I’ve always been astounded by the power of plants. Whether it’s the inherent medicinal properties of unassuming garden stalwarts, like willow bark containing an aspirin precursor, or wild garlic used by bears to deter fleas, or how the smell of lavender relaxes the inhaler. I could go on and on and I probably will. Nature […]

Somehow it is June, and yet the greenhouse is still full. Everything should be out and yet there it sits, or at least, a good deal of it. I can quite easily blame this on the cold weather: I have visited a few gardens recently where the plants were planted out ‘on time’ and now […]

A famous quote by Coco Chanel, the French fashion designer, says that “you get the face you deserve when you’re fifty” – a milepost I passed sometime ago. Thankfully I’m one of life’s enthusiasts who can see the funny side of almost everything. I wake at dawn, wanting to tear into the day, and I’m […]

June is an ideal time to sow fast maturing vegetables if your sowing season has been disrupted by late frosts and cold weather this spring.  Spring onions, early carrots and salads can be sown regularly until August, making the next sowing when the previous seedlings have germinated, so there is still plenty of time for […]

When neonicotinoid pesticides were developed back at the turn of the 21st century, did nobody realise what would happen to the wildlife that ingested them? ‘Right, Holly – give it a good whack!’ As the tremor shuddered along the oak’s boughs, green blobs fell to earth, and startled blue tits fled to higher branches. Some […]

This stunning cool greenhouse flower gives off colours no pictures can capture. In the flesh Sparaxis blooms have an unmatched day-glow intensity of brilliance. You really have to see these with the naked eye to appreciate their luminosity. They’re pretty anyway and make excellent cut flowers as they last well. Sparaxis tricolour is now the […]

If you’ve ever grown potatoes or tomatoes, chances are you’ve experienced the blight that can affect them late in the season. It’s a fungus like infection spread by miniscule spore like microbes that are whipped around on the wind and thrive in a damp summer. Whole crops of tomatoes and potatoes can be totally wiped […]

Now here’s a sight to strike fear into the heart of any greenhouse owner. The greenhouse is full to bursting with healthy young plants, all waiting to head out into the allotment. Despite a few false starts and a couple of non-germinations it has been a productive spring, most things were sown around the correct […]

A greenhouse flower that almost everyone knows by name but no-one now grows are Freesias. These are members of the Iris family and never reached Britain until well into Queen Victoria’s reign when they rapidly proved popular. Perhaps because coming from South Africa these were one of the few Cape flowers we discovered there that […]

Earth-friendly gardeners are committed to composting all organic matter – so why not extend the principle to our own remains? An innovative ‘deathcare’ project in Seattle is developing a better way for gardeners to go. Of all the things that please me about my modest home, the one I take most delight in is the […]

Summer is fast approaching, meaning our evenings and weekends will soon be spent relaxing with friends and enjoying the sun, possibly with a beer or two. As the temperature rises, most Brits tend to sway towards a “cheeky barbeque” or two, with the bulk of the food consisting of cheap burgers and nachos. If you […]