXPLAINATION OF WHY SOIL IN UK TOWNS IS USUALLY DEFICIENT IN HUMUS.
Humus is dark, organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays.
The humus provides the organic polymers to interact with the clay domains and bacterium to stick the 2 grains of sand together. This soil molecule of 2 grains of sand, organic polymers, clay domains and bacterium will disintegrate by the action of the bacterium or fungal enymatic catalysis on the organic polymers. So if a continuous supply of humus is not present, then the soil molecules will break up into sand and clay. |
Many radially symetretrical flowers are tubular, opening at the mouth to a ring of lobes that are often petal-like. Tubular - A flower with a long, thin, straight-sided tube formed of united petals, often separating at the mouth into a flared shape (Raoulia australis). Another example is a Kniphofia hybrid. |
Flowers that are symetrical in only one plane, as is the case with a large number that are lipped, usually have intriguing shapes, the origin of which is a snug adaptation to a particular pollinator. Lipped (Labiate) - A flower divided into an upper 'hood' and a lower flat or pouched lip (Prunella grandiflora), typical of members of the Deadnettle/Mint Family (Lamiaceae). Another example is Salvia texensis. |
Strap-shaped (Ligulate) - A flower with one large, long, thin petal, typical of ray-florets of the Aster/Daisy Family (Asteraceae). These look like single petals but are all individual flowers, each one capable of producing its own seed. An example is Cosmos - see photo from Higgledy Garden showing the individual petals acting as part of the ray-floret, with their cultivation details. |
Slipper - Flowers described as slipper-shaped (Salvia Black and Blue) are pouched and inflated traps for pollinators. |
Spurs - Plants evolve nectar spurs to match the tongue-lengths of the pollinators. Then the process stops, and only starts again when there is a change in pollinators. Whittall and Hodges proved this idea by testing the columbine genus Aquilegia (Aquilegia formosa), which is pollinated by bumblebees, hummingbirds and hawkmoths. They found that most of the columbines' nectar spur length evolution happened during shifts in pollinators from bumble-bees to humming-birds, and from humming-birds to hawkmoths. In between these shifts, evolution of the columbines' nectar spurs came to a halt. |
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Explaination of how soil works:- "Plants are in Control Most gardeners think of plants as only taking up nutrients through root systems and feeding the leaves. Few realize that a great deal of energy that results from photosynthesis in the leaves is actually used by plants to produce chemicals they secrete through their roots. These secretions are known as exudates. A good analogy is perspiration, a human's exudate. Root exudates are in the form of carbohydrates (including sugars) and proteins. Amazingly, their presence wakes up, attracts, and grows specific beneficial bacteria and fungi living in the soil that subsist on these exudates and the cellular material sloughed off as the plant's root tips grow. All this secretion of exudates and sloughing off of cells takes place in the rhizosphere, a zone immediately round the roots, extending out about a tenth of an inch, or a couple of millimetres. The rhizosphere, which can look like a jelly or jam under the electron microscope, contains a constantly changing mix of soil organisms, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protozoa, and even larger organisms. All this "life" competes for the exudates in the rhizosphere, or its water or mineral content. At the bottom of the soil food web are bacteria and fungi, which are attracted to and consume plant root exudates. In turn, they attract and are eaten by bigger microbes, specifically nematodes and protozoa who eat bacteria and fungi (primarily for carbon) to fuel their metabolic functions. Anything they don't need is excreted as wastes, which plant roots are readily able to absorb as nutrients. How convenient that this production of plant nutrients takes place right in the rhizosphere, the site of root-nutrient absorption. At the centre of any viable soil food web are plants. Plants control the food web for their own benefit, an amazing fact that is too little understood and surely not appreciated by gardeners who are constantly interfereing with Nature's system. Studies indicate that individual plants can control the numbers and the different kinds of fungi and bacteria attracted to the rhizosphere by the exudates they produce. Soil bacteria and fungi are like small bags of fertilizer, retaining in their bodies nitrogen and other nutrients they gain from root exudates and other organic matter. Carrying on the analogy, soil protozoa and nematodes act as "fertilizer spreaders" by releasng the nutrients locked up in the bacteria and fungi "fertilizer bags". The nematodes and protozoa in the soil come along and eat the bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. They digest what they need to survive and excrete excess carbon and other nutrients as waste. The protozoa and nematodes that feasted on the fungi and bacteria attracted by plant exudates are in turn eaten by arthropods such as insects and spiders. Soil arthropods eat each other and themselves are the food of snakes, birds, moles and other animals. Simply put, the soil is one big fast-food restaurant. Bacteria are so small they need to stick to things, or they will wash away; to attach themselves they produce a slime, the secondary result of which is that individual soil particles are bound together. Fungal hyphae, too, travel through soil particles, sticking to them and binding them together, thread-like, into aggregates. Worms, together with insect larvae and moles move through the soil in search of food and protection, creating pathways that allow air and water to enter and leave the soil. The soil food web, then, in addition to providing nutrients to roots in the rhizosphere, also helps create soil structure: the activities of its members bind soil particles together even as they provide for the passage of air and water through the soil. Without this system, most important nutrients would drain from soil. Instead, they are retained in the bodies of soil life. Here is the gardener's truth: when you apply a chemical fertilizer, a tiny bit hits the rhizosphere, where it is absorbed, but most of it continues to drain through soil until it hits the water table. Not so with the nutrients locked up inside soil organisms, a state known as immobilization; these nutrients are eventully released as wastes, or mineralized. And when the plants themselves die and are allowed to decay in situ, the nutrients they retained are again immobilized in the fungi and bacteria that consume them. Just as important, every member of the soil food web has its place in the soil community. Each, be it on the surface or subsurface, plays a specific role. Elimination of just one group can drastically alter a soil community. Dung from mammals provides nutrients for beetles in the soil. Kill the mammals, or eliminate their habitat or food source, and you wont have so many beetles. It works in reverse as well. A healthy soil food web won't allow one set of members to get so strong as to destroy the web. If there are too many nematodes and protozoa, the bacteria and fungi on which they prey are in trouble and, ultimately, so are the plants in the area. And there are other benefits. The nets or webs fungi form around roots act as physical barriers to invasion and protect plants from pathogenic fungi and bacteria. Bacteria coat surfaces so thoroughly, there is no room for others to attach themselves. If something impacts these fungi or bacteria and their numbers drop or disappear, the plant can easily be attacked." |
Locket - The elaborate locket shape of dicentra flowers (Dicentra scandens) is conveyed by these common names - Bleeding Heart, Dutchman's Breeches, Lady's Locket, Lyre Flower. |
Some plants have flowers shaped in a way that suggests a head covering. Those with hanging flowers and petals curving back tightly have long been likened to turbans. Usually the hood or helmet is a showy protective covering for the sexual parts of the flower. Hat or Hood - flowers shaped in a way that suggests a head covering. The hood is a showy protective covering for the sexual parts of the flower. (Acanthus spinosus is hooded by purple bracts) |
Helmet - Those with hanging flowers and petals curving back tightly have long been likened to turbans, such as Lilium martagon. |
Disc - Many daisies are easy to grow and very free-flowering. The typical colour contrast between the disc and the surround-ing rays creates a lively effect (Argyran-themum 'Maderia Santana'). Many daisies are excellent cut flowers. |
Floret - Floret is a small or reduced flower, especially 1 of a cluster in a composite flower - such as the florets of a sunflower (The very small flowers in a ring inside the yellow petals of Helianthus annuus). It is also any of the tight, branched clusters of flower buds that together form a head of cauliflower or broccoli. |
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Negative impacts on the soil food web "Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides affect the soil food web, toxic to some members, warding off others, and changing the environment. Important fungal and bacterial relationships don't form when a plant can get free nutrients. When chemically fed, plants bypass the microbial-assisted method of obtaining nutrients, and microbial populations adjust accordingly. Trouble is, you have to keep adding chemical fertilizers and using "-icides", because the right mix and diversity - the very foundation of the soil food web - has been altered. It makes sense that once the bacteria, fungi, nematodes and protozoa are gone, other members of the soil food web disappear as well. Earthworms, for example, lacking food and irritated by the synthetic nitrates in soluble nitrogen fertilizers, move out. Since they are major shredders of organic material, their absence is a great loss. Soil structure deteriorates, watering can become problematic, pathogens and pests establish themselves and, worst of all, gardening becomes a lot more work than it needs to be. If the salt-based chemical fertilizers don't kill portions of the soil food web, rototilling (rotovating) will. This gardening rite of spring breaks up fungal hyphae, decimates worms, and rips and crushes arthropods. It destroys soil structure and eventually saps soil of necessary air. Any chain is only as strong as its weakest link: if there is a gap in the soil food web, the system will break down and stop functioning properly. Gardening with the soil food web is easy, but you must get the life back in your soils. First, however, you have to know something about the soil in which the soil food web operates; second, you need to know what each of the key members of the food web community does. Both these concerns are taken up in the rest of Part 1" of Teaming with Microbes - The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis ISBN-13:978-1-60469-113-9 Published 2010. This book explains in non-technical language how soil works and how you can improve your garden soil to make it suitable for what you plant and hopefully stop you using chemicals to kill this or that, but use your grass cuttings and prunings to mulch your soil - the leaves fall off the trees, the branches fall on the ground, the animals shit and die on the land in old woodlands and that material is then recycled to provide the nutrients for those same trees, rather than being carefully removed and sent to the dump as most people do in their gardens leaving bare soil." |
Standards, Wings and Keels - Many members of the pea family are highly ornamental, having 5-petalled flowers of butterfly shape, with an upright standard, 2 lateral wings and 2 petals, more or less fused, that form a keel. Pea-shaped (Papilionaceous) - The flower shape typical of members of the Papilionaceae, having a large upper petal called the standard, two large side petals called wings, and two lower petals, often fused together, called the keel, which encloses the stamens and stigma. This example is Cytisus 'Lena' Another example is Lathyrus latifolius. and another; shown below; is |
Pincushions - The pincushions of plants such as scabious (Scabiosa columbaria from BritishFlora) are in reality compound flowerheads, with a dome of central florets surrounded by larger florets. |
Tufts - The flowerheads of many knapweeds (Greater Knapweed) and thistles (Melancholy Thistle) consist of Tufty Florets, Petal-less - but the small fluffy tufts of the meadow rues (Lesser Meadow Rue) are Petal-less Clusters of stamens. |
Cushion - The Cushions of plants such as Androsace delavayi are compound rosettes of foliage with flowers just above each rosette. |
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The following details come from Cactus Art:- "A flower is the the complex sexual reproductive structure of Angiosperms, typically consisting of an axis bearing perianth parts, androecium (male) and gynoecium (female). Bisexual flower show four distinctive parts arranged in rings inside each other which are technically modified leaves: Sepal, petal, stamen & pistil. This flower is referred to as complete (with all four parts) and perfect (with "male" stamens and "female" pistil). The ovary ripens into a fruit and the ovules inside develop into seeds. Incomplete flowers are lacking one or more of the four main parts. Imperfect (unisexual) flowers contain a pistil or stamens, but not both. The colourful parts of a flower and its scent attract pollinators and guide them to the nectary, usually at the base of the flower tube.
Androecium (male Parts or stamens) Gynoecium (female Parts or carpels or pistil)
It is made up of the stigma, style, and ovary. Each pistil is constructed of one to many rolled leaflike structures.
The following details come from Nectary Genomics:- "NECTAR. Many flowering plants attract potential pollinators by offering a reward of floral nectar. The primary solutes found in most nectars are varying ratios of sucrose, glucose and fructose, which can range from as little a 8% (w/w) in some species to as high as 80% in others. This abundance of simple sugars has resulted in the general perception that nectar consists of little more than sugar-water; however, numerous studies indicate that it is actually a complex mixture of components. Additional compounds found in a variety of nectars include other sugars, all 20 standard amino acids, phenolics, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, vitamins, organic acids, oils, free fatty acids, metal ions and proteins. NECTARIES. An organ known as the floral nectary is responsible for producing the complex mixture of compounds found in nectar. Nectaries can occur in different areas of flowers, and often take on diverse forms in different species, even to the point of being used for taxonomic purposes. Nectaries undergo remarkable morphological and metabolic changes during the course of floral development. For example, it is known that pre-secretory nectaries in a number of species accumulate large amounts of starch, which is followed by a rapid degradation of amyloplast granules just prior to anthesis and nectar secretion. These sugars presumably serve as a source of nectar carbohydrate. WHY STUDY NECTAR? Nearly one-third of all worldwide crops are dependent on animals to achieve efficient pollination. In addition, U.S. pollinator-dependent crops have been estimated to have an annual value of up to $15 billion. Many crop species are largely self-incompatible (not self-fertile) and almost entirely on animal pollinators to achieve full fecundity; poor pollinator visitation has been reported to reduce yields of certain species by up to 50%." |
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Umbel - Umbel is where each of the pedicels initiates from about the same point at the tip of the peduncle, giving the appearance of an umbrella-like shape (Androsace bulleyana). |
Double flowers play a dominant role in the modern garden. Whether neatly layered, fancifully flamboyant or simply quaint, double flowers create opulent effects in gardens and also in arrangements of cut flowers. Button - Button is a double flower (Argyranthemum 'Maderia Crested'). |
Pompom - Pompom is the small globelike flower head of certain cultivated varieties of dahlia and chrysanthemum (Agapanthus africanus blue). |
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The following details about DOUBLE FLOWERS comes from Wikipedia:- "Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation fl. pl. (flore pleno, a Latin ablative form meaning "with full flower"). The first abnormality to be documented in flowers, double flowers are popular varieties of many commercial flower types, including roses, camellias and carnations. In some double-flowered varieties all of the reproductive organs are converted to petals — as a result, they are sexually sterile and must be propagated through cuttings. Many double-flowered plants have little wildlife value as access to the nectaries is typically blocked by the mutation.
There is further photographic, diagramatic and text about Double Flowers from an education department - dept.ca.uky.edu - in the University of Kentucky in America.
"Meet the plant hunter obsessed with double-flowering blooms" - an article from The Telegraph. |
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Natural Arrangements |
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Fragrant Plants adds the use of another of your 5 senses in your garden:- |
Flower Perfume Group:- |
Flower Perfume Group:- |
Flower Perfume |
Flower Perfume Group:- |
Saxifraga cotyledon also belongs to this group. |
Bunch - Bunched cluster of more than 1 flower - each flower at end of its own stem (Astrantia major).
Posy - A small bunch of flowers. |
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The most theatrical of natural arrangements are those on upright stems that suggest plumes and bushy tails. Some of the perennials amongst these are very tall and make powerful accents in the garden, but they have a grace and looseness that suggest free spirits rather than fixed sentinels. Plumes - Astilbe 'Rheinland' has tiny flowers gathered together into plumes. Photo from Coblands. |
Bushy Tail - The inflorescence looks similar to a long spike or a bottlebrush and consists of many flowers. Example of Eremurus bungei (Foxtail Lily) - photo taken by Mrs Foord. |
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Column - Euphorbia characias forms impressive clumps of densely set with narrowly blue-grey leaves and culminating in massive columnar heads of Lime Green flowers. Spire - Perovskia 'Blue Spire' is stiff-stemmed with grey-green leaves topped by airy spires of small tubular flowers. |
Spike - Flowers on spikes create a higher vertical flower element to provide more variety in your border (Ajuga reptans 'Atropurpurea'). Others without photo - Another example of a Spike of flowers is Digitalis x mertonensis. |
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It is worth remembering that especially with roses that the colour of the petals of the flower may change - The following photos are of Rosa 'Lincolnshire Poacher' which I took on the same day in R.V. Roger's Nursery Field:- |
Closed Bud |
Opening Bud |
Juvenile Flower |
Older juvenile Flower |
Some plants have flowers grouped in a circular arrangement, either at the tips of stems or in a series of tiers, as in the Candelabra primulas. Much more like the familiar candelabrum shape are several bold perennials and biennials with flowers arranged on branching stems. Whorl - Monarda hybrids develop a base of aromatic pointed leaves, from which rise square stems carrying terminal whorls of hooded sage-like flowers. Monarda 'Croftway Pink' is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial to 90cm in height, with aromatic, lance-shaped leaves and terminal whorls of two-lipped, clear pink flowers 5cm in length. |
Tier - Morina longifolia makes a rosette of spiny leaves and produces spikes of waxy flowers arranged in several tiers of whorls. Candelabra - The Candelabra primulas are perennial species and hybrids characterized by the way they carry their flowers in a series of whorls on upright stems. |
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Middle-aged Flower - Flower Colour in Season in its |
Middle-aged Flower |
Mature Flower |
Juvenile Flower and Dying Flower |
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Flowers arranged in hanging chains and tassels are sometimes curious. The magnificient chains of wisteria, the flowers arranged spirally on a trailing stem, need to be seen hanging free, and no climbers are more deserving of a large-scale pergoda. Chain - The common name golden rain, often given to the 2 species of laburnums and their hybrid, refers to the dangling chains of yellow pea flowers produced by these deciduous trees in late spring or early summer. Laburnum x watereri 'Vossii' is a free-flowering form noted for its trailing sprays, which can be as much as 50cms / 20 inches long. |
Above photo from Wikimedia Commons. |
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Form of Rose Bush |
There are 720 roses in the Rose Galleries; many of which have the above series of pictures in their respective Rose Description Page. So one might avoid the disappointment that the 2 elephants had when their trunks were entwined instead of them each carrying their trunk using their own trunk, and your disappointment of buying a rose to discover that the colour you bought it for is only the case when it has its juvenile flowers; if you do not look at all the photos of that rose in the respective Rose Description Page!!!! |
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Sphere - Agapanthus 'Bressingham Blue' has spherical umbels on tall stems. |
Dome - Flowers clustered at end of flower stem in a dome shape (Achillea chrysocoma) with another example - shown above - of dome shape (Achillea ptarmica 'Boule de Neige'). |
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Plant Selection by Flower Colour |
Blue Flowers |
Other Colour Flowers |
Red Flowers |
Plate - dense, flat-topped, terminal flower clusters in plates (Achillea 'Appleblossom' - Achillea 'Apfelblute'). |
The weightless mass of spring blossom, particularly that of flowering cherries, ranks among the most generous displays the garden can produce. Lax plants loaded with flowers garland man-made and living supports. Some plants that flower generously seem more earthbound, the flowers lying in sheets or falling in tiered cascades. Cloud - The clouds of blossom produced by the ornamental cherries provides a relatively brief but spectacular billowing spring display. The Prunus 'Shirotae' is a wide-spreading small tree with somewhat drooping branches, which carry masses of snowy single or semi-double fragrant flowers in mid-spring. Photo from Coblands. |
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White Flowers |
Yellow Flowers |
See further details in |
The Butterfly Gallery provides photos of butterflies with their egg, caterpillar and chrysalis stages. It also shows which plants they use/eat in their life-cycle. |
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Honey Bees with its Plants: Honey Bee Forage Plants List So, how can I feed the bees if I have no soil in my garden?
You could then progress to Rootop Gardens with a bench and bin from Amerol, which may require a further strengthening of the supporting structure to carry the potential extra weight:-
If you do not fancy putting plants on the walls or your roof, then you could have a series of window box gardens and Balcony gardens using self-watering planters and boxes from Amberol. If you have the room in the hardstanding round your property then why not use a series from the Planter Enhancement Range from Amberol. These are easy to work on - even if you are in a wheelchair or otherwise infirm - and they could still then provide flowers for the bees to use. Using a smaller diameter planterware from Amerol inside a larger diameter plastic one, you can have a rock garden in your conservatory using Amberol plastic rocks. Drill a few holes in the smaller diameter planterware about 2 inches (5 cms) from its base to allow for drainage. Put 3 pot feet under the inside pot to separate it from the base of the outer pot. Irrigate the inner pot and if there is too much water, then that will flow though the holes of the inner pot into the outer pot. If you see that, then empty the outer pot. Since the pots are made of plastic and the pot feet from rubber, there will be nothing to rot; and light to handle as well |
Garland - Clematis montana garlands walls, fences, pergolas, arbours and large trees with clusters of flowers bursting from every joint. Photo from Mrs Foord.
Cascade - Arching stems with flowers clustered all along its length. |
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Butterflies with its Plants: Attracts birds and Butterflies List The Country Diary Book of Creating a Butterfly Garden by E.J.M. Warren (ISBN 0-86350-203-2) is a practical guide to planning and creating a butterfly garden. Some suggestions for wildlife friendly gardening:-
Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe by D. Carter (ISBN 0-330-26642-x) lists their favourite food plants. The following plants attract butterflies:-
The following plants attract birds:- |
Rabbits with its Plants: Rabbit-resistant List Rabbits are a serious problem in many rural gardens and in some urban ones as well. The only way of stopping them eating your plants is to have a rabbit-resistant fence round your entire garden. A trench 1 foot deep (300mm) and 1 foot across should be dug out along the outside of the proposed fence. 0.9 metre wide with 13mm mesh galvanized wire net should be placed down the vertical 1 foot trench side where the fence posts are located and also laid 1 foot across the bottom of the trench away from your garden before the remaining 300mm is attached to the posts above the ground level. The trench should then be refilled either with the earth that came out of it or with Type I Roadstone and compacted. Another roll of 0.9 metre wide with 13mm mesh galvanized wire net should then be attached to the fence posts and overlap the first one by 6" (150mm). To make sure that they do not jump over the resulting fence, put barbed wire or razor wire on the top of the fence. A rabbit tends to eat the bark of trees/shrubs close to the ground. If it succeeds in eating a strip of bark and the cambium layer underneath all the way round the main trunk, then the tree/shrub above will die. Late Winter/Spring is the time when the young are being produced and mum wants some extra material to help her!!! Humane traps are available but gardeners have reported that the following plants do show some resistance, especially when mature.
The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund (RWAF) has existed since 1996 and is the combined effort of the Rabbit Welfare Association and its charity partner, the Rabbit Welfare Fund, working to improve the lives of domestic rabbits across the UK through education and communication by making people realise that rabbits are intelligent creatures that need space, exercise, companionship and stimulation and are not to be bought on a whim. Sadly, despite being the third most popular pets in Britain, rabbits are still one of the most neglected domestic animals. A huge proportion of rabbits live out their days in a small hutch with little or no exercise, or are unwanted and discarded onto rescue centres that are already bursting at the seams. Most cases of cruelty and neglect towards rabbits are out of ignorance; people often don't realise they are doing anything wrong because they haven’t done enough research into rabbit care and wellbeing before choosing to buy a pet rabbit. As well as being an animal welfare agency, the RWAF also offers members the support needed to give their rabbits the best lives possible and have a huge wealth of experience to share with you. |
The RHS has compiled this list of plants that will provide nectar and pollen for bees and many other types of pollinating insects:- Compiled by Andrew Halstead, RHS Principal Entomologist
WINTER NOV – FEB Clematis cirrhosa a clematis SPRING MAR–MAY Acer campestre Native plant. Field maple SUMMER JUNE – AUG Achillea filipendulina a yarrow AUTUMN SEPT – OCT Aconitum carmichaeli a monkshood
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This table was copied from Case Studies Pages Case
3 - Drive Foundations What are the Soil Nutrients besides What types of organisms are found in the soil? and What Pysical changes occur in Soil because of weather? and what Chemical changes occur in Soil because of weather? leading to This leads to an 3b Pre-Building Work for Builders to treat polluted soil using phyto-remediation plants. Then, they could follow my following Suggested Action Plan for Builders after they have built their houses:-
And finally on the same day pour a depth of 11 inches (27.5 cms) depth of the builders soil mixture detailed below onto the remainder of the new garden areas and alongside the Instant Hedging.
A fortnight later the following type of turf containing RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue), bred by Barenbrug Research USA, could be laid over the proposed lawn areas. The roots of that grass will reach the clay below and stabilise the new builders soil mix, before the proposed owners view the property a month later. The builders soil mix should within 3 months become roughly the same proportion of clay, silt and sand which is within a Sandy Clay Loam to create a sweet spot for growing plants as shown on How is material lost from the soil? Page, since it will mix with the clay below.
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Design Cases When designing a garden, it is vital to know who and for how long the resulting designed and landscaped garden is going to be maintained by. The book 'The One Hour Garden' describes what maintenance work can be done in the time that you have allotted; and therefore what besides a lawn, you can have in your garden. My redesign and construction work to be done on my 3 gardens - as shown by Case 2 - must be to reduce the maintenance time required to the time I have available. If the gardens are first weeded, pruned, mulched, mown and bare earth converted to lawns using grass seed, then construction can take place in the future - as free time allows during a week or fortnight after the maintenance has been done. In Case 4, the combination of the Structural and Planting Designs would create a garden that I would be able to maintain in one day a fortnight. I would install a 3" deep mulch in the spring on the beds, so that I can prune the shrubs/trees and hoe the odd weed; whilst the father mows the lawns, the mother tends the vegetable garden and their teenage daughters play football!! The children in Case 5 loved to look at creepy-crawlies and wildlife, so that together with low-cost the design for different areas in a terrace house garden was created.
Construction Cases Case 3 is building a drive on clay and it is important to get the part you will not see - the foundations - done correctly. Case 8 is creating a pond with its pitfalls for foundations.
Maintenance Cases If you are asking someone to maintain your garden, then do provide the complete picture. If as in Case 1, you intend to sell the property, then look at this - as not a maintenance but as a selling job - and get that job done instead. Case 6 is creating a vegetable garden in a back garden during the maintenance program of one day a fortnight to maintain it and the remainder of the back and front gardens. This was done over 7 years using a crop rotation system Concrete ponds are likely to crack open due to movement in the ground levels due to being in clay or vibration caused by road traffic if it is fairly close. Case 7 shows no planting shelves for the pond plants. |
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Section below on Problems for Houseowners and Builders when the new home is surrounded by clay and how to solve them. |
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Problems for Houseowners and Builders when the new home is surrounded clay and how to solve them. 8 problems caused by clay:-
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Builders do sell the original topsoil including
where the new building and its garden areas are to be built. The consolidated parent material (bedrock) is usually sand, chalk or clay with flint possibly. At the end of building; the builders rubble is covered with possibly only a 2 inch (5 cms) depth of imported topsoil, which might be the washings from the sugar beet in the sugar industry. This is covered with turf and the unsuspecting public is offered the result. As likely as not one of their gardens slopes towards the house and even with the modern depth of foundation wall, there is no guarantee that subsidence will not occur.
If every garden of a new house had a 12 inch depth of soil removed from its new garden area, then at the end of the building work, the Aquadyne Drainage System would be laid round the entire boundary. Next to it then plant the relevant Instant Hedge on the non-house wall sides to absorb the rainwater collected by that drainage system The mix to change clay soil into a friable useful soil in less than 4 months for the above domestic garden problem was in royal blue colour typing. Using the burgundy colour typing components, the builder could create the following soil mix for his gardens:
If water with 150 kgs of clay was first added to the Concrete TruckMixer and then the required volume of cullet followed by the required volume of waste plasterboard, the mixture is then mixed for an hour. If the cullet/waste plasterboard mixture is passed through the poultry houses to mix with the poultry litter on the litter floor before being collected into the next Concrete TruckMixer, then the houses would be cleaner and smell less. The required volume of waste from beer making could replace the Peat above and the requisite Sulphate of Iron and Sulphate of Potash could be added to the Concrete TruckMixer before that mixture from the Poultry Farm litter floor is added. That soil mixture could then be mixed for 30 minutes before applying it to the garden areas of the new houses built by the builder to an 11 inch (27.5 cms) depth. The resulting mixture would then integrate with the clay and create a deep topsoil within 3 months. All the requirements for a soil as shown in the figure above would then have mixed together and time will increase the bacteria and get a new soil structure created. The following type of turf could then be laid over the proposed lawn areas a fortnight later:- RTF (Rhizomatous Tall Fescue), bred by Barenbrug Research USA, produces rhizomes (an underground stem) that send a shoot up to the soil surface while extending new roots downwards. In fact, RTF can root to 1.5 metres deep giving it a chance to tap into water reserves that normal lawn turf cannot reach. |
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There is other compostable waste that could be used in the above mixture - The following is from a farmer who runs Riverford Organic Farmers who deliver weekly boxes of vegetables, meat etc from their farms to the homes of members of the public in Britain in his weekly epistle dated Monday 4th December 2017:- |
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"So why now, in my 57th year, have I seen the light?
So, I have seen the errors of my youth and come inside. Milan tells me we have only just started. It is shocking how much compostable material is wasted at such cost to our environment:
The reasons are:-
Time is running out; we cannot afford 100% safety when environmental destruction is 95% certain if we continue on our current path."
If the above waste was turned into compost that would last as a mulch like spent mushroom compost, which lasts for 2-3 years with 25-35% loss replenishment each year in the autumn, then it could be sold to the above home owners in bags to put alongside their hedges, in planted pots and in the flower beds throughout the year.
If you cannot be bothered to buy the commercially produced soil conditioner and collect your own seaweed to be harvested from beaches, then the following could still provide these other benefits in the same time slots as in above paragraph:- |
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China sells a lot of seaweed. The Cornish Seaweed Company sells edible Cornish Seaweed and The following is from No Dig Vegetable Garden Website:-
What's the best way to use seaweed on the garden?
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Finally, we should not forget about Noise Reduction for the new residents of the estate just built. See last row in the midlle table for further details. Nor should we forget about the changes required for the infrastructure (see Pre-Building Work for Builders with Polluted Soil Page) . |
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From Annuals and Biennials chapter in Plants for Ground-cover by Graham Stuart Thomas - Gardens consultant to the National Trust. Published by J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd in 1970, Reprinted (with further revisions) 1990. ISBN 0-460-12609-1:- "I think there is a case to be considered for annuals and biennials in ground-cover schemes so long as they will sow themselves freely. |
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Use |
Plant |
Comments |
Lawn and ground-cover under conifer trees |
Poa annua |
The needles under a cedar tree were weekly swept away and the grass, despite fertilizers, top dressing, re-seading and re-turfing, simply would not grow. The needles were left alone and within 12 months the area became self-sown with a close and permanent sward of Poa nnua. This little grass regenerates itself constantly so that it makes a lawn, though each plant has only a short life. |
Oxalis rosea |
This is highly successful in the shade of conifers or any other tree |
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Cyclamen hederifolium |
This is a perennial, though sowing itself freely when suited and it is here because plants to grow under cedars and yews, somewhat away from the trunks, are very few. |
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Temporary ground-cover under trees |
Tropaeolum or Eschscholtzia |
A sheet of 'Gleam' nasturtiums or eschscholtzia; both are free-flowering and easily pulled up, though like all annuals it may be a year or two later before all dispersed seeds have germinated. Silene armeria and Iberis amara are equally successful, with Sett Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) creating a dwarf ground-cover carpet in late summer. |
Ground-cover under trees with high rainfall |
Claytonia sibirica (Montia sibirica) |
This grows under trees where the grass is thin at high altitude and high rainfall. It covers the area - interpersed with primroses and Oxalia acetosella - with a mass of pinky-white stars a few inches (cms) above the ground. Claytonia perfoliata is an annual; it is usually classed as a weed but is excellent cover in cool, acid soil, but far less conspicuous in flower |
Streamsides, river banks and fringes of boggy ground |
Impatiens glandulifera (Impatiens roylei, Annual Balsam) |
It is a rapid colonizer because its seeds are ejected with some force from the ripe pods. It seeds with great abandon and grows to 72 (180) or more; its many pink flowers make a great show. |
Full sun and drier soils than by streamsides |
Angelica archangelica |
It very quickly produces great green heads in spring, ripening quickly, with the result that the ground is thickly covered with seedlings in late summer. Oenothera biennis (Evening Primrose) will colonize any sunny waste place and produce yellow blooms for weeks in the summer Lychnis coronaria is a prolific seeder with rosettes of silvery basal leaves. Erysimum linifolium (Wallflower) produces lilac flowers |
Plants that seed about with abandon |
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From Appendix II Lists of plants for special conditions in Plants for Ground-cover by Graham Stuart Thomas - Gardens consultant to the National Trust. Published by J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd in 1970, Reprinted (with further revisions) 1990. ISBN 0-460-12609-1:- |
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Plant |
Plant |
Plant |
1. Plants requiring lime-free soils
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Arctostaphylos. |
Erica. |
Philesia. |
2. Plants which will thrive in limy soils
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Acaena. |
Cotula. |
Paeonia. |
3. Plants which tolerate clay.
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Acanthus. |
Euonymus fortunei. |
Rodgersia. |
4. Plants which will grow satisfactorily in dry, shady places. Apart from ill-drained clay, this combination of conditions is the most difficult to cope with in the garden. * indicates those which will not tolerate lime. |
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Alchemilla conjuncta. |
Fragaria. |
Reynoutria. |
5. Plants which thrive on moist soils. Genera marked * are suitable for boggy positions. |
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Ajuga. |
Cornus stolonifera. |
*Onoclea. |
6. Plants which grow well in shady positions. The bulk of these are woodland plants, growing well under shrubs and trees, but those marked * are not so satisfactory under trees, though thriving in the shade given by buildings. For those requiring lime-free soil, compare with List 1. |
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Adiantum. |
Carex. |
Epigaea. |
Helxine. |
Onoclea. |
Shortia. |
7. Plants which will thrive in hot, sunny places on dry soils. Those marked * require lime-free soil. |
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Acaena. |
Dimorphotheca. |
Lychnis coronaria. |
8. Plants which thrive in maritime districts. Many of the following will stand wind and salt-spray, particularly those marked *. Those marked ** will provide shelter for others and shelter is highly important in seaside gardening. For genera requiring, lime-free soil, compare with List 1. |
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Acaena. |
Aubretia. |
Ceanothus. |
*Genista. |
Pulsatilla. |
*Sedum. |
9. Plants which create barriers. The following by their dense or prickly character will deter small animals and human beings as well as weeds. |
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Arundinaria anceps. |
Mahonia japonica. |
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10. Plants for town gardens. Genera marked * prefer acid soil; those marked £ will thrive in impoverished soils. Soil in towns is usually deficient in humus. |
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£Acanthus. |
Euonymus. |
Ribes. |
EXPLAINATION OF WHY SOIL IN UK TOWNS IS USUALLY DEFICIENT IN HUMUS.
Humus is dark, organic material that forms in soil when plant and animal matter decays.
The humus provides the organic polymers to interact with the clay domains and bacterium to stick the 2 grains of sand together. This soil molecule of 2 grains of sand, organic polymers, clay domains and bacterium will disintegrate by the action of the bacterium or fungal enymatic catalysis on the organic polymers. So if a continuous supply of humus is not present, then the soil molecules will break up into sand and clay. |
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Cultural Needs of Plants "Understanding Fern Needs
Only Earthworms provide the tunnels which transport water, gas and nutrients to and from roots. When the roots of the plant requires the mineral nutrients dissolved in soil water, oxygen and nitrogen intake and waste gases output, it gets it through the action of the earthworm continously making tunnels to provide the transport system. |
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11. Plants suitable for covering rose-beds. The following are all small plants that will not be strong-growing for the purpose, and will help to make the beds more attractive during the 7 months when Hybrid Teas and Floribundas are not in flower. Small spring-flowering bulbs can be grown through them. The more vigorous shrub roses will tolerate many others among the shorter growing plants in this 1000 ground cover table. |
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Acaena. |
Cardamine trifolia. |
Primula auricula. |
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PLANTS PAGE PLANT USE Ground-cover Height Poisonous Cultivated and UK Wildflower Plants with Photos
Following parts of Level 2a, Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines Page for those photo galleries with Photos (of either ones I have taken myself or others which have been loaned only for use on this website from external sources) To see what plants that I have described in this website see THE 2 EUREKA EFFECT PAGES FOR UNDERSTANDING SOIL AND HOW PLANTS INTERACT WITH IT OUT OF 10,000:-
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Plant Selection by Plant Requirements
Photos - with its link; provides a link to its respective Plant Photo Gallery in this website to provide comparison photos. ------------ Ground-cover Height |
REFINING SELECTION Plant Selection by Flower Shape Plant Selection by Foliage Colour
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The following details come from Cactus Art:- "A flower is the the complex sexual reproductive structure of Angiosperms, typically consisting of an axis bearing perianth parts, androecium (male) and gynoecium (female). Bisexual flower show four distinctive parts arranged in rings inside each other which are technically modified leaves: Sepal, petal, stamen & pistil. This flower is referred to as complete (with all four parts) and perfect (with "male" stamens and "female" pistil). The ovary ripens into a fruit and the ovules inside develop into seeds. Incomplete flowers are lacking one or more of the four main parts. Imperfect (unisexual) flowers contain a pistil or stamens, but not both. The colourful parts of a flower and its scent attract pollinators and guide them to the nectary, usually at the base of the flower tube.
Androecium (male Parts or stamens) Gynoecium (female Parts or carpels or pistil)
It is made up of the stigma, style, and ovary. Each pistil is constructed of one to many rolled leaflike structures.
The following details come from Nectary Genomics:- NECTARIES. An organ known as the floral nectary is responsible for producing the complex mixture of compounds found in nectar. Nectaries can occur in different areas of flowers, and often take on diverse forms in different species, even to the point of being used for taxonomic purposes. Nectaries undergo remarkable morphological and metabolic changes during the course of floral development. For example, it is known that pre-secretory nectaries in a number of species accumulate large amounts of starch, which is followed by a rapid degradation of amyloplast granules just prior to anthesis and nectar secretion. These sugars presumably serve as a source of nectar carbohydrate. WHY STUDY NECTAR? Nearly one-third of all worldwide crops are dependent on animals to achieve efficient pollination. In addition, U.S. pollinator-dependent crops have been estimated to have an annual value of up to $15 billion. Many crop species are largely self-incompatible (not self-fertile) and rely almost entirely on animal pollinators to achieve full fecundity; poor pollinator visitation has been reported to reduce yields of certain species by up to 50%." The following details about DOUBLE FLOWERS comes from Wikipedia:- There is further photographic, diagramatic and text about Double Flowers from an education department - dept.ca.uky.edu - in the University of Kentucky in America. "Meet the plant hunter obsessed with double-flowering blooms" - an article from The Telegraph. |
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Top ten plants that are bad for bees from Countryfile Magazine "Lavender, alliums, fuschias, sweet peas - keen gardeners know the very best flowers to entice bees to their gardens. But what about plants that are bad for bees? Here is our expert guide to the top ten plants that you should avoid to keep bees happy and buzzing, plus the perfect alternatives. 1. Rhododendron 2. Azalea 3. Trumpet flower, or angel’s trumpet (Brugmansia suaveolens) 4. Oleander (Nerium oleander) 5. Yellow Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) 6. Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) 7. Stargazer lily (Lilium 'Stargazer') 8. Heliconia Exotic and interesting, heliconia, or lobster-claws as its sometimes called, is very toxic to bees. You should not prune your heliconias, as the 'stem' is actually made up of rolled leaf bases and the flowers emerge from the top of these 'pseudostems'. However, each stem will only flower once, so after flowering you can cut that stem out. This is recommended, to encourage more flowering, to increase airflow in between the stems of your plant, and also to generally tidy it up and improve the appearance. 9. Bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia - 10. Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) This is another list of Plants toxic to bees, which includes:- |
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PLANT USE Plant Selection Level 1 |
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There are other pages on Plants which bloom in each month of the year in this website:-
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You may not have room in your garden for trees, but you can plant them in containers.
If you still have not enough room for trees, Plant Selection by Garden Use
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Choose 1 of these different Plant selection Methods:-
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Pruning The illustrations combined with the text tell you precisely what to do in the above book. |
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Chapter |
Contents |
Comments |
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Reasons to prune |
Pruning with a purpose. |
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Tools and Equipment |
Clippers and loppers. |
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Pruning Methods |
A proper pruning cut. |
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Ornamental trees and shrubs |
Pruning a bare-root shrub. |
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Shade trees |
Basic tree shapes. |
Cavity repair. "2. Smooth out the rough edges with a heavy-grit file" No, that would tend to remove the remains of the branch collar and further damage the tree. "3. Fill the hole with a good tree-cavity sealer. Asphalt compounds, such as those used in patching driveways and roofs, are suitable..." I suggest the following:- Solutions to stop creating holes in trees. When a branch is cut off, remember to cut it off on the other side of the Branch Collar. (See Figure 1 - Optimum position of the final pruning cut in "Guide to Tree Pruning" by the Arboricultural Association which shows the branch collar within and outside the tree. My Comments: I disagree with their recommendation not to apply wound paint as you can see the result if you do not paint trees which are dehydrated, starved and gassed as these trees in the pavements of Madeira are.) Once that is done, then immediately apply Boron and 2 coats of protective sealant as used for holes in trees above." from Photo Damage to Trees in Madeira Page 1. I also saved the yew tree in my local churchyard. |
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Pruning evergreens |
What is an evergreen. |
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Pruning hedges |
Starting a new hedge. |
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Artistic pruning |
Topiary. |
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Pruning fruit trees |
Pruning a bare-root fruit tree at planting time. |
A solution for grass round trees depriving them of water and nutrients; using the expertise of DLF. |
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Pruning small fruits |
Grapes. |
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Nut trees |
Planting a nut tree. |
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Vines and ground covers |
Pruning a woody vine. |
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Garden plants and houseplants |
Reasons to prune perennials. |
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Bonsai |
Choosing your specimen. |
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