An intriguing greenhouse plant I’d long vaguely known of just never got round to growing is this curiously named Mexican Cigar flower, Cuphea ignea. Obviously it could not really grow cigars, and seeing it was neither scented nor edible this ranked low on my list to try. Well what a pleasant surprise, not difficult to […]
For truly green renewable power, just look up – and put your walls to work. Everywhere I look these days there’s a familiar glint, whether it’s in a city, town, village or even out in flat, open countryside. The most common and familiar sparkle bounces off the roofs of our homes, especially the just-built ones, […]
As described in a previous blog post, I built a large hoop house down the length of a pair of the raised beds in my garden, enabling me to significantly extend my outdoor growing season. All summer long the hoop house frames have been left uncovered while daytime temperatures remained in the 70s and 80s. […]
It’s the first Monday in November and it’s damp, mild and grey. I’ve just been for my usual ten-minute garden recce before I start writing for the day. The borders are covered in beech leaves and more are slowly helter-skeltering downwards despite the brisk breeze. This year the beech leaves are the colour of golden […]
Towards the end of last month the greenhouse started looking very sorry for itself indeed. Although frosts have not come yet, the tomato plants that have been filling the greenhouse with greenery, scent and fruit all summer have been abandoned for a couple of weeks, after their final harvest, and have now slumped and yellowed. […]
Embrace some fresh ideas and inspiration from Japan and create a space that looks lovely but that also has health benefits too. The English garden is often celebrated as being superior, partly due to their romantic style and the extensive garden history. But in fact, we can learn so much from other cultures and the […]
A most impressive display in your greenhouse might be this scarlet Balsam. Unfortunately the photographs cannot convey the brilliancy of flower colour, a wonderful day-glow in the flesh, and with this variety enhanced emerging from deep purple-green foliage. The Balsams or Impatiens family offer many excellent choices for inexpensive impact; easy to grow, continuous flowering […]
When sowing sweet peas put the seeds between two layers of kitchen towel on an old dinner plate, dampen the towel, drain off excess water and sow those that start to swell or sprout which takes around 48 hours. Leave any others; you may want to try chipping the seeds with the end of a […]
As we head into an increasingly alarming and unpredictable future, we have a powerful ally standing ready to mitigate the impacts and build our resilience – we just need to mobilise its transformative potential. There’s trouble ahead – and I’m here to help. I hear you’re having a spot of bother facing up to the […]
Growing your own fruit trees is quite different from growing vegetables and flowers in a greenhouse or outdoors. For one thing, there’s much more waiting involved. That’s because most people who buy a fruit tree at a nursery or garden center pick a young one that will fit in their car, or if they purchase […]
Pumpkins are more than an ornament for Halloween, says Jean Vernon The shops are full of bright orange pumpkins for sale. Huge fields are used to grow thousands of football sized pumpkins for sale in October. But not necessarily for eating. Instead, the majority are used to create Halloween lanterns to adorn gardens and door […]
I speak to groups of gardeners on a regular basis and, whenever I mention grasses to the audience, there’s a sort of nervous silence, an air of suspicion even. It seems that some gardeners see grasses as a malevolent presence and I can sort of understand why. In the 1970s – yes – I am […]
