Dede Sophie

Welcome back to the ‘Walking talking Gardeners’ YouTube channel. We recently posted Part 1 of our visit to Palheiro Gardens in Madeira. Well hold on to your pants as we have part 2 ready for you. Join English Horticulturists Simon and Lorna as the continue their walk around Palheiro Gardens on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Palheiro gardens is open to the public and is one of the premier garden on the island next to Monte Palace Tropical Gardens and Madeira Botanical gardens. Once a private estate is now house a massive collection of plants from across the world planted in stunning Edwardian pleasure gardens. If you don’t want to miss out on future videos don’t forget to click the like and subscribe buttons.

Stapelia schinzii is a rarely seen (at least it is in the United Kingdom)  clump forming succulent plant grown for its impressively large, ornamental flowers. Native to Namibia, Southwest Africa the roughly star-shaped blooms open to show the largest of all native Stapelia blooms at an impressive 20 cm in diameter! Un the UK the flowering period will be around September Its native habitat is found between 800-2000 meters above sea level yet unlike the majority of cacti tends to be found growing in the shade of other plants. Once established Stapelia shinzii can form a lax clump of approximately 100 cm in diameter. It is difficult to find a specimen to purchase but sometimes propagation material can be found online. Stems should be allowed to callous off for a few days before planting into a good quality, compost. Avoid free draining or specialist cacti composts as these will keep the root system too dry. water regularly over the summer but never leave the compost waterlogged or complet

Aeoniums are arguably one of our absolute favourite succulents. I think it is because of how the apical rosette of leathery leaves look like exotic blooms. Admittedly under the super-soft environment experienced in the UK the leaf rosettes can become extremely elongated to the point that the stems struggle to support them, but I think that this is a far more favourable ornamental effect that the tight ‘buttons’ of foliage seen in the harsh climate of the southern Mediterranean basin.  Anyway, they keys to the success of Aeoniums is one – how easily the can produce unusual and exciting colour variations. And two – how easy they to propagate vegetatively. So in this video we show you just how easy it is to grow Aeoniums from cuttings and of course that makes them (almost) entirely free! If you would like to watch more content like this then consider subscribing to our YouTube channel ‘Walking Talking Gardeners’. don’t forget to press the ‘Like’ button, and if you would like to be notifie

  It is easy, or at least relatively so, to create a cold-hardy, tropical effect garden, but is it still possible to produce a tropical effect garden if you experience extremely cold winters? By that I mean parts of the world where winter temperatures can drop to around – 15 degrees celsius or 5 degrees Fahrenheit in old money! Well the answer is of course yes, however there will be some more cultural work involved with some of the plants in my following selection to give them a helping hand over the finish line of survival. To promote the effect add canna and dahlias which can be lifted and brought in under protection each year. Also consider growing salvias and tobacco plants as cheap annuals for their vibrant colours and architectural effect.  Palms Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Chinese Windmill Palm’ -15 Celsius Bismarck Palm ‘Bismarckia nobilis’ -9 Celsius (my absolute favourite) Mediterranean Fan Palm ‘Chamaerops humilis’ -12 celsius Bamboo  Phyllostachys aurea -15 to possibly -20 Celsi

  The giant ornamental onion – Allium giganteum is not only one of my favourite of all the flowering bulbs, it is one of my favourite plants of all! And why wouldn’t it be with its strongly held, large spherical globe-like blooms it is arguably the best of all ‘drumstick’ style flowers. However the bulbs can be difficult to obtain and then difficult to find ones large enough that will flower in the following year. However there is a low cost option to growing plenty of  giant ornamental onions and that is to do so from seed. So why not check out English horticulturist Simon as he explains the very simple method of propagating Allium giganteum. If you would like to see more content like this then consider subscribing to out YouTube channel – ‘Walking Talking Gardeners’. Click on the notification bell and you will be notified of all our future videos

Ahh, Tree Echiums or as I clearly like to call them ‘Giant Echiums’, which of course they are! The problem with growing them on the south coast of England is that they live on the very edge of where they can survive. This means that a harsh winter here can really damage them. So in order to survive into the following season they will need some frost protection – which creates its own problem. When left hidden under cover, it is possible that caterpillars are in there too meaning that they can happily munch on the succulent new growth throughout the winter leaving you with a damaged, poor quality specimen come the spring! No at first sight your specimen my look absolutely fine, and of course these plants really want to grow so will happily produce luxurious side shoots as soon as the weather improves. The problem is that these side shoots are always weakly connected to the main branch. So as they grow upwards to produce the flower spike they will not be able to hold themselves in strong

Calla lilies are a beautiful addition to any garden but to get the most out of your plants try to avoid these five mistakes when planting them. By following these tips you will ensure greater success and earlier flowering.  Calla lilies can bring an amazing tropical look to the garden and despite being able to survive a mild winter here in the UK, they will not be able to cope with an extended period of freezing conditions. Of course the garden retailers like to have Calla lily bulbs out for sale as early as February but do not be tempted to plant them outside yet as the chances are that they will rot in the ground before the weather warms up! So check out this video above to avoid wasting your money. If you would like to see more content like this then consider subscribing to our YouTube channel ‘Walking Talking Gardeners’. It is absolutely free and you can unsubscribe instantly at any time.