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? […]
Cardboard is one waste problem that’s 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 there’s one thing we’ve not been short of during these tough and trying pandemic months, it’s cardboard. Booming local deliveries, click-and-collect services, and online buying generally have […]
In Homage to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43 – “How 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 […]
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 hadn’t a week or so earlier as they bathed in late summer […]
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 […]
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 it’s 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 you’ve filled with plants you’ve grown from seed. It’s that personal connection, you’ve 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 they’ve eaten. There […]
Check your greenhouse heater early in the month to make sure that it works before the cold nights set in. If it doesn’t, 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 […]
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. It’s harmless fun and you get to see some places and things you wouldn’t otherwise (all in the best possible taste, of course!). […]
