The other day, I joined my grandchildren’s outdoor school class as they visited a nearby, but remote, Oregon nursery, The Thyme Garden. To get there necessitated an hour-and-a-half car trip, part of it on roads that twisted over the side of Marys Peak, the tallest mountain in the Coast Range of the Siuslaw National Forest. […]
If you’re reading this column, chances are you’re one of those people whose greenhouse and garden are stuffed with memories, and you can recall vividly where and how each plant was acquires be it from a nursery, a pass-along plant from a friend, or raised from seeds collected on a vacation visit to an unforgettable […]
In the summer, and often in spring and fall too, I leave my greenhouse door open to keep the interior from overheating. If I were to keep the door closed on a sunny, mid-summer day, the temperature could easily soar to well over 100o F (38oC), wilting virtually everything inside. But leaving the door open […]
I was lucky enough, just recently, to visit Beth Chatto’s Nursery and Garden near Colchester in Essex. It should be a place of pilgrimage for every gardener but, if the only way isn’t Essex, there are plenty of tempting, expertly-grown plants on offer on the nursery’s website. The conditions within this 7-acre garden vary between […]
Nothing about this year is making me want to start moving anything tender out of the greenhouse and into the open air. Normally around this time I would be starting to think about planting out – a tiny bit earlier than elsewhere but generally here in Bristol in the south west we have a mild […]
Sometimes a few well-chosen accessories and tools can make life not only much easier, but also more satisfying too. You’ve probably got a favourite spatula for scraping the cake basin and a trusty bread knife, but what’s your go to greenhouse gadget? Here are some of mine, in no particular order. Watering wizards One of […]
Only when I grew Seakale as a greenhouse crop I realised just how good this unknown gourmet vegetable could be. If you like asparagus this is far better, plus you eat the WHOLE spear. And the grey green foliage is attractive with stunning mounds of white flowers. (There’s even an ornamental variety, but for cropping […]
It is important to ‘harden off’ or acclimatising greenhouse grown plants to outdoor conditions before finally planting them out. Move them straight from greenhouse to garden and they can suffer from shock, particularly in cooler weather; most recover but it checks growth, causes yellowing and some vegetables may ‘bolt’ or run to seed. ‘Hardening off’ […]
Spring is in the air on the western slopes of the Rockies, which means nights can still drop to 20 degrees F, but days are warm(ish). Yet our bluebird skies are scattered with fluffy white clouds, and we’re dreaming of gardens to come and greenhouses to fill. Our gardens beckon…as do the nurseries. Yesterday, I […]
Owning a greenhouse allows you to get an early start to growing your own flowering plants for hanging baskets and patio pots that can be set outdoors in summer. Among your choices are begonias. They come in a wide range of colors, thrive in warm weather, don’t require a great deal of water, have a […]
Even for an experienced composter, unearthing an old heap can offer a salutary refresher course in the need to treat ‘compostable’ claims with caution. I never imagined I would see this pair of Y-fronts again. They should be long gone by now, the threadbare organic cotton rotted away, disintegrated beyond recognition into crumbs of dark, […]
I know! I admit that I have too many plant passions for my own good. It begins with snowdrops, goes on to hellebores and then there are my hardy ferns, erythroniums and trilliums. Once summer arrives, it’s peonies, roses and phloxes all the way, and then my beloved dahlias take up the baton. Weather permitting, […]
