The 3 Growbags - Three sisters share their gardening highs and lows at home and abroad

Which trees produce the best autumn colour?

23 October 2020October 24, 2020the3growbags8 Comments

Hey folks, we need some good news and here it comes! It is going to be a GORGEOUS autumn! When it’s not pelting or a Force 10 gale, we should get outside and revel in what is shaping up to be a fabulously colourful few weeks. Let’s just feast our eyes on the glory of a UK autumn and be thankful for living in a country that changes so beautifully with the seasons. It’s another thing to add to the Gratefulness Diary that we are all supposed to be keeping to ward off despondency and hopelessness – adding a...

Chrysanthemum pacifica (or Ajania pacifica)

23 October 2020October 23, 2020the3growbagsLeave a comment

Silver and gold chrysanthemum It’s an irony that just when your summer pots are looking their very best – in other words now – along comes the first frost and that’s the end of their fine display; either that or you really need the pots to plant your spring bulbs. However, my plant today turns out to be hardier than I expected and made it through last winter – which admittedly was not a hard one here in West Sussex. This beautiful foliage plant was first recognised in Japan in 1928 and it’s (Latin) naming has since taken many...

Into autumn with a firm jaw – GrowHow tips for October

16 October 2020October 17, 2020the3growbagsLeave a comment

Right, so our gardens and outdoor spaces have comforted us through March, April, May, June, July, August and September of this ghastly year, and now they HAVE to help us through the cold, damp months as well. Stop watching the news for a while and immerse yourself in tasks like compost-turning, planting garlic or taking grapevine-cuttings………………. Caring for compost Regular readers will know that I do like my compost! We have been talking about the R-word since March – well, making compost is one of the ultimate expressions of another R word (one of the most important of the...

Come on, let’s hear it for independent nurseries!

10 October 2020October 14, 2020the3growbags10 Comments

Joy of joys! I’ve been to a Plant Fair, a proper one at Great Dixter, with real people who’ve grown the plants themselves, not imported them on trolleys from the Netherlands as is often the way at garden centres. This precious breed of nursery owners really are among the unsung heroes of lockdown and it’s time we paid tribute to some of them. We’re starting with the lovely Jenny Maillard of ‘Usual and Unusual Plants’ (our feature picture above), and we’d like to hear from you about your favourites too. Or how about the super-helpful team from ‘Aberconwy Nursery’ who...