There has been a rather delicate new addition to my greenhouse this year. Not only delicate, but expensive. My new kaffir lime tree cost £30, and ‘tree’ is really stretching the trades descriptions act to its limit. It’s a stick with a few branches coming off of it, but it doesn’t need to be big, […]
Don’t be deceived by a mild October, the weather is so unpredictable these days that chilly days may be just around the corner; it’s time to get set for winter. Remember, remember that the fifth of November is an ideal opportunity to burn woody material that doesn’t compost readily or anything that is badly diseased. […]
Once rare glasshouse specimens Peperomias are now common house-plants everywhere you go. Coming mainly from Mexico, the West Indies and South America these have not long been in cultivation most of them being discovered only from the mid nineteenth century. The great Paxton in his Botanical Dictionary of 1868 listed four dozen species and subspecies; […]
Walls, terraces, paths, steps, soil, compost, wildlife habitats… second-hand and spoil heap slate can give you the makings of an entire garden. Bar the dreaming and hard graft, my garden owes its existence to an ancient and, given its dour demeanour, quite magical ingredient. It’s very tangible, and it’s very heavy. Its straight lines run […]
By anyone’s measuring, this has been a rubbish year for chillies, tomatoes, aubergines, and all things Mediterranean in temperament, even if you have had the luxury of a greenhouse in which to grow them. A greenhouse or polytunnel magnifies the warmth of summer, but if the summer doesn’t have much in the way of warmth […]
New to gardening? Don’t grow tomatoes, says Jean Vernon There I’ve said it. Don’t grow tomatoes if you are starting out. They are not for beginners. They might be one of the most popular seeds and plants to grow, as I keep being told by industry manufacturers and suppliers, but I honestly don’t think we […]
Now’s the time to capitalise on the current warm spell before the onset of autumn, and a chance to get into the garden and enjoy the sunshine. Wherever a plant goes, the label goes too, so check that tender plants in borders like Cannas and Dahlia’s still have their labels, so you know what to […]
‘Keep quiet and grow on’ simply isn’t tenable any longer. What we do in our gardens does make a difference to climate change – for better or for worse. It needs a snappier name for sure, but Gardening and Climate Change Day might be just what we need to snap us out of the comatose […]
A frost free greenhouse that stays cool all summer is perfect for this exotically perfumed climber. Indeed this is excellent run along high wires in a shady greenhouse or conservatory as this will seldom get too hot and there will be enough light next to the glass. Mandevilla suaveolens is a tender deciduous climber from […]
There have been few times the greenhouse has looked scruffier. This year I have grown a couple of tomatoes and aubergines in there, rather than transferring everything to the polytunnel, and it is true that these few lonely plants are still ripening up their fruits and looking green and healthy. But the rest of the […]
Having a lovely greenhouse may not have worked out quite the way I’d like. As you may know ( from previous griping) the Best Beloved has filled it with edibles – sweet peppers, tomatoes and aubergines mainly. However I do manage to reclaim some space for my twenty or so nerines and they produce spectacular […]
Happy in a cool greenhouse Maidenhair ferns, Adiantums, have the reputation of being easy to kill as a houseplant. They just do not like hot dry conditions. Indeed they’re most satisfied in a Wardian case, or even a bottle. Still a cool greenhouse is good and set in dappled shade amongst other plants they usefully […]
