Last updated 16:07, Wednesday, 08 October 2008

OVER the weekend I was in Preston with a few friends enjoying myself by fundraising through Barclays Cash for Kids scheme.

Anemone x hybrida, “Konigin Charlotte”: It has large, semi-double pink flowers with up to 15 broad petals and has been given the Award of Garden Merit

On the way back home we made a stop at the Barton Grange Garden Centre in Brock (between Preston and Garstang). It opened in March this year and I visited with a few friends to attend the North West Orchid seminar.

The garden centre was not quite how I remembered: most of the internal space looked like one enormous Santa’s grotto – it was full of Christmas decorations in a range of colour schemes.

My wife Melanie enjoyed browsing among the Christmas displays, while I took off to look at what plant offers I could find!

Being from West Cumbria, we do like value for money and given that garden centre prices can be a little on the high side I was pleased to find a number of special offers, particularly on the spring flowering bulbs. The bulbs on sale were supplied by Taylor Bulbs, so I knew they would be of quality, therefore being in bulb heaven I could not resist and purchased a selection of named varieties of tulips, crocus and hyacinths for planting in my tubs and troughs.

I have now removed most of my summer baskets and pouches and emptied into the compost bin. You may have also noticed that the baskets and troughs have been removed from around the town.

However I have left my window boxes, as the begonias geranium are still provided lots of colour. I hope to get about another two weeks when I will look to replace them with primulas and pansies, and also to under plant with the bulbs I purchased from Barton Green Garden Centre. With bulbs it is a general rule to plant the bulb at twice the depth of the bulb.

My lawn is looking in good shape. I have managed to cut the grass more regularly thanks to a few dry spells and the earlier clumpy grass arisings have been removed. I am slowly lifting the cutting height as the season draws in. This will help the lawn to stand up to the autumn renovation in the next few weeks such as the heavy scarifying.

In the garden my Japanese Anemones are in full colour and looking very striking. Although named Japanese anemone, the three main species – Anemone hupehensis, Anemone. vitifolium and Anemone tomentosa – come from China! They were erroneously called Japanese anemones after a particular form of anemone was first recorded near Nagasaki in 1695. By the time the first plants reached the West in 1844, they were already known as Anemone japonica, though most modern varieties seen in gardens today are descended from Anemone x hybrida.

My own favourite is Anemone x hybrida “Konigin Charlotte”, also known as Queen Charlotte. This popular variety was bred in Germany in 1898. It has large, semi-double pink flowers with up to 15 broad petals and rightly so been given the Award of Garden Merit.