Hydrangea heaven
If you do one thing this weekend, buy a hydrangea. Yep, contrary to popular opinion, hydrangeas are very much in.
If you do one thing this weekend, buy a hydrangea. Yep, contrary to popular opinion, hydrangeas are very much in. The trade press has been rabbiting on about them all week and, on tonight's programme, we'll be singing their virtues too. It's the paniculatas with their large white panicles that are stealing the show at the moment. They're hard to resist as I found to my cost when I took my friend, Daniel, plant shopping at the weekend. We were supposed to be choosing a few asters and sedums to add some autumn colour to his garden. But when we came across a display of Hydrangea paniculata 'Vanille Fraise', nothing, absolutely nothing was going to stop him from buying one! And boy does it look amazing.
But I digress... Tonight's programme is a cracker which I'm sure you will enjoy. Toby will be telling you how to store all those apples you're not sure what to do with, while Carol will be giving you a step-by-step guide to taking penstemon cuttings. And if you've ever thought about growing blueberries, then watch this show. There are several things you need to know. I'm definitely inspired. It's just a case of deciding what compost to grow them in.
With tonight's show in the bag, so to speak, I'm now having a think about next week's filming for the programme that goes out in a fortnight's time. We have two teams working on Gardeners' World at any one time, so that when one team is in the edit, the other one is preparing for filming. It's a never ending cycle that keeps you on your toes, but that's half the fun to be honest. Like many gardeners, we'll be planning ahead to spring, so if there's anything you'd like us to feature, please do drop me a line.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~25~RS~)
Comments
I have recently moved into a new house which has a huge mop head hydrangea in the garden, unfortunately it is growing out over the footpath causing a bit of an obstruction. I can cut it back next year by two buds but not sure that will keep it small enough. Is there anything I can do to reduce it without killing it off altogether! I am not an experienced gardener so would appreciate some help.
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planting a reuseable xmas tree.
most of gardening is reminding people to do things. so a remind list would be good.
how to mow a lawn and look after machines correctly. Or for people who can't mow [for whatever reason] what to have instead of a lawn.
how to deal with stumps. most people leave them in and get honey fungus.
how to sharpen and disinfect tools.
how to safely have a bonfire in the garden. i know of professional gardeners who gone up in flames who thought adding a little drop of petrol to that smokey pile of wet leaves would speed things up!
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I would definitely like a section on how to sharpen tools. I know this has been covered before, but I can never get the hang of it.
Could we also have a bit more about house plants? Even though most of my plants are in the garden, I do like to have plants indoors as well.
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My wife and I are long-time Gardeners World watchers and we loved Monty Don and were very sad when he left. Last Friday's show saw Toby making compost using a smaller amount of peat, thinking this an improvement. I was not impressed as he should not use peat at all.
Monty had applied an overall vision and passion for gardening that was infectious. My wife is the green thumb and I would rather do gardening than watch it but Monty embodied what we both believe in when we garden. So far Toby presents various practical tips that losely hang together under the banner of 'get out and garden whoever you are!'. This is noble, but compared to what we have lost it represents a dumbed down version of the 'gardening for all' vision Monty promoted as a passion for nature as well as people. Chris Beardshaw would have brought this vision forward and developed it. Others could have done this. Toby just doesn't have it!
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Hello Tonyavanti
It's perfectly possible to get your mophead hydrangea under control without killing it. Either prune it back to the required height or chop it down to ground level. It will reshoot without any difficulty, but may not produce many flowers, if any, next year.
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Question about hydrangeas.
I bought a lovely blue one this year and put it in a large pot outside my bedroom french window. It was planted in ericaceous compost but it has now turned pink.
Is there anything I can add to the compost to revert the plant to blue. My gardener told me it needed that compost and she planted it.
amjo
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PLEASE WOULD SOMEONE ANSWER MY QUERIE ABOUT HYDRANGA
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PLEASE PLEASE tell me where you can buy a decent-sized Hydrangea Paniculata Vanilla Fraise - I want one desperately for my new garden but all I can find are those mail-order ones sold in VERY small pots. I can wait for some things to mature (just!) but I have a large hole that needs a reasonable size hydrangea straight away. Thanks everyone.
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i have a hydrangea quercifolia and i have a question about it do you need to take the old blooms out?? because it is already making a new one(i bought it this year)
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