Category: Flowers

‘Showntell’ is one of those few varieties whose luminosity is an irresistible eye-catcher. In fact, it is one of the most remarkable dahlias in the gardens of Clos du Coudray.

This dahlia produces large cactus flowers with bright orange petals chiseled in gold. Robust, it measures between 90 cm and 1.10 m depending on the richness and nature of the soil. Its color goes wonderfully with perennial plants with yellow flowers such as rudbeckias, solidagos, heleniums, inulas … But also with annuals such as tithonias, ornamental tobaccos with white flowers, marigolds and grasses such as large miscanthus. This flower prefers rich soil and full sun exposure.

Culture

All floors are suitable as long as they are not soggy. Choose a location sheltered from the winds, otherwise you will have to stake your plants. Remember, dahlias are greedy! Prepare your soil by bringing in well-rotted compost. To get very large flowers, remove the buttons below the terminal button. In the event of heat or strong drought, water regularly.
In regions where the ground freezes in winter, dig up the tubers in autumn without washing them and place them in a dry and frost-free room. In other regions with mild winters, it is possible to leave the tubers in the ground if it is not soggy in winter: in this case, cut all the stems low to the ground in November, then spread a layer of dead leaves on the ground. the strains. Place a piece of wire mesh and bricks to maintain this protection.

This plant blooms profusely in the dead of winter, offering beautiful scenes as yellow corollas bloom on snow-covered ground. Perennial, it can remain in place for many years.

Material: organic manure
spade claw rake transplanter sieve watering can
Tip: To get the maximum number of flowers on the eranthis, leave them in place for several years. You will only pull them out when the clump has grown too large. The Eranthis offer a pretty winter flowering.
Good to know: Eranthis are quite easy to grow. However, preferably place them in a slightly shaded situation in summer.

Prepare and fertilize the land

Prepare the soil to receive the Eranthi tubers by plowing about twenty centimeters deep. Remove weed roots and larger stones. Incorporate a very well-decomposed organic manure.

Scratch and level the ground

Make several scratches crossing them, so as to finely crumble the soil to a depth of ten centimeters and to mix the organic manure with the original soil. Take advantage of this operation to level the ground with a rake.

Distribute the healthy tubers

The tubers must be in good condition, sound and firm. If they are dry, soak them for a day in water to make them swell. Let them drip off. Distribute them over the bed, spacing them about 25 cm apart, without putting them in line.

Plant the Eranthis

The establishment is done by burying the tubers of 2 or 3 cm. Use the transplanter to make the planting holes. Then cover them with finely sifted earth. Finish your planting with copious watering, even if the soil is moist.

Replant the lily of the valley in a pot after the May Day holiday

On May 1st, lily of the valley is the essential flower to offer. So, allow me to share with you, via Rustica’s blog, a bit of lily of the valley and tips for growing it successfully!

Lucky bells

You will find everywhere the ‘French Giant’ or Nantes lily of the valley which is the most widespread variety. This weekend, it will bloom on every street corner. Coming from a rhyzomatous strain called claw, lily of the valley ( Convallaria majalis) is a perennial plant with lustrous green leaves that, always at the same time, produce floral stems enamelled with deliciously scented white bells.

To plant in the garden

Do not get rid of the potted plants that you have been offered because they do very well in the ground, in the garden or in a large pot, on the balcony. Plant them in partial shade, in rich and cool soil, or even slightly damp. Lily of the valley is courageous and adapts to competition from other roots, which makes it particularly interesting for covering the ground at the base of trees and shrubs or creating a border along a hedge. After a few years you will get a scented carpet or border as Hubert Fontaine suggests.

Yellow streaked foliage

To prolong flowering, which is often short-lived, why not try the variety with yellow streaked foliage? You will find this species under the botanical name of Convallaria majalis ‘Albostriata’ in specialized nurseries. One of them is in Lorraine and offers a range of particularly robust and hardy plants. At its head, Monique Chevry, is passionate about perennials. She multiplies and cultivates classic but also original species like this variegated lily of the valley. Her nursery adjoins a demonstration garden – the Adoué garden – where the plants she cultivates are staged and placed.

Culture sheet: ‘Iron Gate Glacier’ daylily

I love all daylilies , and I don’t know if it’s their foliage that appeals to me first, or the flower. For ‘Iron Gate glacier’, it’s the flower, that’s for sure! Moon yellow, with a small pale green heart …

The banded foliage, supple and very dense of these perennials, is interesting from the beginning of spring to the onset of winter, always remaining fresh, whether on the edge, in beds or in pots. In my natural garden, these tufts have their place everywhere… except when they are open. Because the flowers are far from having the aspect of wild ones. But I love them so much that I manage to place them a bit out of the way. I say ‘they’ because, having a collector’s soul, I enjoy myself with this great family. This HUGE family, because if there are only twenty species of daylilies , more than 40,000 varieties have been created!

Daylily ‘Iron Gate Glacier’

I fell in love with H. ‘Iron Gate Glacier’ while walking, last year, among the sumptuous collection of Clos de Coudray (76). The very pale yellow flower, tinged with lemon, with a small chartreuse green heart, seemed almost virginal, in the midst of its congeners. I rushed into the nursery, and phew, there were some available.

The flowers are about 15cm in diameter, and are very lightly scented. They bloom from June to September, in the middle of a tuft of 60 to 65cm high.

Born in 1971, ‘Iron Gate Glacier’ is as hardy as other daylilies. Very hardy, these perennials live without care: you just have to walk in old abandoned gardens to discover, at the bend of an alley, the perennial orange daylilies, which grow in the middle of the undergrowth. They thrive in any soil, even dry, in the sun or in partial shade. But if the earth is cool, they are all the more beautiful.

A flower for food lovers

There is another reason that makes me love daylilies: it’s their flavor and texture! Because, greedy, I cook and eat a lot of flowers. And daylily is my favorite. I sauté the buttons for one or two minutes, which I serve as vegetables. Or else I taste the flower as it is. Each variety has a different taste. And ‘Iron Gate Glacier’ is particularly exquisite.

Here’s how I’m serving her right now.

I cut cucumber and tomatoes into tiny dice, after removing the skin and seeds. I add miniature dice of feta, as well as chopped basil. I salt, pepper and tie it all together with a little olive oil. I stuff the daylilies, after having removed the pistil, a little too peppered, with this mixture, and in place three per plate, on a bed of salad of

As daylily flowers are renewed every day, I have no qualms about picking them as soon as I have guests!