The other day I got the urge. You know the one: a spare hour, sun shining, greenhouse warmer than it’s felt for months… ‘Tomatoes!’ I thought. I could sow some tomatoes in the propagator, and get really ahead of things this year. I will have ripe, luscious tomatoes in July, June even! A little voice […]
One of the great things about owning a greenhouse is extending the season at both ends. It’s a bit like playing God in the garden; you can actually move the seasons a bit and start to enjoy them for just a bit longer. This is especially glorious early in the year; when impatient gardeners like […]
This winter has been like the winters of old with snow and chilling winds. The last few days of January have been horrible in Hertfordshire, damp, raw and shrouded by grey sky from dawn until dusk. A friend of mine said it was like living under a Tupperware bowl, I’ve never done it but sure […]
The Marvel of Peru, the Four o clock or Tea time plant, Mirabilis jalapa was a great favourite in Victorian times but seldom known now. Which is a shame as it is one of the prettiest and most reliable performers you could try, and once got going almost bomb-proof. You see although you may occasionally […]
Just when you have learnt to spell these, they move them to Delosperma, Dorotheanthus, Carpobrotus or Lampranthus. But does it matter as these are still Mesembryanthemaceae, or are they now called Azoiceae? Anyway this huge group includes many succulent genus including the almost cacti-like Lithops, Living Stones, and the really weird finger like Dactylopsis digitata. […]
At long last winter has relaxed its icy grip, for a few days at least! Temperatures plunged to -10C in this part of Hertfordshire and have been much lower in other parts of Britain, on what is the coldest December on record. I hope that your greenhouse heater didn’t break down at a critical time. […]
One of the most important considerations when growing plants is the quality of the medium that you grow them in and that is just as relevant in a greenhouse as outside in the garden. In the greenhouse our plants are either nurtured in pots of compost and/ or grown on in border soil. Generally the […]
In the depths of winter there is only so much ‘greenhouse gardening’ that can occur. But there is one crop that can be started now in an unheated greenhouse that is not only a very lucrative plant to grow but it is also very educational too. Garlic is one of the few vegetables grown today […]
At first glance some may not think of aubergines or egg-plants as much more than novel foreign vegetables useful for bulking out tastier ingredients. And indeed the supermarket is the only way many are acquainted with these as relatively few gardeners grow them. Closely related to tomatoes, peppers and potatoes these solanum fruits were long […]
This is the month when temperatures dip so you need to protect cold frames and cloches with insulation, winter crops like lambs lettuce are certainly hardy enough to survive but added protection will certainly increase their quality. Open the vents in your greenhouse as long as possible on mild sunny days, shutting them down before […]
You may know of the giant water lily, Victoria regia /amazonica. The remarkably rigid structure of the leaves with their upturned rims and interlaced ribs makes these stiff enough to support a child. They gave Paxton his idea for the iron framework of the Crystal Palace. Unfortunately apart from needing more than considerable warmth this […]
One thing that seems to preoccupies us even more than ever, is the weather. Rather than global warming, we seem to be confronted by erratic weather patterns – more of a climate change. Several nights in October were the coldest ever recorded yet in the first week in November, parts of the UK are expecting […]
