True-blue is an evening star because it glows as night falls. I’m not talking cottage-garden, wishy-washy, ‘so-called blues’ in shades that hover between mauve, lavender and grey. Many campanulas, lavenders and hardy geraniums, for instance, come in these softer colours but tend to look a milky grey in evening light. Radiant blues, on the other […]
This charming greenhouse beauty was described by Linnaeus as “Mere weeds, found on old walls and stony ground, they have no beauty and are of the easiest culture”. Back then he named it as a Parietaria it then became a Helxine, and now it is Soleirolia soleiroli. The common names are even more prolific, it […]
Over the years I have made a lot of gardens in many parts of the world. They have embraced all sorts of styles and situations from the very formal, to the wildly unkempt from the classical to the modern. However, I think I confidently say that the garden we have made for Horatio in Scotland […]
Remove dead or fading flowers from ornamental plants to encourage a longer flowering season. Most can be removed by snapping them off between your finger and thumb or removing them with scissors. It is a particularly useful exercise with roses, because you can wrap your hand right round the petals, gathering them all before they […]
Your greenhouse can revolutionise your garden, because it’s possible to grow a whole range of slightly tender plants, because you can raise them from cuttings. Many of these slightly tender plants come into their own from late-summer onwards, so they extend the season right up until winter beckons. This helps late-flowering pollinators (and gardeners) to […]
There are lots of different types of fruit you can grow in pots, says Jean Vernon I grow a lot of fruit in pots in my garden, even trees. The secret is to use BIG pots and make the very best of the planting area For example I’ve got an Apricot tree (from Thompson & […]
Outdoors or under cover, a small pond is the surest way to bring myriad wild life – and all its benefits – into your growing space. Ponds add life – it’s as simple as that. Not only can they look good, but even a small pond will dramatically increase the range and kind of wildlife […]
The greenhouse’s most bonny specimens at the moment are beans, almost bursting out of their pots and modules desperate to get out into the ground. And it won’t be long. I have a few types on the go. Most shamefully I have broad beans, which is an admission that all of those I sowed in […]
Now here’s a genus I promise you are going to grow at least one species of some day. You may already have one. A delightful purple leaved miniature clover like creeping plant, Yellow Oxalis, Oxalis corniculata. It’s one of the commonest of greenhouse weeds, which means it’s seldom thought desirable. Okay, it does spread invasively […]
Protein is an important part of our diet, but many people rarely consider plants as a good source of protein. That’s a shame, because plants can be a great source of protein and if you grow a variety of plants for seed, grains, fruits and nuts you can actually grow a lot of protein in […]
