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LIFE

August/September 2012 www.esb.ie/em

It’s mid-summer and time to get out into the garden.

Autumn raspberry revolution this autumn!

GERRY DALY

GARDENING

New autumn-fruiting varieties of raspberries began to appear a few years ago with the varieties ‘September’ and ‘Zeva’.

These were reasonably good but the variety ‘Autumn Bliss’ has changed people’s perceptions about the autumn-fruiting crop. This variety is a reliably good cropper carrying a nice set of fruit in mid-August and into September, and even into October with some late fruits. There are also yellow-fruited forms of autumn raspberry, such as ‘Fallgold’, with excellent flavour and a lovely warm yellow colour.

The arrival of these varieties has been a great bonus in spreading the picking season for raspberries. The interesting thing about autumn raspberries is that they have a different pattern of fruiting than the normal summer-fruiting kinds. The autumn kinds flower on this year’s shoots, in other words the stems that push up in spring flower and fruit the same year. The summer varieties make their shoot growth this year, and flower and fruit next year.

However, it is also common for the summer varieties to produce a few late fruits on low canes that only grew this year. These are produced in August and make a useful late bonus of large fruit usually. The existence of this tendency pointed in the direction of autumn fruiting and it was just a case of selecting plants that had this tendency to fruit late.

To encourage late growth and late cropping, the autumn-fruiting kinds are cut down to ground level in late winter or early spring. This makes pruning very easy — you just cut everything down. Whereas with the summer kinds, you need to prune after fruiting, cutting out the canes that have just fruited. The summer kinds are much taller, double the height even, and they are generally trained on robust support of posts and wire, especially to avoid damage by wind in winter. The autumn kinds do not really need any support as the canes do not grow tall and winter damage is not significant as they are pruned away in any case.

Raspberries need good fertile soil that does not become waterlogged in winter, as this causes the canes to die back. Well-drained acid soil with plenty of organic material is ideal. Raspberries can tolerate very light shade but do best in full sunshine. Plant in late autumn.

SCARBOROUGH LILY

The Scarborough lily is also called vallota or fire lily. This is a strange plant in that it is almost never seen for sale in garden centres, but is often sold at amateur plant sales. The reason is simple, the flowers don’t last long and the plant does not look much when out of flower. It makes a cluster of bulbs, producing many small daughter bulbs and only when these reach about 3 or 4cm across are they big enough to flower. The plant is evergreen or semi-evergreen with narrow strap-like dark green leaves. The Scarborough lily flowers in August or September and the brilliant orange-red colour is very vivid.

ASK GERRY

“I have had poor results with spraying against rose blackspot, is it worth continuing with at this stage?”

The sprays work to prevent disease and do not cure it and this probably explains the poor results. In general, spraying for blackspot should start in early April and continue every three weeks or so until June, and on into August if the weather is wet. There is not much value in spraying after that, and usually not much left to spray anyway.

Wales Hideaways: Travel Break

TONY CLAYTON-LEA

TRAVEL

Here are two different areas of Wales that are perfect for summer breaks

THE GOWER PENINSULA
Lowdown: Gower runs over 15 miles from east to west and is approximately seven miles across and within its spectacular frame can be found wooded valleys, ancient farmlands, heaths and hills. Best of all though, Gower has a truly astonishing 30-mile coastline backed by luxuriously verdant steep cliffs. The National Trust holds for permanent preservation more than ten per cent of Gower, including two-thirds of its coastline, which means no structural developments of any kind. The Gower Peninsula is for anyone who cares a whit for the preservation of countryside and the freedom to explore unhindered. It’s also a walker’s paradise.

Where To Stay: Worm’s Head Hotel, Rhossili, might not be the most attractively named place to stay, but it boasts decent accommodation and – perhaps more importantly for nature lovers – unparalleled views of the rocky headland that gave the hotel its title. www.thewormshead.co.uk

Where To Eat: Set in eight acres of private grounds at the western reaches of Oxwich Bay, the Oxwich Bay Hotel boasts a crack unit of excellent chefs dedicated to sourcing and cooking great food. www.oxwichbayhotel.co.uk

Must See/Do: Rhossili has over three miles of perfect sandy beach. It unfolds in a series of slow motion sequences, both oasis and desert - the former particularly if you love walking, swimming, surfing or hang gliding.

THE BRECON BEACONS
Lowdown: The Brecon Beacons are often referred to as mountains, but that’s somewhat of an exaggeration. The park – the name of which is derived from the central and highest of the area’s four mountain ranges – runs 15 miles north to south and 45 miles west to east and was founded in the late 1950s. Most of the parkland is privately owned, but the National Trust oversees certain areas. Most people who visit might think they know exactly what to expect but are often stunned into silence at the region’s rugged beauty. The views from the crests are spectacular, while the entire region is perfect for outdoor pursuits such as pony-trekking, fishing, hang-gliding and mountaineering. The small town of Brecon, meanwhile, acts as the hub of the national park.

Where To Stay: Castle of Brecon Hotel, Castle Square, is probably the best place in the town. It is built into the remains of a Norman castle, and boasts excellent breakfasts and gorgeous views of the mountains. www.breconcastle.co.uk

Where To Drink: Sarah Siddons, The Bulwark, is named after a Brecon-born 18th century star of the stage. This is a fine, atmospheric pub with a long (and we really mean that) list of ales. Pace yourself!

Must See/Do: An adventure trip is just the thing to do in this area. Black Mountain Activities organises everything from gorge walking and mountain biking to caving and white-water kayaking. www.blackmountain.co.uk

In the next issue of EM, we will highlight Autumn/Winter breaks in Scotland.