Hartley Magazine

All the latest news, hints, tips and advice from our experts

Written in United States

Top Tips for your first days with a new greenhouse

Getting your first greenhouse can be very exciting, but it can also make you a bit apprehensive when you realize there may be more to greenhouse gardening than you initially thought. Where will I get enough plants to fill my new greenhouse? And what kinds of plants are best suited to it? Should I worry […]

Written in United States

Heirloom Apples Tell a Story

‘Laxton’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Worcester Pearmain’, ‘Arthur Turner’, ‘Oxheart’ just a few of the named antique apple varieties that grew in my English garden. A neighbor gave the young trees to me when we arrived in the village; he’d grafted them from his own orchard trees, ones planted by his father when he returned to farming […]

Written in United States

Why is that woman still watering?

My neighbor has set up a gigantic, animated witch balloon (Halloween decorating seems to have escalated this year). Meanwhile, I’ve 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 I’m still busy with the hose. Why on earth? […]

Written in United States

Wild Foraged Plants You Can Start in a Greenhouse

Ellen Zachos knows how to look for what others might overlook. She’s author of several books, including Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat. Her newest book The Forager’s Pantry: Cooking with Wild Edibles will be out in April, 2021. What’s her definition of foraging? She laughs. “Some people think it’s […]

Written in United States

Repotting Cymbidium Orchids

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 […]

Written in United States

Orna-edibles—Combine beauty and flavor in the same plant.

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 look—I’m thinking of a row of cabbage, or a square foot carpet of cut-and-come-again greens—some vegetables […]

Written in United States

Garden travels, past and present

A few years ago it was all about Millennials and how they travel to collect experiences, selecting destinations because of the stories they can later tell,  and prefer to acquire skills – like gardening — through hands-on learning. Like that’s something new? But if that’s the case, I’ve been a Millennial all my adult (Boomer) […]