FOR those of you who have been following the unofficial competition for the largest number of flowers on an amaryllis, the final word goes this week to Leslie Johnson, of Ambleside: “What a lot of people don’t realise is that, if properly fed, amaryllis or hippeastrums can go on for many years, rather than being disposed of after flowering as nurserymen like to imply.

Keep them well fed with tomato feed to build up the bulb for three or four months after flowering and well watered until mid September, when water should be with-held. They will go on to November before needing to have the foliage cut off and should then be kept dryish over the winter. When they show a bud in the spring is the time to water them and bring them into moderate heat to flower. If you are so minded you can leave any side-shoots on, which will eventually result in a sizable plant. Amaryllis, like clivias, love to be pot-bound. I had one, ‘Red Lion’, which I displayed for many years at Ambleside Spring Flower Show to encourage people to grow them on. It never had fewer than 60 flowers and presently got so big that I donated it to Newton Rigg. My present white ‘Denver’ in a 12-inch half clay pot, and at least ten years old, has just passed out of flower having had 63 blossoms.” Enough said!

From thinking about pot plants, I’ve moved on to thinking about cut-flowers, having just come in from planting out 20 dahlias in part of our vegetable plot. I’ve put them in a spot where we’ve traditionally grown chrysanthemums for cut-flowers for the house, having decided it was time for a change.

I don’t think dahlias ever really went out of fashion, but they’ve definitely had something of a revival in the last few years. We grew half a dozen plants of Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ a couple of years ago, then last year I put the ‘Bishop of York’ in my hot border, where it did very well.

We’ve over-wintered a few of each, to which we’ve added new stock of Dahlia ‘Bishop of Oxford’ an orange flowered plant with dark foliage, ‘Dark Spirit’ a pom-pom dahlia with burgundy flowers, and a water lily dahlia in dark rose.

We’re also growing sweet peas for cut-flowers this year, together with zinnias and cosmos, while in previous years rudbeckias and sunflowers have done well. What all these plants have in common is that, as long as they are picked regularly, they will provide a steady supply of good quality flowers for cutting over the summer months.

Of course, you don’t need to grow them in a dedicated ‘cut-flower bed’, they would be just as happy mixed in with all the other plants in your borders.

Jobs for this week: Take care when pruning shrubs and climbers not to disturb nesting birds; better to wait until any nestlings have left before continuing.

Clip back aubretias, arabis and perennial candytufts when they have finished flowering.

If you grow strawberries, put down straw or plastic sheeting between the rows as soon as the fruit begins to set, to keep the fruits clean and discourage mildew.