Having put winged beans (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) in the cold sowing bottles, I changed my mind and dug them out again. They are a warm weather bean and if they can’t grow when I follow the instructions, treating them the complete opposite would be a bigger mistake. By the time I had decided to do this, … More The Bean Turn
Last year I suffered so much from an allergy to tomato plants, I though I would have to say farewell to them. I believe I may only be allergic to the plant itself so I can continue to grow them – with caution. I can never resist a bargain and in spite of being determined … More Welcome Back Tom
With many people being too busy, or not interested in gardens, the space they used to call a garden is getting covered over with some form of easy-care material. During a conversation with a friend who is about to move house, and was asking if the new house had a big garden and the reply … More Allot Of Worry
I was delighted with the ‘Karmazyn’ beans last year but this year I am going to try a dwarf French Bean ‘Borlotto Supreme Nano‘. I am always interested in dwarf varieties of anything although it’s horizontal space I am short of, I don’t mind how tall they grow. I just felt so pleased with … More Here I Go Again
Although I want to grow plants which are edible, annual flowers bring a lot of pleasure by sight and smell and can leave you with a general sense of well-being. Last summer saw an increase of hoverflies in the garden and although I had plenty of flowering plants, I felt I could do with some … More Pick A Peck O’ Seeds
My plan this year was to cut down on the number of plants to be grown. I tried to ignore all the seed catalogues and fantastic sales the plant companies are offering, but once again my finger nervously hovers over the ‘buy’ button. If it would be content to hover, I would be happy but … More Never Say Never Again
Perhaps it’s memories from my childhood, but there are a few plants grown by my mother, which instilled a fondness for them in me. Hollyhock, lupins, red-hot poker, roses, aster, gypsophila and many others come to mind. Her collection of plants had many origins from either exchanging seeds or cuttings with friends – and visits … More Barking Mad
If you know horse racing terms, you will recognise the term ‘the also-rans’. Those are the ones in the race, the stragglers that never quite made winning. Like some of my plants, I am always surprised at the ones which, throughout the summer had to be coaxed into making an effort to do anything, but … More The Also-rans
We just could not muster up enough heat or sunshine to ripen the Kiwano but at least I got three more fruits than I did last year. They should ripen indoors eventually but I consider it an achievement to get this far. For such a large, heavy, fruit, it hangs on a surprisingly fine vine … More The Fading Harvest
Fencing, or lack of it, has been the bane of my life in trying to keep dogs out. My garden is small and so is the little furry tornado which tries to get into the garden and run amok. Ideally I would like my garden fenced in, however I have a problem that it doesn’t … More Don’t Fence Me In
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