This is just about my favorite time of year in the garden, because itās time for wildflowers. Theyāre blooming in the woods where I take long walks, but theyāre also in bloom in my yard. I donāt live in the woodsāfar from it. Most of my garden grows in the shade between a four-story apartment […]
I have an exciting new plant for the greenhouse, which I am going to start on starting into growth this week. Gloriosas are beautiful colourful climbing plants, and sometimes known as climbing lilies, though really their flowers are not particularly lily-like. They have extraordinary twisted petals in red and orange and are the national flower […]
The weather can cut up rough at this time of the year, particularly when you live in Cold, Cold Aston as I do. I always say that the clue is in the name! Itās a chilly little spot, perched on a plateau on top of the North Cotswold in an area known as the Empty […]
Why pay the financial and environmental costs of a propagator, when our own well-heated homes offer plenty of ideal places to germinate seeds and nurture seedlings? āSow your seeds and germinate them in a heated propagator atā¦ blah, blah, blah.ā If I had a penny for every time Iāve read or heard this outmoded gardening […]
Clocks may have had to spring forward but winter is still with us, yet that hasn’t stopped bulbs pushing their noses up through the compost to remind us that underneath the soil there’s a garden waiting to bloom.Ā Among the first to make their appearance in the garden are two tiny tubers of Cyclamen hederifolium. […]
Never before has it been so important to boost our immunity and keep healthy. Those of us lucky enough to have a garden are blessed not only with the space to grow our own food, but the wherewithal to improve our health and wellbeing. For some just being out in the garden and getting some […]
Step into your greenhouse. Do you feel like sneezing? Coughing? Do you have an itchy nose? These symptoms could be signs of an allergy to mold, which is a form of fungus. The moist, enclosed environment of a wintertime greenhouse that is filled with plants can be a veritable welcome mat to mold. Three main […]
Iāve always been an organic gardener. Partly, itās out of lazinessāIāll do just about anythingāincluding pulling bindweedābefore Iāll mix chemicals. Partly, itās because over the years Iāve become more and more convinced that organic practices are better for me, my family, and everything living on this small patch of earth Iāve called home. However, organic […]
Sweet cornās not your commonest greenhouse crop but one that benefits hugely, and has imposing foliage. Now the sweetness is the essence of good sweet corn, and is continually reducing from the moment the cobās picked. If youāve grown your own youāll know, cobs from shops or even roadside stalls are never ever as sweet. […]
March usually says āFarewellā to winter and āHelloā to spring, a transition that seems to herald a month of erratic weather. I start sowing outdoors after warming the soil then add a few āback upsāā under glass to fill the gaps if germination is erratic. In northern or cooler locations, you can also start sowing […]
