Take a wander around your garden, or into your greenhouse and I could almost guarantee there are plants that have a direct memory of a friend or loved one.Ā In my garden I have cuttings of my grandmotherās rosemary plant. That in itself is quite ironic because rosemary is associated with remembrance. So much so […]
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 […]
Now that the weather is starting become distinctly autumnal, itās time to pick your last tomatoes and ripen them on the windowsill or greenhouse. Some green, blemish free fruit can be stored in a cool drawer, to be ripened in the fruit-bowl or in a paper bag with an over ripe banana, as needed during […]
Lots of people in horticulture will have very fond memories of out late Queen Elizabeth, including the staff and management of Hartley Botanic. Her late Majesty adored going to the Chelsea Flower Show and Hartley are regular attendees. I particularly remember her visit in 2012, the year of the Diamond Jubilee, because an entire military […]
Itās been an amazing summer in the greenhouse for peppers, aubergines and anything Mediterranean. What these crops need in order to produce at their best is warmth and lots over it over a long period of time, and they certainly got that. So much so that the challenge this year was cooling down the greenhouse: […]
If you grow tomatoes, you are probably now awash with lots of fruit. Itās a great challenge finding ways to use up a glut of tomatoes and there are many wonderful ways to make use of this fabulous, flavour filled surplus. Gardeners that grow tomatoes should now have a bit of a glut and be […]
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. Thereās little obvious similarity in these even though theyāre both in the family Asteraceae, […]
Ventilate the Greenhouse on warm days but reduce this when temperatures drop later in the month and the amount of shading, so crops ripen and to avoid problems with grey mould caused by damp air and cooler nights. Before bringing plants in for overwintering check them for pests and diseases, and treat accordingly. Red spider […]
Imagine if you went to a restaurant and were served plastic vegetables? And when you complained the chef said that they were less maintenance, didnāt need washing and would never go off. Would you eat them? Would you think, oh wow, thatās a great idea, another way to circumvent nature? I donāt think so. But […]
Gardeners are used to battling the elements, but 2022 has been a catastrophic event. It began with an āIām-not-going-to-grow-for-you-at-the-momentā dry winter and cool spring. That was followed by extreme heat and strong Saharan winds, so most peopleās gardens (including mine) turned into a sea of brown. One evening I sat and watched as hummingbird-hawk moths […]
We are finally into tomato season in the greenhouse. All of that preparation, nursing through the spring, staking, feeding, watering and general encouraging begins to finally pay off properly in August. Was it worth it? Well that depends. With a bit of luck you planted some beefsteak tomatoes. In a cool overcast summer you might […]
I doubt anyone entering your glasshouse will gasp āWhat a gorgeous specimenā when their eyes glance upon Cosmos atrosanguineus Chocamocha. Admittedly this is an undistinguished leaved scantily flowering almost scruffy looking plant youād not look twice at. However once their noses catch the delicious vanilla and hot chocolate scent they will be entranced. Then as […]
