You need a warm greenhouse or conservatory to grow Wax plants successfully. Not surprisingly as these originate in the tropical Far East. The first, Hoya carnosa, was introduced to the UK from Java in 1802 and proved an immediate success. In the next fifty years another two dozen species were collected but none ever challenged […]
Iris is my middle name and I hated the name when I was a child. It was chosen, along with the dreaded Valerie, by my elder brother to compensate for my mother denying him the privilege of being an only child. You see he is about eight years older than I am, so he was […]
A green energy byproduct that allows compost to be revitalised and reused offers a potential pathway to a future beyond peat. Out of all the new stuff that’s appeared on the gardening block in the last few years, plant-derived digestate – the fibrous, chopped-up remains of forage maize and other grasses that have been fed […]
I always have a bit of a conundrum at this time of year in the greenhouse. The plants are really growing away strongly now and tomatoes and aubergines are forming (no melons yet though…). But holidays hove into view. Holidays and greenhouses really don’t mix particularly well. At this time of year greenhouse plants want […]
Caterpillars get a bad press, especially with gardeners. But if you placed a butterfly in front of a gardener and told them to kill it, would they or could they? Well …. I hope not It’s time to fall in love with caterpillars. But first you need to understand a bit about them. Caterpillars are […]
Tapping into the interconnected mycological web beneath our feet lets us make allies of the myriad fungi in our gardens. Not many books – a mere third of the way through reading them – have me dashing excitedly out into my garden. But that’s exactly the effect that Finding the Mother Tree: Uncovering the Wisdom and […]
One of the easiest and most exotic of all greenhouse flowers this is sadly not a good choice for those who must work 9-5. You see, or rather you won’t see, the fantastical blooms, which open in the morning and close and die that afternoon, really remarkably soon come and gone. This unfortunate habit is […]
One of the best things about having a Hartley greenhouse is being able to propagate and that means plants for free. And that’s VERY important to those of us with Yorkshire roots. Oh yes, it is! Midsummer is a perfect time to start and it needn’t be complicated, despite what you read in books. I […]
It has certainly been excellent chilli weather in the greenhouse. In fact it has been chilli weather everywhere. The sort of sweaty, day and night heat we have had recently is perfect for chillies, which really hate the temperature fluctuations that come with spring, and hit their stride in a summer heat wave. We have […]
Whether you want to pick a posy of flowers for a gift or fill a vase for the hearth, your garden can provide plenty of flowers for cutting There are so many benefits of having a garden and a greenhouse. Picking fresh flowers for the house or for a friend is just one of the […]
One of our tastier re-discovered culinary delights is a simply grown salading that may be harvested all year round within the protection of a cold greenhouse. Easy to grow from seed this weirdly shaped leaf resembles a blade of grass with irregular teeth somewhat like those on a saw or swordfish. Fortunately these are as […]
If we’re to truly break free from peat-dependent gardening, what’s needed is joined-up oversight with the vision to see the bigger picture. Unlikely as it sounds, there is every chance that gardening will soon turn noticeably greener, as our gardens, allotments and greenhouses – after three decades of delay, doublespeak and deception – are finally […]
