Is that cherry laurel, in some of the pots? :hmmm:

I certainly didn't spend almost £500 on weeds!! :stare::stare:

Not really, they just don't grow back again after winter.

Danke

Just need to learn how to prune them then :)

That's precisely what the wife wanted because she was sick of mowing the lawn and I of maintaining the decking and patio areas.

Might be, not sure but here are a few pictures from the iPhone of some of the plants that still have labels in their pots.

Umbrella Pine?
http://i.imgur.com/yJFPvOk.jpg

Mountain Fire?
http://i.imgur.com/UpEIzM8.jpg

Salvia nemorosa 'Ostfriesland'
http://i.imgur.com/ItroOU5.jpg

Asian Lilies
http://i.imgur.com/hgyNSKf.jpg

Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald 'n' Gold'
http://i.imgur.com/XFoDjpK.jpg

Little Red Robin
http://i.imgur.com/fSksZ7o.jpg

Astilbe 'Deutschland'
http://i.imgur.com/EziFhgn.jpg

Alstroemeria Inticancha 'Red' and 'Passion' (Peruvian Lilys)
http://i.imgur.com/yRGL4i3.jpg

Euonymus fortunei 'Harlequin'
http://i.imgur.com/6fF5LM2.jpg

This last one is a shot of three cactus? The large leaved one on the right has grown this stem with what look like flowers growing from it.
http://i.imgur.com/CSkq4U0.jpg

I'm guessing low temperature and high moisture causes them to rot during winter.
You just leave the pots as they are or you cover them with anything ??

We have snow and snow makes an insulation over the ground to protect the root from wind, cold and moisture (snow actually dries things until melting), but England has rainy winters and the rain constantly soaks the soil when the plant sleeps and doesn't absorb any of the water plus the low temperatures ensures low evaporation.

During autumn dry the soil (keep it lightly moist, but not wet), place all the pots in a bundle in a corner, preferably where they're shielded from the wind and cover them with something to prevent soaking.

I just leave the pots as they are.

The rest of your response is new and interesting, especially to me, (someone who knows very little if anything).

I'll take all the advice I can get, otherwise the alternative is to keep forking out coin of the realm.

The tricky part is that you want to keep the soil dry during winter, but not bone dry.
Temperatures wont' be a problem since you said the plants are hardy enough, but still protect them from wind.

I bought dahlias this year and in the autumn I'll need to dig out the tubers (roots), wash them, dry them, pack them in dry sand and store them in the cellar over winter. That's how some perennials have to be wintered.
My grandmother gets me to chop some spruce branches in autumn and she covers the tulip flower bed to protect the bulbs from the cold and excessive water.


Speaking of which, I completely forgot to announce something to Subsim. This thread is as good as any.

I got accepted to the Biotechnical center to be educated in horticulture :woot:
I start in October

:har: I love the reaction mate!!

They do look great Jim, nothing brightens up a place like plants and flowers, my wife spends a lot of time and money around the house with not only plants but pots, stands, and statues as well.:yep:

I like the first one. Morticia was indeed smoking hot. To think our own Donna looked a lot like her. :D To bad she isn't here anymore. :wah:

So.. Fireftr wrote that :up:

Jim you really were thorough in photographing and putting all this here :huh::up:
Betonov is of course right about roots and rotting, in winter.


Cannot comment about all..

1st i thought it was Cypress grass, but it is Sciadopitys verticillata (Umbrella pine indeed) as shown on the label. A living fossil, they are around since at least 200 million years, without change! They grow slowly and can become quite large, but probably not in a pot.. rainfall and humidity should suit them well, but not wind.
On a sidenote, they used to cover large areas in the baltic millions of years ago, most of the amber that can be found there comes from those umbrella pines, that reached more than 40 meters.

Mountain Fire - hmm no idea.

Salvia is Salbei in german, very nice smell in summer and bees and butterflies love them, there can be even swarms of the latter around them (we have peacock butterflies and red admirals here). Leaves can be used in the kitchen for seasoning. It grows in relatively dry conditions here, loves warm places (maybe a warmth-reflecting wall or something behind it) and likes sand with not too much humus as substrate. But is generally not so picky, grows well if you do not water too much.

Asian Lilies - pretty, but no idea. Usually they grow well an need quite some water, no direct sun, but you better ask someone else :03:

Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald 'n' Gold' - while "Emerald and gold" may be advertising poetry, this is really a pretty ground cover that should pose no problems. I think it even grows underwater, I remember to have had that in an aquarium or paludarium over some time. Very tough and grows well.

Photinia - should be kept moist in a permeable substrate, in a protected place and half-shadow (no direct sun, or only for short time a day). It sure does not like wetness, then losing its foliage quickly. Needs a lot of humus in the soil/substrat, maybe bark mulch for protection against evaporation. A wall at its back often makes it grow better, maybe because of said protection.
Still gardeners around say we should only water when the upper soil becomes dry. So.. moist, but not wet, should be able to drain. And use ordinary fertiliser, during spring.

Astilbe 'Deutschland' ?? WTH they are from Japan lol. Called "Prachstspiere" here. Should be kept moist, and half-shadow is better; have to be watered throughly and often when exposed to the sun. They are very pretty, wife likes them. I think one of those destroyed the pot it was planted in, it really grows strong rhizomes, or roots.

Alstroemeria Inticancha 'Red' and 'Passion' (Peruvian Lilys) - "Inka-Lilie" here. Looks pretty but no experience. I heard one should not cut the leaves until they turn yellow, they conserve nutrients for next year. No idea though..

Euonymus fortunei 'Harlequin' - no experience with this special sort, but should be similar to the Euonymus mentioned above (?)



The last one, hmm. Not a cactus, but sure succulent plants. The lower right looks like an Aloe/Affodil variant and i'd say the seedhead or flowery thing belongs to that.
Cannot identify the other two though :oops: , but also seem to be succulent plants.

Because they have been put into one pot it seems they have similar demands regarding location.. Aloes like warmth and direct sun, and no humidity. It is more of a desert plant.
Maybe it is better to put them inside, in the winter. They can withstand -20 degrees Celsius like in the desert at night, but not for longer periods, and definitley not permanent rain.

If they were in the house during winter, they should be slowly submitted to direct sun outside again, with the intervals becoming longer. Maybe half-shadow and 1-2 hours at midday should be ok for sun-weaned or young plants. Nutrient-poor cactus soil is good for Aloes, should contain some calcium carbonate/lime.

If Aloes develop offshoots (not the flower stands) they will weaken the plant, so cut them off carefully. You can then plant those into new pots, and grow other Aloes.. there's alot in the web of how to exactly do that.


And .. still looking nice :up:
Was there a garden/landscape architect involved?

:o Hey! Congrats!

+ 1 to that !!:up:

Leave the kukri knife at home, at least to start with.

Congratulations on your achievement! It is always good to meet one's goals; I wish you success in your studies... :salute:



<O>

Thank you for all your congratulations and I'll make sure to become the greatest gardener on this planet :03:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...f961d10b31.jpg