“Oh Bob, how could you?” said a friend spying this nestling amongst my edible, scented and useful greenhouse specimens. Coral Bead plant does catch the eye, and to all the world looks just as if it’s one of those market stall plant travesties sprayed with paint, glitter or bedaubed with plastic flowers, fruits or bugs. […]
As the winter solstice passes and the days begin to get slightly longer, the importance and the wonder of light becomes more and more apparent. Just as the moon controls the tide and other life rhythms the daylight length is tightly intertwined with growth, nature and the cycle of life. At Christmas or Yule we […]
The weather may be cold and grim and the days short and unpromising, but a great use for the greenhouse in these colder months is to use it to bring on some early spring flowers. They bring with them that whisper of warmer, lighter, more hopeful days to come, and even the act of planting […]
“…every time I take up my pencil to try and write I feel confused by the mass of things I want to talk about, and more than half decide that it would be better to leave it all unwritten.” — Marion Cran, Joy of the Ground, 1928 Have you noticed at all how current news […]
Happy New Year! Here’s to fabulous crops, few pests and many pleasurable moments pottering in your Hartley greenhouse. With the wet weather, there is no better place to shelter as you check your plants. If you haven’t done so already, a water butt to collect rainwater from the roof is a ‘must’ and can be […]
