It is basil time in the greenhouse. The greenhouse is slowly emptying of seedlings as the weather warms up and I start to feel that it is safe enough to plant some things out, and so that makes room for those plants that will always need the little extra warmth. Basil is one of these […]
Not introduced into our greenhouses and conservatories till 1818 when it was brought from the Cape of Good Hope now known as South Africa. Leadwort, Plumbago, soon became very popular with Victorian gardeners. A lax climbing shrub this can bloom non-stop from the end of winter right through until winter returns again. Without doubt this […]
Early May is the time to sow outdoor cucumbers, marrow, squashes, pumpkins (vertically on edge, not laid flat like a surf board) French and Runner beans and Sweetcorn in gentle heat around 20C in peat substitute seed compost or multipurpose compost individually in 7.5cm pots, ready for planting out once the danger of frost has […]
‘Expert’ advice is good for filling column inches and boosting social media profiles – but much of it is altogether less useful when it comes to getting new gardeners growing. Whatever happened to simplicity, to straightforwardness, to easiness – especially in our gardens and greenhouses? Amid spring’s usual gardening febrility, there’s a noticeable explosion of […]
I regret to say that I only have a modest, unheated Hartley greenhouse, although I fantasise about bigger and better on an almost daily basis. However, my greenhouse serves me well in every season, despite its size, because it captures precocious warmth and sunlight. The air inside is often degrees warmer in winter and early […]
To paraphrase the 18th-century essayist, Alexander Pope, “hope springs eternal in the gardener’s breast.” Certainly true of this one and others like me across the Front Range, as we keep a watchful eye on the weather, and a hopeful one on our tomato seedlings. Is there anything more redolent of hopeful visions of summer bounty […]
A month or two ago, I was watching an English whodunnit and was impressed by the country gardens where the story took place, so I decided that this year I would expand my English country-style flower garden. I purchased seeds for hollyhocks, cleome, rudbeckia, coreopsis, primrose, and columbine and planted them in my basement germination […]
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 […]
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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. […]
