At Hartley Botanic we have a good relationship with many knowledgeable garden writers both in the UK and USA – here you can enjoy reading their articles and gardening tips.
To grow this really pretty bloom year after year you want a warm greenhouse or conservatory as it is tender. (Though to be fair some have succeeded for a while in sheltered sites outdoors.) Long loved in China and Japan the first Golden Spider lily bulbs arrived in the seventeen hundreds on the clipper ships […]
Now’s the time of year to buy Amaryllis, (Hippeastrum) ready for flowering for the festive season. Start them into growth in the greenhouse then bring them indoors to flower. Water sparingly at first; trickling a little tepid water around the bulb, and increasing the amount as growth appears. Once they are actively growing, keep them […]
I have been rummaging around for my favourite seeds that can still be sown now, in the green house and outside, so that I can make sure spring is off to a good early start in the vegetable patch next year. Broad beans and hardy peas are the obvious ones, and both real favourites of […]
Daily tidings of impending ecological catastrophe make it hard to stay positive – but gardeners have can-do ways to mitigate the crisis. Down one day, up the next. Gloom and doom gathers, before some light shines in. ‘Why bother?’ worms its way in, and then is cheerily ousted (usually) by a jolt of ‘Yes!’ can-do […]
In the last 30 years I’ve had two gardens and, although there were only 20 miles apart, they were as different as chalk and cheese, a bit like my children! My old garden in Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, famous for its beer, was a stone’s throw away from the church. The one-acre garden was on […]
Those of us who garden, know that there is something very special and very healing about our hobby. Gardeners have known that gardening has health benefits for years but sometimes find it difficult to quantify or justify it. Finally scientists are now agreeing that nature bathing, or spending time in nature is good for us […]
A clue as to why you might want this in your greenhouse is the common name. In a similar manner to French Marigolds it’s thought having this discourages Whiteflies. I can attest I’ve seldom seen one since I started growing these. Oddly you may already have had this appear by accident as this half hardy […]
Now’s the time to sow sweet peas in a cool greenhouse for an early display next year. Soften the seed coat by putting the seeds between two layers of kitchen towel on an old dinner plate. Dampen the towel, drain off excess water, then sow those that swell or sprout, after about 48 hours. Leave […]
There has been a drop in temperature that has made me swiftly clear out the mini glasshouse ready for overwintering anything semi tender. In fact, we are going away, down to the south coast for a week to see out the real shift in season by the sea, but I can’t be sure that there […]
Boost your weary greenhouse soil in autumn, watch nature work its magic over winter, and see it come back to life in time for spring. One minute it’s flooded, the next it’s baked dust-dry by the sun’s glass-amplified rays. It’s flogged like a workhorse, non-stop, from the first hints of spring to the fading days […]
I think I’m enormously lucky to be in the world of plants, because the people who grow them are always nurturing and kind. I made this discovery in my twenties when I joined the Hardy Plant Society – some forty odd years ago. They had a seed exchange ( and still do) and I wanted […]
Every gardener wants a greenhouse, but just what exactly are they used for? A greenhouse in the garden offers a whole new dimension to the garden. Different gardeners use them in different ways. Greenhouses have been used for decades by gardeners to extend the growing season at both ends, to cultivate and grow more tender […]
