Collecting leaves – the perfect job for a bright, sunny day. As the nights draw in, it is time to wrap up your pots and plants to protect them from frost and cold. Terracotta or glazed pots should be wrapped with several layers of ‘bubble wrap’ or hessian and raised from the ground on bricks […]

The concept of ‘beneficial insects’ overlooks the fact that in the greenhouse, some of our most important allies are of the eight-legged persuasion. They tend to startle rather than dazzle, and have us recoiling rather than rejoicing. They’re upstaged and outshone by their six-legged, airborne cousins, and they frequently make us jump out of our […]

Get to grips with plant labels now and be ready for your spring sowing spectacular says Jean Vernon Plant labels are the bane of my life, but maybe, just maybe I’ve found the solution We’ve all been there haven’t we?? You’ve taken the cuttings, sown the seeds, planted the plant and searched around for a […]

Some allotment friends were talking to me the other day about growing wedding flowers for a friend, in their greenhouse and on their plot. My first question was the date – around midsummer, they said. My second, rapidly, worriedly: have you already sown? No. I tried not to instil panic, but one thing I do […]

You need a heated greenhouse or conservatory where the temperature never drops below 20°C/70°F to safely grow these rare bulbous plants known in Latin as Hymenocallis. Very closely related to Amaryllis (note the similar strap like leaves) these are amongst the most beautiful of flowers carrying a heavy vanilla perfume to add to their pristine […]

Early in the month it is time to check that the glasshouse is ready to accommodate your tender plants, so you are ready when temperatures drop. Pick your last tomatoes and ripen them on the windowsill. Blemish free fruit can be stored in a cool drawer, to be ripened in the fruit-bowl as needed during […]

I’m summer weary and tired of picking tomatoes, making jam in the evenings, watering and weeding! I’m waiting for the first frost, although last year we only had a couple and they came well after Christmas for it was the mildest winter ever in the cold, cold Cotswolds, in the wonderfully named village of Cold […]

I want to make good use of the greenhouse over winter and to that end I have decided to rescue some herbs from the slow autumn slump. Right now all of my herbs are looking pretty good, and it is easy to be fooled into imagining this will go on, particularly when the September days […]

Sow no harm: if you grow insect-attracting flowers from seed, you will reap nothing but delight. I love you, my dearest dahlias – I really do. And it’s on hot, comforting days like this, when we’re lulled by echoes of ebbing summer, that I adore you more than ever. Today you brought an airborne frenzy of […]

Subversive is a strong word, but I am starting to think that it’s time to get a little bit underhand or even revolutionary when it comes to doing my bit to help wildlife and especially the birds and the bees Before you get concerned, or stop reading, let’s be clear this is a gentle kind […]

A greenhouse or conservatory without much direct sunlight is not the perfect place for tender flowers, crops and many tropical plants. However even in the tropics there are damp shady cool places under the canopy and down in grottos and fissures. In those sites you find all sorts of ferns growing, often luxuriantly and many […]