I don’t believe I’d ever seen as many big leaves outside of a conservatory as I did in Buffalo, New York, last summer. In the small residential gardens I was touring, elephant ears in pots were everywhere, doing their best to bring a tropical air to the place. I could easily understand why a hint […]
With the encroaching cold there is propagation to be done in unheated greenhouses or cold frames: hawthorns for hedges. Until recently I had a few hawthorn trees along the boundary with my neighbour, but we have chopped them right down to the base. The idea is to encourage them to sprout from the ground to […]
Want the perfect bloomer for the winter greenhouse? How about one that continually festoons itself with blossoms in the colors of a summer sunrise? Let me introduce you to tecomas. “In the greenhouse they’ll bloom every day of the year,” says their foremost breeder, horticulturalist George Hull. The retired Arizona State University professor explains that […]
Often your glasshouse or conservatory collection will have a theme be it edible, scented or just all orange flowers. I have had several queries recently on plants typical of when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. An interesting question as if you want actual survivors from that period then the selection is rather limited and of course contains […]
Start clearing leaves as soon as they begin to fall. Leave a thick layer on the lawn and the grass below soon dies through lack of light – it encourages turf diseases, too. Choose a still day if you can or rake or blow them in the direction of the prevailing wind. After collection, rot […]
Whether you have a tiny garden, balcony or patio or a larger garden plot if you like eating blueberries you’d be mad not to grow them yourself. So in essence yes you can grow blueberries in your garden, regardless of the soil that you have. These plants are just wonderful to grow, perfect for pots […]
Gardening in the intermountain west and high plains is not for faint hearted; even with a greenhouse to coddle plants along, the climate conditions here are tough so plants need to be strong. When temperatures can drop from 85 degrees during a summer day and plummet to 50 – or less – at night, that’s […]
There are certain plants that announce the beginning of a new era as effectively as a clock striking midnight at Prince Charming’s ball. The first rose of summer for instance, or the parchment of a silver birch trunk glistening in low winter sun. When autumn is on the horizon there are two that pop up […]
I need new trees. Last winter, a 100-year-old Douglas fir came crashing down on six of my specimen trees. So, now in late summer, I looked for replacements at the Farwest Show New Varieties Showcase in Portland, Oregon. If you also need new trees, early autumn can be an excellent time to plant. According to […]
What began as a cracking summer in the greenhouse fizzled out, as summers so often do, just as the kids broke up for the holidays. The days they had spent sitting in classrooms gazing out at blue skies and parched earth were swapped for sitting in their bedrooms looking out at the rain. The chillies […]
Provide landing pads for insect pollinators and predators and your garden will be first stop for their services. Storm Aileen has scooted through, the land is a sodden sponge, and I’m out photographing red admirals in a dry crack between September’s relentless downpours. A whole troupe of Vanessa atalanta seems to have blown in with Aileen: seven, […]
Over the last few years I’ve come to a greater appreciation of begonias, both in conservatories and outside in the garden. Because my main garden is on the north side of a four-story building, I’m always interested in ways to bring colors other than green to the shade. Like many gardeners, I used to rely […]
