As a Northern California gardener for the past 22 years, stumbling on your channel was one of the best things that ever happened to my gardening world. Your advice is pure gold. You don't just give a couple tips, you give a cornucopia of knowledge to your viewers! I shall gladly give a "Thanks" donation, and subscribing was a definite! Thank you!
What refreshing humility and graciousness you possess, Alexandra! Even when someone seems "very cross about" your advice, you are determined to seek the correct answers (there are often more than one) and share it with your viewers. Thank you. As to pulling out the lavender hedge, could you just pull out the parts growing over the path and then simply plant a shorter plant that won't spill onto the path? Perhaps even surrounding the entire hedge with it? I love the lavender and would hate to see it go. 🌼🌿
Also thank you for Sarah Raven suggestion about planting salvias next to roses, to inhibit black spots. Will be definitely doing that on some roses that have more black spot.
I saw this tip last year, and I tried it out in my garden almost every rose had at least a salvia. And this year I see the ones with are almost ( next to one leaf) free from black spots. The ones that didn't are still struggling with black spots. So out of this experiment, I would say it's successful. And plus salvia's are really beautiful and some of them smell really lovely :)
@@estardeepbrown thank you very much for sharing your experience. That was so reassuring and useful 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻I don't have black spots with every rose. Only 2 of them are affected. Some black spots disappeared after I manured some roses and watered them regularly from below directly, avoiding leaves. They developed very healthy foliage since. But 2 of them persist with black spots, so I will definitely try salvia.
I've cut one of my lavender plants completely down to the wood because it didn't look good anymore. It came back and now it looks really beautiful 💜 I should do it with the others as well.
I always give my cosmos a good chop back here in NZ. It comes away well every time. It’s such a great filler in borders. This week I am pruning roses and so looking forward to spring growth and this years blooms. Thanks for your garden tips - so look forward to seeing you whenever your able to film.
Hello Alexandra, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your weekly tips and encouragement ! You have a realistic approach which helps people like me that could feel totally overwhelmed by the tasks in my garden ! Your recommendations for garden tools have been very useful , I am now the proud owner of a very robust wheelbarrow !
I actually enjoy deadheading, it makes me look at the garden even more closely snd I find it relaxing. I am a bit reluctant to 'pinch' plants but determined to overcome this fear of ruining the plant as bushier plants would be better. Will certainly try salvias with roses although blackspot not too bad this year here. Have a lovely week Alexandra.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden A nursery owner once told me that many plants (among those that he had in his nursery, anyway) evolved to be browsed by animals. That action made the plants more compact and stronger. A lot of times, especially in home gardens, those browsers are no longer present, so it becomes our responsibility to mimic their behavior. It gave me a new perspective on pinching back.
It was lovely to see your garden in real life when it was open 2 weeks ago as part of the Faversham Open Gardens. It was the first day of our holiday in Kent and my husband and I had a lovely time in Faversham. I did tell you I watched your TH-cam videos, so although you didn't know me, I knew you and your garden! Thank you for your tip about salvias and roses, I must try that next year, my roses have dreadful black spot this year.
Would you kindly explain in more detail? Do you use flour (cornmeal), masa harina, or cornstarch? Do you apply early spring or mid-summer? I'll research it, but it'd be great to hear from your experience. Thank you!
@@irairod5160 I sprinkled it round the stems in spring (April time) quite thickly. I believe our cornflour might be your cornstarch. Hope it works for you.
@@margaretstephens7614 I appreciate you taking the time to reply! I will make a note for next spring and see if it prevents the black-spot on my roses. As for the magic ingredient...corn flour, for me, is yellow and grainy (similar to polenta) and usually labeled "cornmeal". I make cornbread, muffins, pudding, pancakes, and fritters with it. Masa-Harina is finely-milled white corn preserved with lye, and is used for tamales, tortillas, pupusas, and arepas. It's also the main ingredient in a drink called "atole", very popular in Mexico and Central America. Cornstarch is a very fine white powder, used to thicken sauces and to make gelatin-like desserts, like Hawaiian "haupia" and Caribbean "tembleque". I will do a little bit more research to see which is the one I should sprinkle around my roses. Or, since I only have 3 bushes, maybe I'll conduct an experiment and use a different corn flour around each one and see what happens! Thanks again for your kindness.
I thought your humble response to the, well, rude comment about your advice was lovely. Yet you put the rudeness aside and looked into the question in a measured way in order to find the answer(s). Well done, and a good example of civil behavior.
Thank you. It was slightly upsetting to read at first, but of course this person may have had problems in their life (one of which cannot have been me pinching out salvias!) and had been feeling grouchy.
When I saw you walking through the lavender I thought: Oh, how lovely! Finally she will erase a cloud of beautiful smell when she walks that path and it will cling to her clothes for a while so she can actually enjoy it longer. Before, the lavender was too short for that. But now she has it in abundance. - So, I would not take it out! When you cut it back the structure of your parterre will be obvious again for many months. Just now you have the opportunity to really smell it when you go through, wheras you otherwise would not smell it if you did not intetionally touched it, wouldn't you? (People who went around it just were considerate and did not want to destroy it or where afraid of spiders😄.)
I have trimmed the coleus back and am rooting some in water in my kitchen, rooted basil too. We cut roses back to the next stem with leaves of five. Am collecting the seed heads of cilantro too. Thanks.
Alexandra I’ve loved watching your channel over the last year or so and as your video styles has become more intricate so has my garden become more intricate. Directly an outcome of your work!
I latched on to Sara's idea of using the salvias under the roses (and any other plant susceptible to mildew issues!) about a year ago, but have yet to try it as I still haven't added my rose selections to my garden. I WAS planning on doing it this year, but... I'm in Texas, and our Summer heat arrived VERY early this year, which threw all my plans off track. (I often marvel at your delightfully low Summer temperatures accompanied by your same Winter temperatures that we have! How wonderful it must be!!) Back to reality in Texas... At 1st I thought it was just going to be a short lived heat wave. Alas, the heat decided to stay! (We're now in excess of 100° as a "norm". phewww! 🥵 ) So all my new rose ideas were moved to the back burner. Actually, many things are now waiting for the cooler temps of Fall. However, I'm very glad to see your video today bringing this Salvia idea up. We have consistent high humidity year round, so anything keeping the powdery mildew at bay is welcome in the garden! I see in the comments others have tried this great trick, and it's working!! This is really good to see!!!!! I now have even higher hopes for this plan, mostly bcuz I too don't use chemicals in my yard. Thank You so much for sharing this info! ❤️ Oh- One question creeped into my mind about using the Salvias... I kinda wonder if certain varieties of Salvia work better than others in this regard? I mostly wonder this bcuz so many salvias have been bred to create certain characteristics that we like to see visually, it makes me wonder if the sulfer aspect of the salvia (which I believe is what Sara explained keeps the mildew away) has been bred OUT of certain salvia varieties, or perhaps been made a little bit weaker... ? In Texas we have access to SO MANY varieties, as our climate is perfect for them. While this is fantastic, it can also get overwhelming when trying to choose! It's not as if the sulfer content of each variety would be listed on the plant tag! Anyway, maybe I'm over thinking the whole plot of using the salvia for this purpose!? I really don't know! I welcome all opinions on this subject! Does anyone have any ideas, or experience with using any Salvias that did NOT work as well for this purpose?
In the Pacific Northwest we've had hardly any sun until mid-July, and yet flowering plants are much happier and more abundant than usual. Temps have been in the upper 60s!
Dianthus for me in dry (except for this year’s unusual weather) US Zone 5b - it has made me a deadheading believer! I’m growing Cosmos for the first time and will compare pinching or no-pinching. I appreciate your tip about growing salvia amongst roses to discourage black spot. My perennial salvia are about 12 feet/3 meters from the roses. I’ll move some directly between the lovely yellow shrub roses. Always a pleasure to see your garden and hear your advice.
Well now I've just spotted your beautiful hound - gorgeous! Yes I think I'm going to follow up with the salvia advice as well - I do a similar thing with chives around the apple tree and it really helps guard against scab. Thanks Alexandra - really enjoyed this.
Things are late here in the North of France and therefore so is dead heading. It has been so dry and chilly. But when things really take off then it is a pleasure to wonder around the garden on a summer morning dead heading. Thanks for your video, it's lovely as usual.
Thanks for the tips. I was thinking this morning, while enjoying my breakfast in the garden, that with global warming we might have to change our mind on what plants are suitable for our zone...My garden is in our vacation house in the south of Brittany. I visit every school break (I am a teacher) but there is always at least 6 weeks between my stays. Although in winter and early spring it is not a problem, it has become one for late spring...The signature shrubs in Brittany are hydrangeas and I find that they are struggling with the heat (every second week since the beginning of June we've had temperatures that go up to 37°) they really need watering and if no one is there to do the job it's problematic...I am even considering getting automatic sprinklers but they are costly... But my thoughts were that my little seaside corner of Brittany might become a Mediterranean zone...
I think that's an interesting direction to take - I have been watching my hydrangeas too, and they haven't wilted yet, but they may do with next week's heatwave.
Thank you Alexandra for the salvia tip. Most of my roses have salvia planted close by, with the exception of one small bed. It is this bed with no salvia that I have black spot showing up. I didn't make the connection until this video. I am going out to buy a salvia and will just place the potted salvia next to these roses as there is not enough room to put it in this garden bed. I also appreciate your cosmos deadheading info.This is the first year that I have started performing what you call the Chelsea Chop with my perennials and also deadheading my petunias frequently. It has made huge difference.
The salvia trick with the roses has worked incredibly well with my Rosa Mundi hedge. It suffered terribly with black spot and mildew and with just 3 small salvias the whole hedge ( 4 mature plants) is free of both for the whole season.
I will definitely try this. I already love the blue/purple of salvia paired with the rose colors I favor (mostly white to pink and deep rose), so this is no hardship at all. Thank you for confirming this tip!
Way to get to the bottom of the pinching out issue. I appreciate someone who will investigate both sides of a story. Thank you for this lovely videos. I found it very interesting and informative.
Thank you so much, always, for your informative and beautiful garden tours and tips. I’m in Zone 9a US and had a gorgeous spring flush of my ‘Blessed Child’ rose, deadheaded, and somewhat disappointed not to see another rose yet this summer. I’ll have to re-watch your Rose Expert video again for tips. It is a delight to watch the show again, regardless of outcomes here in FL! ☘️
Here in a US zone 6b public garden my motto at the moment is stake, water and weed sung to the tune of shake rattle and roll. Searching for a good tune for the constant deadheading ....shirley poppies, california poppies, dahlias, sweet peas, daylilies etc etc.
Ohh thats why my cosmos grows too tall with fewer flowers. Thank you for that. Don't suppose there is any point in doing that now. Things slow here and only have a few flowers so far. I love your lavender. It's beautiful. Thanks for another wonderful video. My favourite garden you tuber.
Wonderful tips as usual 🙂. I thoroughly enjoy a good garden experiment such as what you did when pruning the roses as well as your very simple tip on deadheading them by visual cues without knowing the variety. Thanks!
Aloha Alexandra, your rose colored top is a great color on you! Many thanks for the tips on deadheading. It gives me confidence to know that I’m doing it correctly. I’m in zone 11b/12a and let me tell you, 80% of “gardening” here is editing-pruning, deadheading, shearing, keeping plants at bay!
such great advice! I just bought a house in april in the pacific northwest and I've already planted so many rhododendrons (10!), roses, hydrangeas, azaeleas, camellias, and I'm just getting a grip on how best to prune and take care of all of them. my plant to build my border is to start with the larger shrubs now, plant tubers/bulbs in the fall, and grow the rest of the perennials from seeds in spring. I would love tips on how to build a flower bed for the front yard! I'll definitely keep your tip about pinching cosmos in mind
Although it's not specific to a front garden, the points made in this video apply to building a flower bed in either a front or back garden, so this may help: th-cam.com/video/7cyPuZ_YQPA/w-d-xo.html and this one on creating beautiful flower borders may help too: th-cam.com/video/SQRTVeCLHmE/w-d-xo.html
I don’t pinch my cosmos because I want the tallness in the back of my garden 💞😃 so beautiful swaying in the breeze. I do stake them. 😊 I’m going to start pinching them for the front or center of my garden 😊 great tip 👍💞
Thanks for all the good tips, especially the cosmos one. I have these growing in different parts of my garden so I’m going to try this on some of them and see which I prefer.
Thank you so much for the practical tips on deadheading. It's interesting to hear you say, it seems as much a matter of how you want your garden to develop and how you personally use your garden, as it is a matter of "when" to deadhead. I am forever questioning when to deadhead my hydrangeas, in the early Spring or in the Fall. I've experimented the past few seasons pruning some identical hydrangea plants in Spring, others in Fall. I am happy to report, there is virtually no difference in the next season's product. Thanks again from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Thank you. I take some of my hydrangea heads off in autumn, too, it depends on whether the flowers hold together nicely and look gorgeous in frost (in which case I leave them on), but some just seem to fall apart and might as well come off earlier. It's good to hear there's no difference in the next year's flowers
Good tips - and what GREAT manners you have! You are so gracious. I struggle with pinching irrationally. I get so anxious that they won’t recover sufficiently in the growing time left to provide the flower blooms. Silly, I know. This year my cosmos are not setting buds ….have your ever experienced that? Great foliage but very few buds. ☹️ Thank you for the great gardening advice.
Oh dear, I'm not sure about that...maybe they're a bit behind and the buds will come? I know what you mean about pinching, I literally can't believe how bushy my pinched out cosmos have become.
I’m in Maine in the USA. And I am dead heading just barely because our spring has been so delayed and the flowers are just now starting to go by. But some things are just not there yet either so I hadn’t thought about which plants I don’t deadhead but I don’t deadhead my wild roses I have several mille Fleur and the birds love them and nest in them and feed over the winter on the rose hips so I just judiciously get rid of them where they aren’t wanted but they are difficult to keep down and so I’ve been using my hedge trimmers to just weed whack the top off and trim down the sides after the nesting season which I think is coming to an end. I also don’t deadhead my sedums I have Matrona sedum‘s which I like the seed heads in the winter they have a sturdy stock and will stay up all through the whole winter no matter how much snow we have. Good tips and research thank you.
Even if I were to not pinch my plants like scabiosa or gomphrena, the ground hogs do so. It's almost like they're helping (or its an evolutionary symbiotic relationship) because they don't come back and eat the seedlings once they've rebounded. Of course, the ground hogs don't touch snapdragons or zinnias so those I pinch as needed to manage successive blooms.
I’m one of those new - ‘covid19 gardener’ 😀 - I absolutely love gardening my small 8m square townhouse garden. I would add pruning the crazy climbers to your summer list. I set aside a day every week to keep control, pest and fungal check my grape vine, x3 passifloras, x3 jasmines, x4 clematis, x5 honeysuckles and various climbing roses as well as an assortment of scrambling berries! The thugs are Passifloras and Montanas.
Love your videos Alexandra. Thank you. I am new to gardening and would love a video all about pinching , what it means and how to do it and with what particular flowers?
That was a great topic to review. I always dead head roses, daisies, phlox, poppies. The rest go to seed. Also I do pinch back phlox but only 1/3 per plant in June, this gives me double bloom time, the pinched ones have smaller blooms but I'm after September color.
Such excellent content, as always. I could listen to you talk about lavender and salvia until the cows come home. my harden is awash with both and they compliment each other really well. I'll be sure to prune the lavender back hard as you suggest.
I didn't know you had to pinch out cosmos - the ones at my front door are over 4ft tall on spindly, arched stems with big purple flowers. Not quite the look I was seeking, but they do make quite an impression!
There isn't really any because I was in my own garden for the day and couldn't get out. There will be some still photos, I think, but we're all so busy that photos and videos seem to drop to the bottom of the list (then we really regret that when we are publicising next year!)
I grew rose campion for the first time this year and had to do my own little to-deadhead-or-not-to-deadhead experiment. I learned that there is no benefit to deadheading that particular plant -- at least not in my Oklahoma garden. It's zone 7 but we are having weeks of 40 degree Celsius heat and that is a special issue not accounted for in the zoning numbers.
I agree, the zones don't seem to take summer heat into account (there are separate Heat Zones, but I haven't got my head around them and British weather is predictably unpredictable, so I know that we'll get a bit of this and a bit of that.)..like you, currently very hot (but 35 not 40) Hope you are not finding the heat too much!
Great video again, thank you. I also pinch my cosmos and they’re absolutely fabulous and really bushy with long enough stems for cut flowers. We’re also filling the gaps in our patio with Mind Your Own Business, I’ve got to say it’s looking amazing and so much more natural looking. We pinched the idea from York Garden in Leeds.
I simply long to use Mind Your Own Business but everyone says that it takes over and can run rampant all over the garden. I do love it though, so I may not be able to resist.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I know what you mean. I bought a small plant for the garden before I really knew what I was doing and it did spread so we use the bits that spread to put into the patio area which is taking some filling. All being well it should be completed next year.
Thank you for the advice on cosmos pinching. I followed one youtubers advice to pinch to make more flowers, but she didn't say they will grow smaller stems. Now is too late, but I know for the next year, definitely will not pinch as I want longer stems for cut flower and bigger heads.
If possible could you cover simple art of clipped balls out of conifers such as Thuja trees .I have many green emerald tall Thuja and would love to try cutting balls out of tops .So making balls on top of evergreen trees .
Such a beautiful garden! Some very handy tips, thank you. Could you not just remove the lavender around the edges of the beds to allow room along the paths?
Thank you so much Alexandra. Will try the salvia next year, even if they must be potted as there is no room in the bed. Also please let us know how to grow lavender successfully . Every year I purchase 2 potted lavenders and they do well for one season never to return ha. Cheers
Goodmorning Alexandra from Colorado,US...I just discovered your vlog/channel this morning...loved all your advice,thoughts & suggestions.I love deadheading...it's when I chat up with my plants,birds that like to worry me ,its simply the best part of gardening for me!..I have been cutting g back Salvia,after the birds have had a go the dried seeds & they do come but not as vigorously...Any ideas on Hollyhocks?will deadheading them prolong the flowering period?Thanks again...I am hooked...I enjoy Sarah Raven also!
Thank you! I don't think hollyhocks bloom again once they've flowered, but they will come back next year (provided your climate works for them). You can let them go to seed, keep the seed and sow it again, or you can deadhead them to tidy the garden and encourage them to put their efforts into next year's flowers. They don't live for very long, so it won't be years and years of flowers from one plant.
I live on an island in the south Puget Sound. 3 years ago our gardner transfered our beautiful blooming Crocosmias from large pots on my sunny deck into the garden in mid spring. They have not bloomed since. Will they bloom again in time?
Interesting tip on the salvia. It looks like Dyson maroon and Strawberry delight are greggii type salvias? Could you have Sarah Raven clarify what type of salvias prevent black spot (technically sage and rosemary are salvia)? (On something completely different I’ve been enjoying the Heartstopper comic, which according to the author takes place in Kent. So nice to finally get a better sense of Kent and the local accent through this YT show.)
Question? Should I continue to water Tulip bulbs in pots after I cut the foliage? If not when do I start watering them again for next Spring blooms. Thank you
Once the foliage has gone, there will be no more growing until next year, so don't water. Start watering when the foliage grows back, especially if the pots seem dry
Thank you as ever, Alexandra. I enjoy deadheading and have recently added lychnis to my list. It’s a bit fiddly and time consuming, but the continued flowering is worth it. I have a question re crocosmia, which I love. I planted some last year which flowered beautifully. This year, leaves but few flowers. Could it be lack of water? I try not to water the borders if possible, but I’m disappointed. I have it next to white lychnis, a purple salvia and verbena rigida sancto which are all doing well.
I know I'm not Alexandra, but I've heard that crocosmia flowers best when cramped/very clumped up. Perhaps move some closer together or fill in gaps with more?
As a Northern California gardener for the past 22 years, stumbling on your channel was one of the best things that ever happened to my gardening world. Your advice is pure gold. You don't just give a couple tips, you give a cornucopia of knowledge to your viewers! I shall gladly give a "Thanks" donation, and subscribing was a definite! Thank you!
Thank you so much!
I enjoyed this. I like it that she is open minded and civil to people with different opinions. We need people like her in the US!
I was a bit upset at the time, but it's much better to use that energy to find out more!
What refreshing humility and graciousness you possess, Alexandra! Even when someone seems "very cross about" your advice, you are determined to seek the correct answers (there are often more than one) and share it with your viewers. Thank you.
As to pulling out the lavender hedge, could you just pull out the parts growing over the path and then simply plant a shorter plant that won't spill onto the path? Perhaps even surrounding the entire hedge with it? I love the lavender and would hate to see it go. 🌼🌿
The bees love it too and it’s so lovely to hear their ‘humming’ during the Summer months
Also thank you for Sarah Raven suggestion about planting salvias next to roses, to inhibit black spots. Will be definitely doing that on some roses that have more black spot.
Me too! It also is deer resistant so no black spot and keeps deer from eating my roses . Awesome!
I saw this tip last year, and I tried it out in my garden almost every rose had at least a salvia. And this year I see the ones with are almost ( next to one leaf) free from black spots. The ones that didn't are still struggling with black spots. So out of this experiment, I would say it's successful. And plus salvia's are really beautiful and some of them smell really lovely :)
@@estardeepbrown thank you very much for sharing your experience. That was so reassuring and useful 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻I don't have black spots with every rose. Only 2 of them are affected. Some black spots disappeared after I manured some roses and watered them regularly from below directly, avoiding leaves. They developed very healthy foliage since. But 2 of them persist with black spots, so I will definitely try salvia.
I've cut one of my lavender plants completely down to the wood because it didn't look good anymore. It came back and now it looks really beautiful 💜 I should do it with the others as well.
I always give my cosmos a good chop back here in NZ. It comes away well every time. It’s such a great filler in borders. This week I am pruning roses and so looking forward to spring growth and this years blooms. Thanks for your garden tips - so look forward to seeing you whenever your able to film.
Thank you!
Watched this again as a reminder, now that NZ is in the heat of summer😢Thanks again Alexandra, and happy 2023.
Happy 2023, hope you are having a good summer.
Hello Alexandra, I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your weekly tips and encouragement !
You have a realistic approach which helps people like me that could feel totally overwhelmed by the tasks in my garden ! Your recommendations for garden tools have been very useful , I am now the proud owner of a very robust wheelbarrow !
I actually enjoy deadheading, it makes me look at the garden even more closely snd I find it relaxing. I am a bit reluctant to 'pinch' plants but determined to overcome this fear of ruining the plant as bushier plants would be better. Will certainly try salvias with roses although blackspot not too bad this year here. Have a lovely week Alexandra.
Thank you, and I know what you mean about pinching out, I'm always convinced that the plant will be ruined.
"actually"
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden A nursery owner once told me that many plants (among those that he had in his nursery, anyway) evolved to be browsed by animals. That action made the plants more compact and stronger. A lot of times, especially in home gardens, those browsers are no longer present, so it becomes our responsibility to mimic their behavior. It gave me a new perspective on pinching back.
It was lovely to see your garden in real life when it was open 2 weeks ago as part of the Faversham Open Gardens. It was the first day of our holiday in Kent and my husband and I had a lovely time in Faversham. I did tell you I watched your TH-cam videos, so although you didn't know me, I knew you and your garden! Thank you for your tip about salvias and roses, I must try that next year, my roses have dreadful black spot this year.
It was very nice to hear from you, I enjoyed meeting a few Middlesized Garden TH-cam viewers. I hope the rest of your holiday went well.
This is such an informative video! I now realize I haven’t been deadheading enough or cutting back stems to make bushier plants. Thank you.
The comment on getting trolled about cosmos pinching cracked me up. “Well that’s a bit extreme”. Great attitude, I love her.
I followed someone's advice and sprinkled cornflour round the base of my roses to stave off black spot. It seems to have worked. Love your videos.
Great tip!
Ooh! When do you need to do it? How often?
Would you kindly explain in more detail? Do you use flour (cornmeal), masa harina, or cornstarch? Do you apply early spring or mid-summer? I'll research it, but it'd be great to hear from your experience. Thank you!
@@irairod5160 I sprinkled it round the stems in spring (April time) quite thickly. I believe our cornflour might be your cornstarch. Hope it works for you.
@@margaretstephens7614 I appreciate you taking the time to reply! I will make a note for next spring and see if it prevents the black-spot on my roses. As for the magic ingredient...corn flour, for me, is yellow and grainy (similar to polenta) and usually labeled "cornmeal". I make cornbread, muffins, pudding, pancakes, and fritters with it. Masa-Harina is finely-milled white corn preserved with lye, and is used for tamales, tortillas, pupusas, and arepas. It's also the main ingredient in a drink called "atole", very popular in Mexico and Central America. Cornstarch is a very fine white powder, used to thicken sauces and to make gelatin-like desserts, like Hawaiian "haupia" and Caribbean "tembleque". I will do a little bit more research to see which is the one I should sprinkle around my roses. Or, since I only have 3 bushes, maybe I'll conduct an experiment and use a different corn flour around each one and see what happens! Thanks again for your kindness.
I thought your humble response to the, well, rude comment about your advice was lovely. Yet you put the rudeness aside and looked into the question in a measured way in order to find the answer(s). Well done, and a good example of civil behavior.
Thank you. It was slightly upsetting to read at first, but of course this person may have had problems in their life (one of which cannot have been me pinching out salvias!) and had been feeling grouchy.
One of my highlights of the week, thank you Alexandra. 👌💕🌿🌺🌱🌷🌾
When I saw you walking through the lavender I thought: Oh, how lovely! Finally she will erase a cloud of beautiful smell when she walks that path and it will cling to her clothes for a while so she can actually enjoy it longer. Before, the lavender was too short for that. But now she has it in abundance. - So, I would not take it out! When you cut it back the structure of your parterre will be obvious again for many months. Just now you have the opportunity to really smell it when you go through, wheras you otherwise would not smell it if you did not intetionally touched it, wouldn't you? (People who went around it just were considerate and did not want to destroy it or where afraid of spiders😄.)
I have trimmed the coleus back and am rooting some in water in my kitchen, rooted basil too. We cut roses back to the next stem with leaves of five. Am collecting the seed heads of cilantro too. Thanks.
Alexandra I’ve loved watching your channel over the last year or so and as your video styles has become more intricate so has my garden become more intricate. Directly an outcome of your work!
I latched on to Sara's idea of using the salvias under the roses (and any other plant susceptible to mildew issues!) about a year ago, but have yet to try it as I still haven't added my rose selections to my garden.
I WAS planning on doing it this year, but...
I'm in Texas, and our Summer heat arrived VERY early this year, which threw all my plans off track.
(I often marvel at your delightfully low Summer temperatures accompanied by your same Winter temperatures that we have! How wonderful it must be!!)
Back to reality in Texas...
At 1st I thought it was just going to be a short lived heat wave.
Alas, the heat decided to stay!
(We're now in excess of 100° as a "norm". phewww! 🥵 )
So all my new rose ideas were moved to the back burner.
Actually, many things are now waiting for the cooler temps of Fall.
However, I'm very glad to see your video today bringing this Salvia idea up.
We have consistent high humidity year round, so anything keeping the powdery mildew at bay is welcome in the garden!
I see in the comments others have tried this great trick, and it's working!!
This is really good to see!!!!!
I now have even higher hopes for this plan, mostly bcuz I too don't use chemicals in my yard.
Thank You so much for sharing this info! ❤️
Oh-
One question creeped into my mind about using the Salvias...
I kinda wonder if certain varieties of Salvia work better than others in this regard?
I mostly wonder this bcuz so many salvias have been bred to create certain characteristics that we like to see visually, it makes me wonder if the sulfer aspect of the salvia (which I believe is what Sara explained keeps the mildew away) has been bred OUT of certain salvia varieties, or perhaps been made a little bit weaker... ?
In Texas we have access to SO MANY varieties, as our climate is perfect for them.
While this is fantastic, it can also get overwhelming when trying to choose!
It's not as if the sulfer content of each variety would be listed on the plant tag!
Anyway, maybe I'm over thinking the whole plot of using the salvia for this purpose!?
I really don't know!
I welcome all opinions on this subject!
Does anyone have any ideas, or experience with using any Salvias that did NOT work as well for this purpose?
I purchased a pair of these snips having watched the video, they are brilliant thank you, my sister tried them and immediately ordered her own!
Glad you like them!
How interesting - using salvias to avoid black-spot! Great solution!!
In the Pacific Northwest we've had hardly any sun until mid-July, and yet flowering plants are much happier and more abundant than usual. Temps have been in the upper 60s!
Interesting! Of course, once I said that our summers were generally mild, we were hit with the heatwave of a lifetime!
Dianthus for me in dry (except for this year’s unusual weather) US Zone 5b - it has made me a deadheading believer! I’m growing Cosmos for the first time and will compare pinching or no-pinching. I appreciate your tip about growing salvia amongst roses to discourage black spot. My perennial salvia are about 12 feet/3 meters from the roses. I’ll move some directly between the lovely yellow shrub roses. Always a pleasure to see your garden and hear your advice.
Thanks for the tip. I’m compulsive about dead heading and you taught me new things.
Thank you!
Taman yang indah mom, mengesankan sekali . . . . . 👍
Well now I've just spotted your beautiful hound - gorgeous! Yes I think I'm going to follow up with the salvia advice as well - I do a similar thing with chives around the apple tree and it really helps guard against scab. Thanks Alexandra - really enjoyed this.
How happy I am to have discovered your channel! Thank you for a great video, and I look forward to learning more from you.
Thank you!
This is my favorite deadheading video on TH-cam. It's very thorough. Also I'm definitely going to try pinching my cosmos!
What a marvellous youtube discovery, a beautiful presentation, well done
Glad you liked it!
Things are late here in the North of France and therefore so is dead heading. It has been so dry and chilly. But when things really take off then it is a pleasure to wonder around the garden on a summer morning dead heading. Thanks for your video, it's lovely as usual.
Thanks for the tips. I was thinking this morning, while enjoying my breakfast in the garden, that with global warming we might have to change our mind on what plants are suitable for our zone...My garden is in our vacation house in the south of Brittany. I visit every school break (I am a teacher) but there is always at least 6 weeks between my stays. Although in winter and early spring it is not a problem, it has become one for late spring...The signature shrubs in Brittany are hydrangeas and I find that they are struggling with the heat (every second week since the beginning of June we've had temperatures that go up to 37°) they really need watering and if no one is there to do the job it's problematic...I am even considering getting automatic sprinklers but they are costly...
But my thoughts were that my little seaside corner of Brittany might become a Mediterranean zone...
I think that's an interesting direction to take - I have been watching my hydrangeas too, and they haven't wilted yet, but they may do with next week's heatwave.
Thankyou Alexandra for all your wonderful tips. I adore your garden. Thankyou for sharing with us.
Thank you!
Loved the rose pruning experiment!!
Thank you!
Alexandra - that Acanthus is stellar. Another great video.
Thank you!
Another fabulous, brilliant video. Thank you so much x 🧡💛🧡👌🌜🙏😇🇦🇺🕊️
Thank you Alexandra for the salvia tip. Most of my roses have salvia planted close by, with the exception of one small bed. It is this bed with no salvia that I have black spot showing up. I didn't make the connection until this video. I am going out to buy a salvia and will just place the potted salvia next to these roses as there is not enough room to put it in this garden bed. I also appreciate your cosmos deadheading info.This is the first year that I have started performing what you call the Chelsea Chop with my perennials and also deadheading my petunias frequently. It has made huge difference.
Thank you!
Great video as always & very informative. I always look farward to the weekend to see your great videos.
Thank you!
The garden is so beautiful. I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you!
The salvia trick with the roses has worked incredibly well with my Rosa Mundi hedge. It suffered terribly with black spot and mildew and with just 3 small salvias the whole hedge ( 4 mature plants) is free of both for the whole season.
I will definitely try this. I already love the blue/purple of salvia paired with the rose colors I favor (mostly white to pink and deep rose), so this is no hardship at all. Thank you for confirming this tip!
That's amazing. I will try this as l had such terrible black spot the last 2 summers because of unusually constant wet & cool weather.
I will try this- thanks for the tip!
Wich sort of salvia did you use/recomend?
Wow, I would never guess this for a fungus. Insects, yes, but a fungus? Wow. Going to try this.
Way to get to the bottom of the pinching out issue. I appreciate someone who will investigate both sides of a story. Thank you for this lovely videos. I found it very interesting and informative.
Glad it was helpful!
You inspired me to go outside today and deadhead some flowers that were declining. Thank you!
Thank you so much, always, for your informative and beautiful garden tours and tips. I’m in Zone 9a US and had a gorgeous spring flush of my ‘Blessed Child’ rose, deadheaded, and somewhat disappointed not to see another rose yet this summer. I’ll have to re-watch your Rose Expert video again for tips. It is a delight to watch the show again, regardless of outcomes here in FL! ☘️
Here in a US zone 6b public garden my motto at the moment is stake, water and weed sung to the tune of shake rattle and roll. Searching for a good tune for the constant deadheading ....shirley poppies, california poppies, dahlias, sweet peas, daylilies etc etc.
Ohh thats why my cosmos grows too tall with fewer flowers. Thank you for that. Don't suppose there is any point in doing that now. Things slow here and only have a few flowers so far. I love your lavender. It's beautiful. Thanks for another wonderful video. My favourite garden you tuber.
Thank you! I have a few cosmos that weren't pinched out and they are looking pretty leggy, so I'll definitely stick to the pinching out in future.
I like your hair cut! This was an excellent video, so very helpful.
Thanks for the video. I am in Dorset and it seems that all I am doing in the garden at the moment is deadheading and waterering pots ☺
Wonderful tips as usual 🙂. I thoroughly enjoy a good garden experiment such as what you did when pruning the roses as well as your very simple tip on deadheading them by visual cues without knowing the variety. Thanks!
Thank you!
Aloha Alexandra, your rose colored top is a great color on you! Many thanks for the tips on deadheading. It gives me confidence to know that I’m doing it correctly. I’m in zone 11b/12a and let me tell you, 80% of “gardening” here is editing-pruning, deadheading, shearing, keeping plants at bay!
such great advice! I just bought a house in april in the pacific northwest and I've already planted so many rhododendrons (10!), roses, hydrangeas, azaeleas, camellias, and I'm just getting a grip on how best to prune and take care of all of them. my plant to build my border is to start with the larger shrubs now, plant tubers/bulbs in the fall, and grow the rest of the perennials from seeds in spring. I would love tips on how to build a flower bed for the front yard! I'll definitely keep your tip about pinching cosmos in mind
Although it's not specific to a front garden, the points made in this video apply to building a flower bed in either a front or back garden, so this may help: th-cam.com/video/7cyPuZ_YQPA/w-d-xo.html and this one on creating beautiful flower borders may help too: th-cam.com/video/SQRTVeCLHmE/w-d-xo.html
I don’t pinch my cosmos because I want the tallness in the back of my garden 💞😃 so beautiful swaying in the breeze. I do stake them. 😊
I’m going to start pinching them for the front or center of my garden 😊 great tip 👍💞
Thank you - and good idea to have a mix
Thanks Alexandra for a very comprehensive and entertaining video! I'd hate to see the lavender hedge go as it is quite iconic to your garden.
Thanks for all the good tips, especially the cosmos one. I have these growing in different parts of my garden so I’m going to try this on some of them and see which I prefer.
All my plants and flowers love the Grateful Dead already so job done.
Thank you so much for the practical tips on deadheading. It's interesting to hear you say, it seems as much a matter of how you want your garden to develop and how you personally use your garden, as it is a matter of "when" to deadhead. I am forever questioning when to deadhead my hydrangeas, in the early Spring or in the Fall. I've experimented the past few seasons pruning some identical hydrangea plants in Spring, others in Fall. I am happy to report, there is virtually no difference in the next season's product. Thanks again from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Thank you. I take some of my hydrangea heads off in autumn, too, it depends on whether the flowers hold together nicely and look gorgeous in frost (in which case I leave them on), but some just seem to fall apart and might as well come off earlier. It's good to hear there's no difference in the next year's flowers
As always, another outstanding episode!
Thank you!
Good tips - and what GREAT manners you have! You are so gracious. I struggle with pinching irrationally. I get so anxious that they won’t recover sufficiently in the growing time left to provide the flower blooms. Silly, I know. This year my cosmos are not setting buds ….have your ever experienced that? Great foliage but very few buds. ☹️ Thank you for the great gardening advice.
Oh dear, I'm not sure about that...maybe they're a bit behind and the buds will come? I know what you mean about pinching, I literally can't believe how bushy my pinched out cosmos have become.
Thank you for all the info.
What an informative video :-) We are plagued by couch grass in our beds. They've got the better of us this year, I'm afraid.
It's really difficult to deal with, I know.
I’m in Maine in the USA. And I am dead heading just barely because our spring has been so delayed and the flowers are just now starting to go by. But some things are just not there yet either so I hadn’t thought about which plants I don’t deadhead but I don’t deadhead my wild roses I have several mille Fleur and the birds love them and nest in them and feed over the winter on the rose hips so I just judiciously get rid of them where they aren’t wanted but they are difficult to keep down and so I’ve been using my hedge trimmers to just weed whack the top off and trim down the sides after the nesting season which I think is coming to an end. I also don’t deadhead my sedums I have Matrona sedum‘s which I like the seed heads in the winter they have a sturdy stock and will stay up all through the whole winter no matter how much snow we have. Good tips and research thank you.
Thank you, and absolutely sedums are so beautiful in winter so definitely not ones to deadhead.
Even if I were to not pinch my plants like scabiosa or gomphrena, the ground hogs do so. It's almost like they're helping (or its an evolutionary symbiotic relationship) because they don't come back and eat the seedlings once they've rebounded. Of course, the ground hogs don't touch snapdragons or zinnias so those I pinch as needed to manage successive blooms.
I’m one of those new - ‘covid19 gardener’ 😀 - I absolutely love gardening my small 8m square townhouse garden.
I would add pruning the crazy climbers to your summer list. I set aside a day every week to keep control, pest and fungal check my grape vine, x3 passifloras, x3 jasmines, x4 clematis, x5 honeysuckles and various climbing roses as well as an assortment of scrambling berries!
The thugs are Passifloras and Montanas.
Absolutely. What a lovely collection of climbers you have.
Love your videos Alexandra. Thank you. I am new to gardening and would love a video all about pinching , what it means and how to do it and with what particular flowers?
I enjoy your channel, thank you! What is the green and pink vine that you are standing next to by the door?
Thinking your voice... sounds very similar to Joanna Lumley. Time really does fly, believe she's now in her 70's.
That was a great topic to review. I always dead head roses, daisies, phlox, poppies. The rest go to seed. Also I do pinch back phlox but only 1/3 per plant in June, this gives me double bloom time, the pinched ones have smaller blooms but I'm after September color.
Please, please please keep your lavender! Love your videos xxx
Super helpful... thank you
Invaluable advice here- thank you. I love the tip about salvias with roses. Wondering if lavender might do the same in deterring blackspot?
I haven't heard whether anyone has noticed that, and I'm not sure what the mechanism is that makes the salvia deter blackspot. But it's worth a try!
What an interesting & informative video. THANKS!
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden You are most welcome. Apologies...th-cam.com/video/3SM9hgvlBaY/w-d-xo.html - my latest yard video
Such excellent content, as always.
I could listen to you talk about lavender and salvia until the cows come home. my harden is awash with both and they compliment each other really well. I'll be sure to prune the lavender back hard as you suggest.
Thank you!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden No, no. Thank you!
I didn't know you had to pinch out cosmos - the ones at my front door are over 4ft tall on spindly, arched stems with big purple flowers. Not quite the look I was seeking, but they do make quite an impression!
4ft is impressive
I wonder if pinching out cornflowers would work the same as it does for cosmos, what do you think?
Very informative 🙏🏻I will subscribe!.
Thank you!
Fab, thank you👌✨are you going to show any footage from the Faversham open garden?
There isn't really any because I was in my own garden for the day and couldn't get out. There will be some still photos, I think, but we're all so busy that photos and videos seem to drop to the bottom of the list (then we really regret that when we are publicising next year!)
Your garden is looking fabulous ❤️ 🇳🇿🇳🇿
Thank you!
Its 106 degrees and a drought here in the south zone 8a ..... I'm just trying to keep things alive including shrubs and trees.
So good! Thank you!
Love your channel! Elise Higgins in America
Thank you!
ow’s everything going?-Wow.incredible video-work~all the best.
Thank you! All good here.
I grew rose campion for the first time this year and had to do my own little to-deadhead-or-not-to-deadhead experiment. I learned that there is no benefit to deadheading that particular plant -- at least not in my Oklahoma garden. It's zone 7 but we are having weeks of 40 degree Celsius heat and that is a special issue not accounted for in the zoning numbers.
I agree, the zones don't seem to take summer heat into account (there are separate Heat Zones, but I haven't got my head around them and British weather is predictably unpredictable, so I know that we'll get a bit of this and a bit of that.)..like you, currently very hot (but 35 not 40) Hope you are not finding the heat too much!
I'd love to see a video on greening fences. Metall ones
thankyou, I'll give that some thought
Great video again, thank you. I also pinch my cosmos and they’re absolutely fabulous and really bushy with long enough stems for cut flowers. We’re also filling the gaps in our patio with Mind Your Own Business, I’ve got to say it’s looking amazing and so much more natural looking. We pinched the idea from York Garden in Leeds.
I simply long to use Mind Your Own Business but everyone says that it takes over and can run rampant all over the garden. I do love it though, so I may not be able to resist.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I know what you mean. I bought a small plant for the garden before I really knew what I was doing and it did spread so we use the bits that spread to put into the patio area which is taking some filling. All being well it should be completed next year.
Thank you for the advice on cosmos pinching. I followed one youtubers advice to pinch to make more flowers, but she didn't say they will grow smaller stems. Now is too late, but I know for the next year, definitely will not pinch as I want longer stems for cut flower and bigger heads.
If possible could you cover simple art of clipped balls out of conifers such as Thuja trees .I have many green emerald tall Thuja and would love to try cutting balls out of tops .So making balls on top of evergreen trees .
I will try and find a good expert, personally I always get someone else to do it, as every time I've tried, I've made a mess of it!
Such a beautiful garden! Some very handy tips, thank you. Could you not just remove the lavender around the edges of the beds to allow room along the paths?
Good advice🌿thank you
Wonderful 👍🏻
Thank you so much Alexandra. Will try the salvia next year, even if they must be potted as there is no room in the bed. Also please let us know how to grow lavender successfully . Every year I purchase 2 potted lavenders and they do well for one season never to return ha. Cheers
What about roses that don't set hips? Will deadheading make them bloom more?
I'll have to try the salvia trick.
LOVE THIS
thank you
“A bit extreme for pinching Cosmos” … hahaha! Yes, absolutely 😂
That's what I thought!
Goodmorning Alexandra from Colorado,US...I just discovered your vlog/channel this morning...loved all your advice,thoughts & suggestions.I love deadheading...it's when I chat up with my plants,birds that like to worry me ,its simply the best part of gardening for me!..I have been cutting g back Salvia,after the birds have had a go the dried seeds & they do come but not as vigorously...Any ideas on Hollyhocks?will deadheading them prolong the flowering period?Thanks again...I am hooked...I enjoy Sarah Raven also!
Thank you! I don't think hollyhocks bloom again once they've flowered, but they will come back next year (provided your climate works for them). You can let them go to seed, keep the seed and sow it again, or you can deadhead them to tidy the garden and encourage them to put their efforts into next year's flowers. They don't live for very long, so it won't be years and years of flowers from one plant.
I live on an island in the south Puget Sound. 3 years ago our gardner transfered our beautiful blooming Crocosmias from large pots on my sunny deck into the garden in mid spring. They have not bloomed since. Will they bloom again in time?
what do we do with sea hollies? euryngeum
Great tips!
Pretty in pink! What's the white vine (?) @ 0:26? Thanks.
Interesting tip on the salvia. It looks like Dyson maroon and Strawberry delight are greggii type salvias? Could you have Sarah Raven clarify what type of salvias prevent black spot (technically sage and rosemary are salvia)?
(On something completely different I’ve been enjoying the Heartstopper comic, which according to the author takes place in Kent. So nice to finally get a better sense of Kent and the local accent through this YT show.)
Question? Should I continue to water Tulip bulbs in pots after I cut the foliage? If not when do I start watering them again for next Spring blooms. Thank you
Once the foliage has gone, there will be no more growing until next year, so don't water. Start watering when the foliage grows back, especially if the pots seem dry
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Thank you so much.
Thank you as ever, Alexandra. I enjoy deadheading and have recently added lychnis to my list. It’s a bit fiddly and time consuming, but the continued flowering is worth it. I have a question re crocosmia, which I love. I planted some last year which flowered beautifully. This year, leaves but few flowers. Could it be lack of water? I try not to water the borders if possible, but I’m disappointed. I have it next to white lychnis, a purple salvia and verbena rigida sancto which are all doing well.
I know I'm not Alexandra, but I've heard that crocosmia flowers best when cramped/very clumped up. Perhaps move some closer together or fill in gaps with more?
July in Florida means water, water, water the plants. We could use a bit more rain sent our way, please.
Us, too!