Shady characters

THE garden may be filled with tall plants gently collapsing into autumn, but a closer look lower down reveals the blooming of other shorter specimens. At this time of year, marble-leafed cyclamen pop up in shady spots of the garden, filling spaces with their attractively marked leaves and lovely flowers.

The autumn-flowering varieties generally bloom from September through to November, but they can appear as early as August and last well into December, depending on their planting position and the weather.

There is a small clump of white-flowered cyclamen growing with a spotted leafed pulmonaria under the holly tree in our garden. It has done well to survive this year because I had forgotten it was there earlier in the summer when I dug the area over, paving part of it and replanting the rest.

The dry conditions seem to suit it well since it is underground at the driest time of the year and emerges just as the temperatures begin to fall and we get the autumn rains. The leaves are dark green with subtle silver markings, while the slightly frilled flowers stand a few centimetres above the foliage on dark brown stems.

This year the cyclamen is a little overwhelmed by the pulmonaria whose leaves are so much bigger, but as the former increases in size over the next few years the balance should eventually correct itself and I could even plant a few more to help things move a little quicker.

Two new cyclamen to our garden this year are cyclamen Victoria and cyclamen Silver Wine. Victoria is a very attractive plant with variegated leaves and a thick clump of large pale pink flowers edged with dark pink and marked with the same colour at the base of each petal.

The foliage is beautiful, each leaf with a central heart shape of green surrounded by a margin of silvery green and edged with a thin strip of darker green. The veins are silvered and the brown flower stems grow through, carrying a tiny twist of colour that will eventually be the flowers.

Silver Wine is similar in size, but with deep rich red flowers and a lighter margin on the leaves that contrasts well with the darkness of the blooms.

They are still in their pots as I want to use them for winter containers - cyclamen are useful for this since their leaves are long lasting and should remain in tact until the new year - but after this they can be put out into a permanent spot in the garden.

I have bought Erica gracilis, a small evergreen shrub with pink flowers, to plant alongside the cyclamenis for a winter display.

I found out later it is frost tender but will only cope with temperatures down to 5C so it will need to be protected if the winter is very cold. The stiff stems with their needle like leaves and clusters of flowers will give a good contrast to the flowers and foliage of the cyclamen.

In the garden it likes sun or partial shade and well-drained acid soil - like most Ericas it dislikes being grown in limy conditions. Pruning is done after flowering with stems being taken back to just above a low growth point.

On the subject of Ericas, however, I have a grumble. The one I bought is lovely, covered in blooms and a good shape. There were others on sale, mainly white or pink but interesting and pleasing to look at. So why was the same shop selling white Erica that had been sprayed with food dye?

The colour range of this plant family is admittedly limited but the shades are beautifully subtle, which is one of their attractions. The food dye makes them look uncomfortably bold and brash with their poor flowers and leaves coloured pea green and orange, bright red and even blue.

Usually open to new ideas, I can find no reason for this one.

Fungal foray

THERE will be a fugal foray at York Cemetery tomorrow starting at 2pm at the main gate. The foray will be led by enthusiast Findlay Cook and the search will take participants around the cemetery exploring hidden nooks and crannies for the fungi. The afternoon ends at the neo classical chapel where free tea and coffee will be served.

Tickets are £2.50 adult and £1 child.

Open garden

Tomorrow (16th), in aid of the British Red Cross Constable Burton Hall will be opening its gardens to the public. Located in Constable Burton Village, three miles east of Leyburn on the A684, six miles west of the A1. Large romantic garden with terraced woodland walks, garden trails, shrubs, water garden and rockery set in the beautiful countryside at the gateway to Wensleydale. Open 9am-6pm. Admission £3 adult, accompanied children free.

Weekend catch-up

PRUNE Buddleja davidii between a third and a half of its height to stop wind damage in autumn and winter. The remaining branches can be pruned hard back in early spring when the new shoots begin to show.

Buddleja davidii can grow tremendously in one season and needs to be kept in check to stop it becoming over large and congested. This two stage pruning will protect the shrub in winter whilst encouraging it to produce plenty of new stems and flowers the following spring and summer.

Gardening TV and radio - w/c 16/10/05

Sunday

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

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

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. A postbag edition with Pippa Greenwood, Anne Swithinbank, Bob Flowerdew and chairman Eric Robson. The gardening weather at 2.25pm.

Thursday

8pm, BBC2, A Year at Kew.

In the tenth part of the series, one of the team at Kew hopes to become Young Horticulturalist of the Year. Meanwhile the tree gang are planning some thrilling rides for children visiting the Woodland Wonders exhibit.

Friday

8pm, BBC2, Garden School.

In this new series, Dairmuid Gavin ditches his watering can and turns teacher, picking eight amateur gardeners from 30 applicants to go on a five-month foundation gardening course. They will be set tasks each week, but unlike other programmes of this ilk there will be no evictions. In the first of the series Gavin has to weed out the contestants and introduce the successful eight to their new homes at the Royal Horticultural Society HQ at Wisley. By the end of the course the contestants are expected to exhibit their work at the RHS Tatton Show.

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World. The team get to work on a new garden aimed at re-inventing the conifer and Joe goes on the trail for some exciting new varieties.

Updated: 15:41 Friday, October 14, 2005