Amongst very showy greenhouse specimens difficult to name out of flower yet most obvious in bloom are Flaming Sword, Lobster Claws and Painted Feather. These names accurately describe the fantastical red and yellow waxy flower spikes of massed bracts. Blooms once seen never forgotten, almost surreal, and so resembling plastic that people feel it necessary […]
Nurturing precious plants is just one of the delights of the winter greenhouse. But when you are intent on the three R’s, (reducing, reusing and recycling), heating the greenhouse is just not an option. You wouldn’t have a single glazed room in your house, exposed on all sides to the elements, with a concrete floor […]
Forget Black Friday – green is the new black, if you’re a gardener. As someone who hasn’t owned a television for countless moons, I find that the snatches I do catch on others’ sets often make for painful viewing – and I’m not just talking about the toe-curling goings-on of gardening shopping channels. Seductive as […]
The greenhouse is not at its most welcoming in December. But I don’t much want to be outside, so it provides a way of getting my gardening fix without getting blown about too much. The glass keeps the weather out, but it is still chilly and damp and right now it is not a place […]
I’m starting a new campaign, resolution or whatever you want to call it. Gardeners Against Gluttony; where fellow growers, gardeners and greenhousers continue to do what we do best. Share. We love to share our gardening secrets, share garden produce, share our time and share our plants and seeds. Many more open their private gardens […]
Okay, guess, what is a really ornamental foliage plant ideal for greenhouse or conservatory. Definitely attractive, tough as old boots, not prone to pests or diseases, quick to grow, easy to multiply, obliging as to compost, withstands poor watering regimes and will do in any position surviving sun or shade. So robust we usually give […]
Dumbing down the National Pollinator Strategy is unlikely to inspire gardeners to take their vital role seriously – so it’s hardly going to help the bees. My job, as an independent gardening writer, is not just to tap out occasionally colourful, hopefully informative, possibly thought-prodding and – dare I say it – sometimes witty prose […]
Last winter was my most successful for getting slightly tender plants through the winter, and Im hoping to repeat my success. I laid a very low wattage propagation mat onto one of the shelves of the mini greenhouse and then snuggled all of the aeoniums, geraniums and succulents onto it. It seemed more efficient to […]
Flavour is one of the main reasons most people grow their own food. You might be able to buy bags of low cost veg in the supermarket, but you can never replicate that just picked, fresh, harvest taste and by growing your own, you can have ingredients that are hard to find in the shops, […]
Anthuriums are another gorgeous greenhouse flower that is not really a flower, or rather most of each one is not. These are Araceae or Aroids, tropical versions of our native Lords and Ladies Arums. The flower shaped spathes often glossy and in many flamboyant shades have rod shaped spadix composed of a myriad tiny true […]
Remember, remember the fifth of November is an ideal opportunity to burn woody material that doesn’t compost readily. Build your bonfire as late as possible so hedgehogs and amphibians don’t take up residence beforehand, then save the wood ash. It is a good source of potash for fruiting trees, though younger wood contains more than […]
Bulbs are packed with promise, heralding the return of the light. Choose organic bulbs and earth-friendly growing methods, and that sense of hope can embrace the natural world. After being shoved, protesting, into winter by the turning back of the clocks, we gardeners need an antidote to our enforced cutback on daytime pottering. We need […]
