It's been an active week in the gardens getting the last of the autumn plantings in the ground, the cold sensitive plants inside, and anxiously handing over the nursery care to the boys. Here's what we've been up to.
Winter Propagation
Although the plants in the gardens are off to sleep for the winter the plants inside are just getting started. Elaeagnus umbellata - Autumn Olive and Zanthoxylum piperitum - Japanese Pepper Tree seed sown last month have already started to germinate in the sun room. A little trick I've picked up is to sow the seeds as soon as the fruits are ripe. This seems to by pass winter dormancy of some species. As long as the emerging seedlings are not subjected to sub zero temperature (better still not below 5 C) they will be fine and should be ready for pricking out into pots by March/April. Here are the first few Elaeagnus umbellata - Autumn Olive seedlings to emerge
and Zanthoxylum piperitum - Japanese Pepper Tree with the empty seed case still attached to the seed.(Epigeal germination)
I could not resist unearthing a few of the Chilean Hazel - Gevuina avellana seeds we sowed in October, to see what is going on and it was marvelous to discover the radicle emerging through the shell. These plants grow in a similar climate to ours on the other side of the hemisphere in Argentina. According to other growers, the germination stage is the easy part and they will often wilt as they develop when propagated in captivity. I'm not sure why but it could be that associations with native soil microbes specific to that region could be missing. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing how our South American friends fare here. Thanks Daniel for the seeds.
Another traveller from far away lands, Carpobrotus edulis - Hottentot-fig is a ground-creeping plant native to South Africa. This was plant was gifted to us by Ben who joined us on the study this year and Ben - if you are reading this - you will be pleased to know it's doing great in the warmth of the sun room. As the name suggests the plant is edible with the succulent leaves and fruit ready to nibble raw or cooked.
I started growing Taxus baccata -Yew. I'm not sure it will survive the most severe of our winters here so I'll keep it in a pot until it has a larger root system developed and then find it a nice sheltered position somewhere. This is one of the trees I miss from the UK where you can find it pretty much in every cemetery, church yard and park. Although the leaves and seeds are deadly poisonous, the red berries are edible and very sweet and have a glue like texture. Just don't forget to spit out the seed!
Really pleased to see that the seeds I harvested from local native Lathyrus verna - Spring Vetchling have germinated and are growing well. This nitrogen fixing herbaceous perennial is native to forests of Europe and Siberia. It's shade tolerant, quite unusual for a herbaceous nitrogen fixer and I'm looking forward to trying it out in the ground and herb layer of our forest gardens. I noticed the flowers from the forest plants attracting bumblebees among other pollinators. Here are the Lathyrus verna seedlings.
Here are the parent plants photographed in the spring from the beech forest on the mountain above the village.
The Allium Nursery
Sophie has been sowing Allium bulbs in pots as well as in the new bulb beds in the nursery. If we have a very wet and cold winter and the bulbs outside rot in the ground we still have some back up bulbs in the sun room. This one is Allium sphaerocephalon - Round-Headed Leek.
and here are Allium sphaerocephalon - Round-Headed Leek coming up in the bulb beds outdoors
The bulb beds. We've planted around 13 species of Alluim so far. You can find our existing Allium plants here under the perennial vegetable category and we'll be listing the new comers next season.
Photos of the Home forest garden. Apatheia
Apatheia - The Home Forest Garden just before a chilly wind a few days ago
Apatheia - The Home Forest Garden 3 minutes ago. The only deciduous tree in the garden with leaves remaining is Alnus cordata - Italian Alder
Apatheia - The Home Forest Garden last Spring, with labels
Around the Gardens
Fieldfare - Turdus pilaris perched in a Juglans regia - Persian Walnut. These birds are often found in flocks and after watching them for a while the other day they appeared to be working in groups, taking turns on a look out positioned in a high and open spot while the other flock members rummage around the hedgerow for berries and insects.
Rosa canina - Dog Rose with the snow capped mountains in the background. A comforting display of winter.
Salvia officinalis - Sage looking pretty good considering it's just dealt with the first snow of the year.
Still some beautiful leaf degradation going on.
Miscanthus x giganteus - Giant Miscanthus in flower with our old Prunus domestica - Plum in the background. I'll leave the shoots of these plants until the spring before cutting. The flowers are beautiful and the dense clumps probably providing overwinter shelter to spiders etc.
Hedge Planting
The last of the planting is over until the Spring. Here's Archie and his pal Kaloyan planting out some Elaeagnus umbellata - Autumn Olive that we are growing as hedge on the southern boundary of one of the gardens. I made a tree and shrub planting out guide a few years back, you can find it here if you are interested.
Some horses nearby took some interest in what we were up to
The two foals seemed more interested in the boy's coats than the plants
They soon made friends and had a curious nibble at the new plants (see horse in background). I went back the next day and some of the shoots had been nibbled which is perfectly fine as we want the plants to form bushes and light pruning at the tips is a great way to achieve this. As long as the horses are not in the gardens eating the new shoots during the spring (which they are not) the hedge should form well.
That's all for now. Hope you have a lovely winter and Christmas and all that, and thanks for reading.
Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course
Want to learn how to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes? Join us for our Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course from May 1st to Sep 13th, 2023.
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Support Our Project
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
 |
| You can also register for our online training, services, and products directly here. |
No comments:
Post a Comment