See that chiselled nose with its chamfered corners? Not much sign of
See that chiselled nose with its chamfered corners? Not much sign of the default-design inane grin here. Maybe that’s because Japan’s economic miracle is abating, production costs are high, profits are disappearing and, more than ever, Japanese car-makers are playing safe, conservative and – the B-word that every UK importer of Japanese cars detests – bland But wait. After all, what we’re talking about is just some more grey Japanese porridge, isn’t it? Toyota Carina, Nissan Primera, Mazda 626, Honda Accord, Mitsubishi Galant – none of them exactly leaps out and thrusts its personality at you. Yes, it’s all new, as Japanese cars are every four years or so, but I bet you’ll find it hard to picture what a new Galant might look like without the prompt of a picture. Mitsubishi Galant.
The Ainsworth’s collection of more than 120 pitcher plants is at Bank Farm, Bank Head Lane, Bamber Bridge, Preston, PR5 6YR (01772 321557) and is open by appointment only, admission pounds 1.. Sylvia Norton’s collection of lathyrus is at Weavers Cottage, 35 Streetly End, West Wickham, Cambridge CB1 6RP (01223 892399) and is open by appointment only during the sweet pea season. Add 50p for postage and packing.Denis Bradshaw’s honeysuckle collection is held at J Bradshaw & Son, Busheyfields Nursery, Herne, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 7LJ (01227 375415) and is open Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm, admission pounds 1. John and Jean Ainsworth’s 54-page booklet (pounds 4.95) is about the family of sarracenias, North American pitcher plants.
The booklets are all available by post from the NCCPG at The Pines, RHS Garden, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QP. Sylvia Norton has written about her collection of lathyrus, cousins of the sweet-pea (pounds 3.95 for a 30-page booklet). His 24-page booklet (pounds 3.95) includes information on looking after and pruning honeysuckles.
Denis Bradshaw has been building up his honeysuckle collection for 100 years and now has about 100 different kinds. Now three of them have published booklets about their collections. But collection owners also do a great deal of work in unravelling wrong names and in saving some of the old cultivars from disappearing altogether from cultivation. Selfishly, of course, we think first of the pleasure of being able to go and look at them.
The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens has been extraordinarily successful in encouraging national collections of garden plants There are enormous benefits in having such collections. “Velvet Queen” (Thompson & Morgan, pounds 1.59) has flowers of a sumptuous mahogany.. “Full Sun” (Suttons, 95p) is a classic huge yellow sunflower with heads 12in across. Use twiggy pea sticks for plump plants such as Michaelmas daisies, and tall half-moon stakes for shrub roses such as “Ispahan”.Continue to sow seeds of annuals to flower in the garden this summer. Letting nature take its course is all very well, but nature did not invent top-heavy delphiniums Single bamboo canes are fine for these cathedral spires. Choose a seed mixture to suit the site.
Think about stakes now..
Get rid of all stones and shuffle over the soil in your boots to tread down the surface. Rake soil several times in different directions to get a level surface. If you have a new lawn in mind, resist the temptation to skimp on preparation. They give a magnificently tropical air to a mixed border, but, like dahlias, can’t go out until all danger of frost has passed. Remove old wood and overcrowded shoots from indoor abutilons Start canna roots into growth in boxes of moist compost.