Gold1locks

My Camellia Has Gone Rusty

It looks dead to me.  Any sign of new leaf buds when you look closely at it?

Did it show signs of stress last year - yellowing leaves for example. It looks big enough to have been there a few years so I assume the soil is acidic, or neutral at worst. 

Purple leaved climber

Can think of a lot more troubling obsessions. Nutcutlet prowls round garden centres sniffing Crown Imperial bulbs!  

http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/plants/crown-imperials/79175.html

Crown Imperials

Whatever turns you on, Nutcutlet! 

Is this Sooty Canker Fungus?

Hmmm, need to pay a visit to Speccavers! 

Purple leaved climber

Not quite purple, more a coppery colour - clematis montana 'Warwickshire Rose'. I have one, and have given away several rooted cuttings. Unlike other montanas it looks attractive all season. 

http://charlottesplot.com/tag/clematis-montana-warwickshire-rose/

Leggy sage. Do I cut back hard now? April 23rd?

Yes! prune hard, to within 6" of teh base. Now is the best time. 

EVIL Japanese Anemone

There are dwarf forms such as Pamina that are not anything like as aggressive. 

Bought 2 more fuchsias today

I did that once. It was great fun. Sadly hardy fuchsias can get cut to ground level in cold winters, which defeats the whole process, so if you do it then keep it in a pot that you can move in winter. 

Mrs. Popple is a sturdy, hardy purple. Check this out: 

https://www.sycamoretrading.co.uk/-shrubs/fuchsia-mrs-popple/prod_880.html?ccUser=

EVIL Japanese Anemone

I got rid of mine using glyphosate but it took three years. It is more rampant in some gardens than others. It spreads most readily in free draining sandy soil. It spreads less so in my heavy clay. 

Silly question about clay

Pieris will only work if the soil is acidic, and it really prefers good well drained soil to thrive, so I suspect it will struggle on your clay even if it is acidic, unless you prepare the planting hole well. I have similar soil to you, and lost quite a few shrubs / trees by just digging holes big enough for the rootball with a bit to spare. They died because of lack of moisture in dry summers and sitting in saturated soil in winter. 

If planting a shrub or tree I now use a pickaxe, 5 ft long crowbar and mattock to break up the underlying hardpan down to at least 2 feet deep and at least the same across. Sometimes I wish I had a pneumatic drill!

Thee are a few shrubs that can handle heavy clay well with out a lot of preparation.  One is the cornus (alba, flaviramea, sanguinea, Midwinter Fire etc. )

Trimming box.

Delphiniums from seed

Sting in the Tale

Sting in the Tale

ground frost warning

Iris Katharine Hodgkin

Scarifier / aerators / rake

Website problems?

Who else loves the humble sempervivum

BBC Gardening Arrivals - Meeting Point