Hordle april may 22

Hordle Gardening Club
Spring Is Here
28
Such a lovely time of year, grass is
growing, hellebores and daffodils are
out, and many tulips leaves are already
showing. With so many people at
garden centres buying new plants for
their gardens I thought a little
clarification on a few gardening terms
might be useful.
What’s the Difference Between
Annuals, Biennials, Perennials and
Woody Plants?
Well, an annual completes its
lifecycle in the space of one year. It
grows from seed, flowers, sets seed and
then dies. (eg annual poppies)
Biennials produce a young plant the
first year, then in its second year flowers,
sets seed and dies. (eg our native foxglove)
Then we have herbaceous
perennials. These are plants whose
growth above ground dies down in
autumn and go dormant through the
winter, but reappear the next year in
spring (eg Day Lilies - Hemerocallis),
some appearing later than others.
However, just to add confusion,
plants may be ‘hardy’ or ‘half-hardy’.
The seeds of a hardy annual can survive
frost and cold winters, whereas the
seeds of a half-hardy annual should be
sown undercover or outdoors after the
last frost, usually because it originally
comes from a hot country. Similarly,
perennials may be identified as hardy or
tender indicating they are unlikely to
survive a frost. (eg Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ often
referred to as a woody perennial as it’s
growth from its woody structure may
succumb to a frost but it can then grow
from the base).
Then we have woody plants, shrubs
and trees of all sizes. These have a
permanent hardy woody structure, some
are deciduous - ie lose their leaves in
winter, others are evergreen ie retaining
their leaves in winter.
When you see the ultimate height and
width on plant labels bear in mind these
are a generalisation for the middle of the
country, which has a slightly shorter and
cooler growing season than we do here on
the south coast. Therefore, many plants
classed as tender or half-hardy may
survive our winters down here. Equally,
our plants here often grow taller and
wider than the label says! Be warned!
Having said that, if you live in a frost
pocket like Brockenhurst, some tender
plants may not survive a winter. So, as
that well known TV programme says
‘Location Location, Location’! Remember
the RHS website has lots of information to
help you choose and grow your plants.
Our club meeting on Friday 25th March is a
talk from Kelvin Mason about ’Composting
& Recycling’ - I’m looking forward to that,
and we look forward to you joining
us - guests are very welcome.
To advertise email: jqpeacock@gmail.com, or call 01590 643969 / 07801 562358