The greenhouse is emptying now, with all of the tender vegetables of summer and autumn well over. The inhabitants from here to spring will be a very different set of plants, not those that need as close to Mediterranean heat as we can give them in this country, as is the case with the aubergines, […]
Last month I talked about the ripening of my tomatoes and aubergines in the greenhouse, and now it is the turn of the chillies. The tomatoes and aubergines are all but over now: we harvested the last few aubergines for one big glorious end of season bowl of baba ganoush, which will be eaten with […]
The time to finally give up on the greenhouse vegetables is coming, but for me it’s not here quite yet. The temperature has dropped and when I pop down the garden each morning it is now with a cardigan on, but I am still picking tomatoes and aubergines regularly, for now. Although it hasn’t been […]
I have never been a great collector of things or of plants – some people have the attention to detail and the tenacity and some do not, and I fall squarely into the latter category. But it struck me recently that I have made a collection of pelargoniums. To proper plant aficionados that may seem […]
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 […]
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 […]
The cool spring has been great for getting salad leaves going in the greenhouse, lettuce in particular. Most plants are in the greenhouse now to keep them warm while the weather is still uncertain – I even have new perennials sheltering in there as it has been so chilly and I haven’t wanted to plunge […]
The plug plants for the greenhouse have arrived and now it feels like the year is off to a proper start. Plug plants are a bit of a cheat, but a brilliant one. I know most gardeners love to sow seeds, and I do too, honest. I love the magic of seeing those shoots of […]
I have an exciting new plant for the greenhouse, which I am going to start on starting into growth this week. Gloriosas are beautiful colourful climbing plants, and sometimes known as climbing lilies, though really their flowers are not particularly lily-like. They have extraordinary twisted petals in red and orange and are the national flower […]
The cold start to the year has left the greenhouse relatively empty of new inhabitants, as it should be, really, at this time of year. It has been very chilly, a proper winter, and there has even been snow on the roof of the greenhouse some days, but this is all to the good for […]
There is a greenhouse dahlia trick that I am keen to try out this year, and that is taking cuttings to increase flowering. We all normally buy our dahlias as tubers, and quite right too: good, chunky tubers are very easy to grow, you just pop them into the ground or a pot and as […]
Even in my greenhouse, I sometimes find that it can be tricky to get peppers and chillis to ripen over the summer. I know that some people don’t have this problem, but this is what I have found. Perhaps our greenhouse doesn’t receive as much sun as others, and perhaps we haven’t got our peppers […]
