My neighbor has set up a gigantic, animated witch balloon (Halloween decorating seems to have escalated this year). Meanwhile, Iâve set up a sprinkler. Deep in October, with the first hard freeze due any day, most people are done with gardening, apart from raking leaves. But Iâm still busy with the hose. Why on earth? […]
Cardboard is one waste problem thatâs actually a solution, with a host of labour-saving, cost-cutting, earth-friendly uses in your garden and greenhouse. Brown, bulky, boring and super-abundant: if thereâs one thing weâve not been short of during these tough and trying pandemic months, itâs cardboard. Booming local deliveries, click-and-collect services, and online buying generally have […]
In Homage to Shakespeareâs Sonnet 43 – âHow do I love thee. Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet […]
You know those social media postings where a friend invites you to put up one favorite photo a day on some subject, without any label or caption? Just post a pretty picture. Itâs harmless fun and you get to see some places and things you wouldnât otherwise (all in the best possible taste, of course!). […]
At this moment in the year I love to see all of my semi tender plants tucked away in the mini greenhouse. The temperature has dropped and my aeoniums, pelargoniums and other succulents suddenly looked delicate and vulnerable in a way that they hadnât a week or so earlier as they bathed in late summer […]
Ellen Zachos knows how to look for what others might overlook. Sheâs author of several books, including Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didnât Know You Could Eat. Her newest book The Foragerâs Pantry: Cooking with Wild Edibles will be out in April, 2021. Whatâs her definition of foraging? She laughs. âSome people think itâs […]
Cymbidiums are beautiful flowering plants in the orchid family, featuring many showy flowers arranged on unbranched stems. For the winter greenhouse these orchids are a favorite. They are also very popular as cut flowers during the winter months. Typically, they come into bloom in late January through March when little else is in bloom. When […]
It might be autumn, but Jean Vernon is starting to hunker down for winter and preparing her greenhouse for cold weather I know itâs October, but this year has really flown by. The pandemic has brought every day into focus and yet when I look at the calendar I seem to be turning the pages […]
Often the most rewarding greenhouse will be one youâve filled with plants youâve grown from seed. Itâs that personal connection, youâve known them at each stage, rather like your own children. And if you have children little will give them such an appreciation of nature as growing plants from seeds in fruits theyâve eaten. There […]
Check your greenhouse heater early in the month to make sure that it works before the cold nights set in. If it doesnât, there is still time to make some running repairs or to buy a replacement; it is worth having a cheap back up heater, on standby, too. Ventilate the greenhouse on sunny autumn […]
Nights have gotten chilly. The news is scary. Winter is coming. But a garden is still a consolation, especially if itâs planned to keep blooming until the last possible moment. I dropped by the other day to say farewell to a friend who is moving far away from the home where sheâs gardened for decades. […]
With the new interest in food growing that has arisen in these uncertain times, many gardeners want plants that look attractive in their garden or greenhouse but are also good to eat. While all well-grown vegetables have a lovely lookâIâm thinking of a row of cabbage, or a square foot carpet of cut-and-come-again greensâsome vegetables […]
