The Christmas Rose in flower around December, Helleborus Niger, is a plant which brightens the darkest days. Promising that there are better days to come meantime, and surprising that the larger flower heads can be buried under the snow one day and emerge the next without frost damage to their petals. Another promising plant, Sweet Box, is … More The Sweet Box
I’ve started sowing seeds indoors and already the little shoots are popping through the compost. You spend time preparing for their arrival, nurture them and care for them through nursery stage to fully fledged tomato plants. There is a great deal of satisfaction in growing your own which can’t be compared to buying them. I … More Nurseries Or Home Care
I decided to clear out my seed box. It’s one way of finding packets of seeds you think you’ve lost, as well as reminding you what seeds you’ve either collected or bought for the current year. An old, cheap, plastic toolbox which my late father had to keep odds and ends in has come in … More Come Clean With Seeds
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
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
Beside renewing seeds of plants I have already have, I have some new plants to try, some are different varieties of what I have grown. Spinach is handy as a late season vegetable and it must be good for you, look what it did for Popeye! I have grown tree spinach (Chenopodium giganteum), a tall, beautiful, green … More The Itchy Finger Strikes Again!
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
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