The protected environment inside a greenhouse is not just good for the plants. Jean Vernon has a few unwelcome guests to evict. It’s spring and nature is stirring. The birds are nesting, the bees are emerging, and the garden is surging into growth. There’s that earthy smell in the greenhouse with seeds sprouting, cuttings rooting […]
Ipomoea purpurea is another of those greenhouse flowers that annoyingly bloom from early morning to wither and fade after lunch. No problem if you’re retired or at leisure but if away during the working week you can only appreciate their full splendour at the weekend. And, as their common name Morning Glory suggests, only if […]
From now on the weather should begin to warm as spring progresses (note the use of the word ‘should’…. you never know these days!). Sow broad beans, spinach, cabbage, calabrese, kohlrabi, cauliflower, lettuce, peas for pods and shoots onions, salad onions, turnip, radish, beetroot, leeks, leaf beet and chard in the greenhouse. From the middle […]
As fuel prices and the cost of living escalate, greenhouse gardeners – who can grow their own food by plugging into free, infinitely renewable energy – are ahead of the game. Our greenhouses did us proud during the worst, dragging stay-at-home spells of the coronavirus pandemic. They helped restore our spirits, let alone our sanity. […]
I like a touch of wilderness in my gardens and I often try to analyse why, after all I’m not a country lass by definition. I always tell people that I was born under the gas tower in Southall – not literally you understand. I have to stop trotting this out though for Southall’s gas […]
This month is a good moment to use the glasshouse to start off some annual flowers for cutting later in the summer. I am sowing some half hardy annuals at the moment: sunflowers, snapdragons, cleome and of course cosmos. All of these could potentially be sown direct out of doors once the weather warms, but […]
Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine, sow some, grow some to add some garden sunshine and support those caught up in the conflict. I can’t think of a happier garden flower than the sunflower, so it seems rather ironic that the humble sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine. These fabulous sunny faces light […]
A most rapidly growing, most floriferous, greenhouse climber Thunbergia alata, Black-eyed Susan was introduced at the start of Victoria’s reign. Many others in this genus also became popular in Hot-houses of the 19th century for their magnificent displays, and because most were relatively fast growing just wanting to bloom . Black-eyed Susan was ‘first’ found […]
This is the time of year when you really appreciate having a glasshouse. It buys you extra growing time while the weather outside is erratic. Sow crops in the propagator if you have one or in a cold greenhouse and cover with fleece. Plants can be potted on, if necessary, before hardening off and transplanting […]
Snowdrops are an endangered species now, and as for frost… welcome to the winter wonderland. I was on my way to visit winter. Real, authentic winter – so the invite said. I wasn’t quite there yet. Big black slugs glided over the sign that read ‘GalanthoArk – 200m’. It pointed to the huge domed greenhouse […]
I often ask myself, why I’m a gardener. The answer’s somewhat mundane. I was a twin and we shared a small bedroom in a terraced house. We had entirely different personalities because we were fraternal, rather than identical twins My twin brother was the beautiful one. He got the curly golden hair, the navy-blue eyes […]
What’s the best way to label plants and seedlings?? Even the most knowledgeable gardener needs to use plant labels. It’s all very well being able to identify what different plant seedlings look like, but if you are growing from seed you also need to know the variety. But the problem with plant labels is that […]
