As we move into the month of July all the favourable days of last month come into their own, the warmer weather and occasional showers above all mean that the whole garden has come to life and above all else the flowering plants are really at their best. This of course means there are far more hours needed in the garden to keep everything under control and in some cases extreme measures are needed. Here I want to mention summer pruning or simply cutting back those over enthusiastic climbing plants that will take over the whole garden in just one summer.
It is amazing how frequently we long to get some plant or other established and after a season or two wonder just why! Morning Glory is one of those climbing plants that should really be considered a wild climbing plant found just about everywhere here in Mallorca.
Should you want one in your own garden it will need the strictest cutting back all the time if you dont want it to take a strangle hold on everything it finds in its way. Just keep pulling up any new runners that will continue to appear almost daily and those that are yards long, train them up and over a pergola or such like where you want it to go, not where it wants to go itself.
Once you have achieved this you will be able to wonder at its glory every morning and never doubt as to where the name came from. Mine was given to me in a small plant pot just two years ago, one simple strand of green leaves , it is obviously happy where it has managed to climb to and now I have lost count of the number of bright blue flowers it produces every day. Will I live to regret having let it into my garden? I guess only time will tell and a lot of that summer pruning.
Passion Flower, here is another ‘take over’ flowering climber. It’s name comes from the interesting origin of this climber which was first discovered by the Jesuits in ‘the Americas’ in the 16 hundreds when it was first brought to Europe and they likened all parts of the flower and leaves as signs of ‘the Passion’. Its history apart, it will climb over any hedge or up a tree with no need of a helping hand.
It self seeds yards away from the original plant so can only assume the birds enjoy the fruit and drop off the seeds in any other part of the garden. So, besided cutting back, seedlings need to be pulled up as you would unwanted weeds if you don’t want it to make a strangle hold on the whole garden even though it has such a lovely flower and juicy fruit ripening from now onwards.
Honeysuckle I admit to having mentioned before as a prolific climber, what it has over many other climbing plants is its lovely fragrance often seeming stronger at night. This long, long climbing plant starts off on the ground putting down roots at just about every leaf joint then when it finds something to cling to wil climb up and over. Here again the pruning tools are all you will need to keep it in check.
More plant talk...
And now to a couple of other plants, first a shrub or bush of the Bignonia family where you may find one climbing with huge trumpet shaped flowers. One variety I love which has grown from a simple cutting is that known as Frosty Dawn with down hanging white bells with a pink trim. My own shrub no more that 3 years old is now way up to the heigt of the garden wall and just full of pink trimmed trumpets.
I frequently take cuttings from this tree just to have yet another potted plant on the window sill and it always produces flowers.
Last but not least a reader shares with us a photo of his tower of herbs in several plant pots on his terrace, space saving but at the sane time practical by the kitchen door as well as having both cuttings from mature plants like Rosemary and Sage as well as Sweet Basil, Chives and Parsley. We must thank Marcus for sharing his photos with us!
1 comment
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
I really enjoy your column. We seem to have a disease that is affecting a number of different plants. We have spoken with people at the garden centre but this hasn't resulted in a solution. I wonder if you could recommend anyone we could consult.