Growing Nerine bowdenii Isabel in a pot

We had Nerine in our Aberdeen garden which bloomed in October. Here in Fife, this Nerine Bowdenii Isabel, which we have in two pots has decided to wait until December before performing to its best.

The borders in the back garden and courtyard are jam packed with plants as is the front garden.

Anything new has to go in pots. We now have so many, finding areas to store them over Winter is becoming difficult. We do have plenty outdoor utility areas which are out of sight, problem is they are in full shade. I need to do some research to see which plants would have no objection to this, Spring bulbs even when dormant I suspect would still prefer Winter sunshine, i may be wrong.

Anyway, the Nerine bowdenii Isabel was planted in May, two pots with three bulbs in each. The bulbs were rather small but the leaves started to show in a few weeks.

I had my doubts that they would bloom, a little research indicated that they don’t always flower in their first year.

September arrived and the leaves died back completely. Flowering shoots start to show after the leaves die back, but I wasn’t all that hopeful as even the leaves had looked weak.

However, come October, flowering shoots did indeed start to show and In spite of the pots sitting in the front garden where the sun shines all day, the flowers did not start to open until the second week in November.

We are now in the month of December and the Nerine which usually bloom in October, even in Scotland is finally in full bloom.

Plant details

Hardiness

Fully hardy in most parts of the UK

Growing in a pot

Nerine is one of those plants which thrive in pots. Don’t be disappointed if you have no flowers in the first season, they sometimes require settling in time.

Plant three or five bulbs in a reasonably sized pot ensuring good drainage. Use 50% of a good quality general garden compost and 50% of John Innes No. 3. also mix in a couple of handfuls of garden grit.

Plant the bulbs with the tips just showing above the surface. Place the pot in a sunny position, remember the leaves will appear first and then die back, the flowering shoots will then emerge in September and should flower October/November.

Position

Best grown in full sun

Height

Maximum of 60 cm/24 in

Soil

Any reasonable garden soil that is free draining. For growing in a pot, see above

Flowers

They can bloom from late September to early November. Our ones have defied the odds and are still blooming in December. The shade of pink deepens as the flowers age.

BUY

December in the garden

Rudbeckia little goldstar

Another perennial plant defying the odds and looking good in December. To be honest it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to work out why these Autumn flowering perennials are still in bloom when in the milder South they have gone over a number of weeks ago. It’s all due to our cooler Summer temperatures resulting in these plants generally being late to bloom, mind you December is particularly late.

Rambling Rose Ghislaine de Feligonde

We are so fond of this rambling rose we have three of them in the back garden. Ghislaine de Feligonde is so very well-behaved for a rambler, and still blooming in December.

Patio Chrysanthemum

In my last post. I was going on about these plants being in bloom in November. Here we are in December, and they are all still in perfect condition.

Erigeron karvinskianus ‘Profusion’

This is a great little perennial plant, started flowering in late May, the picture below was taken 3rd December.

Sorbus vilmorinii

This Rowan tree with a semi weeping habit is hard to beat. The leaves are finely cut, almost fern like and the pink berries turn white as they age. Only downside is, the birds don’t like the berries.

Even the hanging baskets haven’t come down as yet.

Patio rose Birthday wishes

Roses which are still in bloom in Winter often look shabby, this one is not at all bad.

Primula Belarina

The Spring flowering (Primula Belarina) gives a hint of what’s to come next year.

All of these pictures were taken on the third of December. We rose in the morning of the fourth to find the landscape white with snow. It started to rain heavily and by mid-morning the snow was gone, several hours later. It was all too much for the patio chrysanthemums, however the Nerine and other plants were unharmed.