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Archives for February 2026
Snow Can Be Good for the Greenhouse and Garden
After a winter storm here in New England, a new layer of snow often lies deep on the ground. In the early morning, it also covers the greenhouse, providing insulation that reduces nighttime heating bills and also adds a delightful softness to the roof’s outline. But as the day wears on, the greenhouse interior warms. […]
Spring Cleaning for Gardeners
“If the last month was so severe that little work could be done in the garden, there will be a necessity for forwarding business in this, provided the season be favorable.” Thus wrote Phillip Miller, in his 1775 edition of the Gardener’s Kalendar, setting out the “work to be done” in every part of the […]
Good Companions or Not?
February Fill Dyke has certainly lived up to its name this year! It’s traditionally one of the wetter months, averaging between 50mm and 100mm of rainfall, up to three inches in old money.  This year I know that we’ve had far more, because the accurate Met Office rain gauge my husband so thoughtfully gave me […]
Snowdrops
There’s something very magical about plants that brave the winter weather and flower when everything else in the garden is slumbering. The nodding heads of snowdrops are a delight to the eye when everything else in the garden can seem slow to appear. This spring, the fair maids of February have appeared earlier than usual […]
Herbs
I spotted them on a grey February morning on my way down to the greenhouse: the first tiny, rounded mint leaves pushing up in one of my pots. Nothing dramatic — just a hint of green, barely the size of my fingernail — but enough to stop me in my tracks. Mint is waking. February […]
Spring sowing
My greenhouse wasn’t cleaned last year due to my ongoing ill health but my wife, Gill and great friend, Father Hugh Flower a Kew trained, motor cycle riding Catholic priest have penciled in a date to do this for me. Follow the more detailed instructions in September 2025 and previous diaries but choose a sunny […]
Oca, okay
Dress your greenhouse with lush foliage usable for salad or spinach, for little effort, and get a small tuber crop for free. Sound too good to be true? Yet Oca, Oxalis tuberosa, is very popular all over its native South America and Mexico. True it really does like more sunshine than available in the UK, […]