Many greenhouse plants are poisonous so one always needs be vigilant if children visit. And particularly with seeds of the pretty Castor Oil plant, Ricinus communis, from the Euphorbia family. Though the foliage and flowers are poisonous these seeds are extremely toxic. Once known as Palma Christi the seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs, […]

Often confused are the edible Ginger (the root) of commerce and these flamboyant greenhouse ornamentals. However that’s not surprising as they’re closely related, and similar in appearance and habit. However the Kahili ginger, Hedychium gardenerium, is most definitely not edible, which is a bit unfortunate as this grows considerably larger and would make a great […]

An excellent talking point for your greenhouse or conservatory is the delightfully, well accurately, named Scurvy grass, Cochlearia officinalis. Here the clue definitely lies in the names. The spoon shaped (Cochlear in Greek) leaves deliver massive doses of Vitamin C and really can cure Scurvy (a skin disease caused by the lack of this Vitamin). […]

You need be careful with Eryngium maritinum in your greenhouse, those leathery leaves have tips sharper than holly, thus the common name. Fortunately Sea Holly does not make a large plant, just a foot or so high and across, of exceptionally beautifully hued foliage. The colour is hard to capture in photographs, less green and […]

This month is when a productive greenhouse starts getting busy. We’re sowing trays of onions and leeks and starting off onion sets, potato sets likewise (in much bigger pots!).  In the warmth of a propagator extra early batches of tender crops can have been sown already though often surpassed by batches sown now of: cucumbers, […]

With a greenhouse we can start producing crops months sooner than outdoors. Most advantageous is bringing in tub grown fruit trees and bushes to force earlier, weather and bird-proof, harvests. Indeed bringing in Peaches, and even more so, Nectarines, in tubs is THE way to prevent Peach Leaf Curl, and ripen perfect fruits, earlier. Apricots […]

We heat greenhouses to keep tender plants safe through winter and start off outdoor plants earlier. In my last piece I noted how we could save on that heating by maintaining good air circulation with low humidity. These conditions reduce mould on our plants, something surer to kill than the low temperatures themselves. However keeping […]

Although none of us want to waste energy we’re also desperate not to lose our plants so then we may inadvertently set our thermostats rather high in order ‘to be safe’. Obviously we need to maintain a sufficiently high temperature so our greenhouse, i.e. not-hardy, plants do not sustain any damage. Now the old recommendations […]

Be warned, these unique fruits may lure Blackbirds and Thrushes to venture into your greenhouse just to steal them. There is something about the colour, look or taste of these blue apple-berries that is irresistibly attractive to them. Which is odd as they are edible to us though not remarkably palatable, certainly not very more-ish […]

In my last piece I described a greenhouse gem; the chocolate scented Cosmos, which I also noted was not exactly one of the neatest looking shrubs. Oddly, another powerfully chocolate scented flower, Berlandiera lyrata, also comes as an unruly small shrub. There’s little obvious similarity in these even though they’re both in the family Asteraceae, […]

I doubt anyone entering your glasshouse will gasp “What a gorgeous specimen” when their eyes glance upon Cosmos atrosanguineus Chocamocha. Admittedly this is an undistinguished leaved scantily flowering almost scruffy looking plant you’d not look twice at. However once their noses catch the delicious vanilla and hot chocolate scent they will be entranced. Then as […]