Meet the family

Herbaceous spring flowers are coming into bloom in the mild showery weather we have had this month.

Among them is the beautiful Dicentra spectabilis, the Bleeding Heart with its heart-shaped pink and white flowers dangling from rose-tinged arching stems above fern-like foliage.

Dicentra spectabilis is easy to grow and will live for many years in the right conditions - fertile, light soil and a cool spot. Sun is tolerated but the plant shows up best in light shade where the flowers glow and catch the slightest movement of air.

Its enemies are spring frosts; a cold winter wet soil and strong winds that will wreck the brittle stems very quickly so a sheltered spot is essential especially in exposed gardens.

Growing 60cm/24ins or so high, with a similar spread, it is a good plant to grow with later-flowering perennials that will take over once the dicentra has died back.

Alternatively it can be grown with shrubs such as the coloured-stemmed dogwoods that are cut back round about the time the new shoots of the dicentra are beginning to break through the surface of the soil, or with daffodils where the dying foliage of the bulbs will be hidden by the leaves of the dicentra.

There are two other Dicentras in the spectabile branch of the family. D.s.'Alba' has pure white flowers and lighter foliage and is less vigorous than its relative but with grow to a similar height. 'Goldheart' has unusual yellow foliage in spring, which fades through the summer.

While Dicentra spectabilis dies back after flowering, other members of the genus are longer lasting if not quite as spectacular.

Dicentra formosa and Dicentra exima varieties bloom in spring and then continue on and off throughout the summer. Some are more prolific than others but all give a good display of fine foliage for months.

D.formosa has soft pink flowers and seems easy to grow in sun or shade but, like the rest of the family, is best shaded from midday sun.

D,formosa alba and 'Aurora' have white flowers as has D.exima 'Snowdrift'.

Others include 'Adrian Bloom' with grey leaves and long lasting crimson flowers, 'Bountiful' with plum red blooms, 'Pearldrops' a good white form with bluish green foliage and 'Bacchanal' with small very deep-red flowers that contrast well with its finely-cut green foliage. All grow between 30-40cm/12-16ins tall.

Garden talk

Geoffrey Smith, local gardening expert and TV and radio presenter will be the guest speaker at the AGM of Askham Bryan College (ABC) Gardening Club on Tuesday May 10. Starting at 7.30pm the talk will be held in the Conference Hall at the college with free entry to ABC Gardening Club members and £4 on the door for non-members.

Plant sale

The Ancient Society of York Florist will hold a Plant Sale at Askham Bryan Village Hall on Saturday May 7 starting at 10am. All welcome.

Open gardens

Sunday, May 1

In aid of the National Gardens Scheme

Hunmanby Grange, Wold Newton, 12.5 miles south east of Scarborough on the road from Burton Fleming to Fordham. Three-acre garden created from an exposed field into a series of spaces sheltered by hedges and fences and planted for year-round colour with seasonal highlights.

Open 11-5pm. Admission £2.50. Also open Wednesday, 1-5pm.

In aid of St John Ambulance

Kirkby Sigston Manor, Kirkby Sigston, Northallerton. A 2.5-acre garden with lawns, herbaceous and shrub borders, vegetables, green house and a lakeside and woodland walk. The manor was originally the vicarage for St Lawrence's Church, which is at the side of the lake.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £3 adult, 50p child.

In aid of British Red Cross

Helmsley Walled Garden, Cleveland Way, Helmsley. Park in Cleveland Way long-stay car park and follow the path to the garden. A five-acre walled garden restoration project with perennial borders, fruit and vegetables including 50 varieties of Yorkshire apples, unusual plant nursery, and caf and craft workshops.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £3.50 adult, accompanied children free.

Upsall Castle, Upsall, four miles north east of Thirsk off the A19. Traditional garden set in 16 acres of land surrounded by trees with many varieties of flowering plants and shrubs, lakeside walk and wild area. It was the top Red Cross fundraising garden for Yorkshire in 2004.

Open 2-5pm. Admission £3 adult, accompanied children free.

Monday

In aid of St John Ambulance

Springtime in Upper Nidderdale. Five gardens open all within four miles of each other:

Low Hall, Dacre, off the B6451 four miles south of Pateley Bridge. Clipped yew hedges shelter a tranquil garden from the prevailing north-east and south-west prevailing winds.

Old Twine Mill, Low Laithe. Walled garden with a pool, riverside terraces and walks and unusual architectural features including bridges, arches and a waterfall.

Orchard House, Dacre Banks. Two-acres of garden designed to blend with the surrounding countryside and offer a haven for wildlife with shrubs, perennials, fruit and vegetables.

Woodlands Cottage, Summerbridge. A one-acre cottage garden with herbaceous plants, herbs, woodland and rock gardens, wild-flower meadow and vegetable plot.

Stud Cottage, Oak Lane, Dacre Banks. Colourful cottage garden with rockery, small vegetable area, orchard and fish pond.

The gardens are all open from 11am-5pm. Combined admission is £5 adult, £1 child over five years.

TV and radio

Sunday, May 1

9am, Radio York, Down To Earth. Presented by William Jenkyns. (Repeated on Wednesday at 8pm).

9am, Radio Leeds, Joe Maiden and Tim Crowther.

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. Eric Robson, Matthew Biggs, Bob Flowerdew and Anne Swithinbank are in Cookham where they are guests at the Trinity Festival. The Gardening Weather Forecast is at 2.25pm.

2.45pm, R4, Five Gardens Of France. In the last of the series Susan Marling visits the gardens at Chateau du Villandry on the Loire.

Monday

2pm, C4, The Great Garden Challenge

Tuesday

2.15pm, C4, The Great Garden Challenge

Thursday

8.30pm, C4, The City Gardener. Matt James helps to create a garden from a dreary grey alley with unforgiving soil and an ugly wall.

Friday

7.30pm, BBC2, A Year At Kew. Britain's rarest orchid is planted back into the wild at a secret location.

8pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World. In an extra-long programme, the team looks at one of the UK's gardening obsessions - bedding plants.

Updated: 16:11 Friday, April 29, 2005