Interesting times lead to engaging decisions. The weather is unpredictable, blowing hot and cold like a moody teenager, and water restrictions entirely the opposite, like dan eternally staid and stern great Aunt that we all need one when times get tough, what can one do, other than put on the thinking hat and reassess. C’est […]
Are yellow flowers in the garden mellow or enough to make you bellow? Jean Vernon explores the yellow effect We call it mellow yellow, but when it comes to flowers in the garden, yellow blooms are sometimes rejected and overlooked. But why? Yellow sometimes suggests sickness, possibly associated with bile and is also associated with […]
Gardening is so much more than digging holes, plonking plants in and weeding. Take fragrance for instance. It nourishes the soul and lifts the spirits and all you have to do is breathe in deeply through the nose. When I come up my garden path on. A summer’s day, I pass a mass of border […]
Lotus tetragonolobus is delightful, easy and looks unusual, making a good ‘talking point’ to engage children’s attention. The foliage is attractive, almost geometrical in a curious way and has the rare habit of closing each evening (presumably to avoid cold night skies or browsing by night time critters such as molluscs). The flowers are recognisably […]
Although my greenhouse is currently a monoculture of tomatoes – a good year for them, by any standards, all of this heat has been incredible for them if made them almost impossibly thirsty – it is empty of all of the plants that filled it earlier in the year. They of course now fill the […]
As your garden greenery makes that summer shift from abundant to unruly, make the problem the solution with an on-the-spot mulch. I’d had enough. After time away (planned and unplanned), a first heatwave that forced plants to grow like billy-o, being poorly – vertigo and spring-into-summer gardening do not mix – and then a second […]
It’s berry season here in Rhode Island. The raspberries, blueberries, red and white currants are all ripe and ready to be picked. Strawberries have almost finished. In a few weeks blackberries will also be available. These berry plants produce several pounds of fruit each season, most of which goes into the freezer for pies, smoothies […]
Movie buffdom is not my realm; I watch, am entertained (or not), but a week later couldn’t relate the plot if you paid me. With one exception: the closing scene of ‘The Godfather’. The entire movie is iconic, I get it, but that final scene gripped me because of the size of the tomato plants […]
What’s lurking among the plants in your greenhouse? Jean Vernon explores the mini-beasts that may call your greenhouse home. Our greenhouses are often isolated from the rest of the garden and removed from the natural balance. That said, we know there are all sorts of creatures that find their way into the protected climes inside […]
They say the sixties are now the forties these days, when it comes to age, because many ‘oldies’ are keeping healthy and active for far longer. I count myself as an oldie, very much so, but I hardly ever stop because I have a garden and an allotment to contend with. This year it’s been […]
In my greenhouse this month, the aubergines have finally stopped sulking. For weeks after planting out they sat there looking faintly offended by the whole business, and then, almost overnight, the way these things do, they put on a growth spurt, their leaves gone glossy and purple-veined, the first flowers unfurling like small, star-shaped promises, […]
You might be thought mad to grow peas in your greenhouse, it’s often too hot and dry. Which is odd as most of our peas originated in Egypt before Biblical times. Indeed many are not hardy and could benefit being under cover during the colder part of the year. Just there’s the usual handicap of […]
