In the garden with Gerry Daly: red campion

The garden form of red campion has dense rosettes of hairy broad leaves at ground level and it makes a very effective ground cover as no weeds come through the cover of foliage. In early summer, relatively short flower stems rise to about knee-height above the leaves and flower in a great rush for a few weeks, tailing off over a period of time. The stems are quite soft and the clump is easily divided up. It was a standard item in most old-fashioned cottage gardens and it is still widely seen in the gardens of rural houses.

Wherever it is planted, there are nearly always several or even many plants dotted around the garden, the plant having been split and planted in lots of places around the garden. A very similar plant is sold as ‘Rollie’s Favourite’ and is very free-flowering.

The red campion, Silene dioica, is actually a wild native flower, but the garden form is not quite the same, having been selected for more dense growth. The wild plant is more lanky and upright with flowers more spread along the flower stems. It is nonetheless a very graceful roadside plant in some parts of the country, growing in grassy banks, flowering in early to mid-summer. It appears in openings in wooded places too. It is found most in the northern and eastern parts, locally quite common but otherwise rare. For instance, it might be seen several times in the same couple of kilometres but not again. But don’t confuse it with the ragged robin, which is related and appears mostly in wet places. It is also related to rose campion, or dusty miller, Lychnis coronaria, another common garden flower, but flowering later in summer.

There is a white wild campion that is found in the centre of the country and the southeast, again locally common but otherwise rare. When the two wild species overlap, the offspring appear as pale pink intermediates but this is unusual. There is a double-flowered form of the garden red campion that is sometimes seen but the more common form has single flowers and it is the prettier of the two.

While the red campion is easy to grow, it can also die out quite suddenly. This is usually caused by a very heavy infestation of greenflies on the backs of the older leaves down in the rosettes. These can build up to huge levels and draw all the sap out of the plant causing it to collapse and wither. It is also inclined to get a form of downy mildew that cause a soft rotting of the leaves and stems close to the soil level where it stays damp longer. Both of these problems tend to occur on plants older than a few years, and it rarely happens when the plants are kept vigorous by dividing every few years to re-invigorate them.

If you do come across this plant for sale, which is more likely at a bring-and-buy sale, that it is in a garden centre, then pick it up. Or if you see it flowering these days in a garden, ask the owner for a bit of it – that is probably how they got it to start with. Avoid planting on wet soil, try to have a fairly well-drained root. Watch for signs of greenfly presence in the summer and autumn because this is when most damage is done. Also, make sure to pass on a few bits to friends and neighbours because you never know when it might die out and you will need to give a bit of it to start over again.

As the weather warms up, slugs and snails become very active as it is the start of the breeding season and they require more food for egg laying.

The slug’s timing is perfect as the young foliage of most plants pushes out, it is tender and succulent and very attractive to slugs. In many cases, these pests have been hungry for months, through winter, holed up under cover, safe from frost. When they emerge in spring, the weather can be stop-start as it certainly has been this spring.

Most plants become less attractive after the leaves have fully expanded and toughened. But the damage is usually done by then. Certain kinds such as hostas, ligularias and dahlias can be very badly damaged, even eaten back down below soil level.

Although the bird population in many rural gardens keeps slugs and snails to relatively low levels, it is often still necessary to take some measures against them according to your preference.

Lawns

Lawns have had a stop-start season with some cold spells holding up growth. Growth is generally good now and the lawn is unlikely to need feeding for a while but any lawn that is pale or growing poorly should now get some lawn fertilizer or high-nitrogen fertilizer. Carry out lawn repairs or over-sowing with grass seed soon before the soil dries out again and the opportunity is lost. Cut the edges around flower beds.

Fruit, vegetables and herbs

Sow cabbage and cauliflower for autumn and winter use in the coming weeks. In mild areas, plant out tender vegetables such as sweet corn and runner beans. Wait a week or two in colder areas. Grow on these plants, feeding them in pots if they are hungry and reducing the temperature in the greenhouse by ventilating. Complete sowing of maincrop vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and peas. Repeat sowings of those sown early.

Trees, shrubs and roses

Continue to prune spring shrubs as they go out of flower, if they are growing too big. Don’t delay any further with forsythia, flowering currant, kerria and spring spirea. Tie in the new shoots of climbing roses so that they will be in the correct position for training later. Continue to spray susceptible varieties of roses against blackspot disease, especially in the damper parts of the country and after wet weather.

Greenhouse and house plants

Plant out tomatoes, chilli peppers, cucumbers and sweet peppers as soon as space becomes available in the greenhouse. If you have not raised plants of your own, they are available in garden outlets. Feed greenhouse plants to get good growth before mid-summer and water well. Watch for pest build-up. Spray a grapevine with rose spray before flowers open if it had mildew disease last year. Houseplants can be re-potted now.

Flowers

Bedding plants should be planted out in the coming two weeks or so. Dahlias, canna and corms of gladiolus can be planted out where they are to flower. Slugs and snails are active now and they have caused severe damage in many places, especially to susceptible plants like hostas and rodgersias. Dahlias are attacked as they come through the soil and sometimes this is difficult to spot but can be fatal for the plant.

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