Even in my greenhouse, I sometimes find that it can be tricky to get peppers and chillis to ripen over the summer. I know that some people don’t have this problem, but this is what I have found. Perhaps our greenhouse doesn’t receive as much sun as others, and perhaps we haven’t got our peppers […]
Hasn’t this been a heck of a year? In my own far-off suburban corner of Colorado it hasn’t rained properly in many months. That didn’t prevent me from planting six resilient trees, a clutch of stalwart native shrubs and some 200 bulbs that seem to adore being parched. Hope springs eternal, or so it is […]
… green gardening Christmas – and a more climate crisis-aware gardening world in 2021. Change arrives at a snail’s pace in the wonderful world of gardening – even when our fragile natural world is undergoing its own profound and irreversible change. But if ever an entwined community of folk needed to change, it’s this one […]
There’s a very good reason why winter evergreens were so important in festive celebrations. They represented eternal life As winter sets in our gardens rely on the structure and skeleton of trees, shrubs and winter evergreens. While the wonder of the autumnal hues is spectacular there is something very graceful about the winter garden. I […]
In this season of giving, I want to reflect on what gifts our gardens share with us—whether we’ve got a few pots on a porch or acres of plants. In this year of chaos and closures, many people are reporting a heightened awareness of the benefits of gardening for both body and spirit. Seattle journalist […]
When I started gardening, in the 1960s, the first thing I did was a parks and gardens inspired rose border containing twelve leggy hybrid teas of different colours. These unhealthy beasts lost most of their foliage by midsummer and they all flowered at slightly different times and at slightly different heights. However, my biggest crime […]
The Romans were recorded as the first to create greenhouses, specifically growing cucumbers for Emperor Tiberius. There are early Korean records of greenhouses being used to grow flowers and force vegetables by 1438, and the Chinese grew mandarin trees indoors – the first ‘greene’ houses. In 1663, the Orangery was opened at Versailles. The Victorian […]
Some interesting and useful glasshouse plants can be grown without ever finding any seeds first. Although most plants grow from seed using these can give variable results. When we want exactly the same characteristics as the parent we use vegetative propagation. That is we grow on a small bit of the original and not a […]
Damp, still air in the greenhouse causes grey mould, particularly on damp leaves or soft tissue like cyclamen flowers. It is less of a problem with good air circulation, so open greenhouse slightly vents on mild sunny days, shutting them before temperatures drop, early in the afternoon and avoid chilling draughts, (the lack of frost […]
Climate chaos has some hard lessons for earth-friendly gardeners, not least about embracing change – and rejoicing in the upsides where we can. Having invested much time and energy over the past 30 or so years in thinking and writing about how gardening can make the world a better, safer, saner, fairer and more beautiful […]
Winter is settling in. The last roses, which lingered almost until Thanksgiving, have been blasted by a couple of cold nights. Trees are gray and bare, their colorful leaves fallen. The busyness of gardening, such a powerful balm and refuge in this difficult year, has come to an end. All is bare and still. But […]
I’ve been picking up a lot of leaves lately, so many that when I close my eyes I see orange beech leaves in my subconscious. I even dream of orange beech leaves, because there are several mature beech trees close to Spring Cottage and they usually chose to drop their leaves on me. You can […]
