Three, er, maturing sisters, talk about plants and gardening and a bit about how we’ve been sisters for over 60 years. Our gardens are in England, Scotland and Normandy.
Great Dixter, a garden that once seen, can’t be forgotten but could you as easily, recall its sounds? Last week The3Growbags were invited to this iconic garden, created in East Sussex by the late Christopher Lloyd, to learn about its biodiversity ethos – as it’s heard. Stopping briefly to offer sympathetic noises for Elaine who […]
I know I should be used to it by now but Caroline’s poor grasp of botany can still be quite alarming. ‘Grasses? oh good, I can include my persicaria and veronicastrums then – they’re along the same lines aren’t they?’ What WAS she doing in her O Level biology classes when the rest of us […]
Having perfect pots in September can be tricky; summer bedding starts to look tatty, but it’s too soon to swap to a winter selection. Laura’s answer is to deploy some (slightly obscure) potted autumn bulbs, Elaine has some tips on container plants that hit their stride right now, and Caroline has surprised us all with […]
It’s quite a responsibility being the only person in the family with good taste. Today’s blog will serve to demonstrate this fact admirably. As in life I always strive to create cameos of understated charm and harmony in the garden; Elaine’s patch generally looks like she’s employed Prue Leith as a colour consultant and TBH […]
So just as we installed a new range of completely drought-tolerant plants and started feeling smug during a sweltering June, it’s all come crashing down in July and August, with endless soggy weather. But let’s take a glass-half-full approach and see what we could be doing with those extra hours we have each day that […]
Oh crikey, everyone’s getting a bit hot under the collar about re-wilding aren’t they! Even the great and the good of the gardening world, Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh have waded in ….. So this week we’d thought we’d add our two-pennies’-worth to the debate; Laura is deeply troubled by the whole concept, Elaine has […]
A garden is a garden is a garden – a flower-bed or two, a place to kick a ball about, a table and chairs somewhere…But what about making it more individual than that? Putting your own stamp on it, and deliberately creating an atmosphere, in the same way that you might with an indoor room? […]
Yippee!! with Elaine decamped to Normandy for the summer and Caroline now retreated back to the Scottish Highlands, it meant I got to go solo to the Hampton Court Flower Show this year. Without my two bossy sisters telling me I’m weird for liking carnivorous plants; that my ancient Barbour jacket is now out of […]
Last week while I, Elaine, was hard at work in the garden, Laura and Caroline were posting rather annoyingly happy messages on our WhatsApp group from the launch of ‘Rose of the Year 2024’ at Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire (yes, we’ll reveal the winner in this very blog!) But first, it made us think we […]
We all need trees. For height, shade, wildlife, beauty, for sound absorption…for the planet for goodness’ sake! But if you’ve only got room for a small tree in your garden, you’ll want it to be fabulous as far as flowers, colour and scent goes, plus perhaps an eye-catching bark and a good winter outline. This […]
If Chelsea truly taps into the zeitgeist of the horticultural world then there are some definite trends emerging. It is now mandatory to have a scruffy garden in which at least half the plants (formerly referred to as weeds) must be edible. Alongside you will need a state of the art outdoor kitchen and a […]
Woo-hoo! We’re in Chelsea Flower Show month! The show simply couldn’t be better-timed to see irises at their best, so this week we’re reprising a post devoted to these marvellous plants. We hope you enjoy it! With so many different ones to choose from, which iris would be best for your garden? Well it depends […]
King Charles is a fantastic ambassador for progressive wildlife-friendly gardening with features such as wildflower meadows, stumperies and thyme walks in his own garden at Highgrove. So why not create a legacy of his coronation with a project that reflects some of our new King’s enthusiasm for gardening for wildlife and create your own ‘Palace […]
Have you got a favourite spring shrub? We bet you have. Is there one that makes you feel like bursting into song when the early May sunshine suddenly spotlights it? We’ve got ten ideas for you on the subject (though of course we are hoping that Laura will not be tempted to burst into song any time […]
We’re just on the cusp of peak Tulip Time. The world would be a dull place if we all agreed on everything, but these spring bulbs seem to have brought out extremes of opinions with us 3 Growbags. Caroline goes for short and garish, Elaine for flamboyant extroverts whilst I (Laura – the sane sister) […]
Have you got a VAST list of tasks to do in the garden? Arghhhh – there are SO many! We 3Growbags are here with 10 ideas to help you concentrate your energies. As usual though, we each have different priorities and unfortunately there’s a bit of an ongoing spat over auriculas.… Involve the children. Make this […]
It’s all very well to have gorgeously colourful plant catalogues dropping through the letterbox with every delivery but have you seen the prices this year, folks? By the time you’ve picked out some bedding for the tubs, and chosen one new shrub, you’ve blown the dosh you were saving for new shoes or fixing that […]
We want to talk about climbers today. They are SUCH an important part of the outdoor scene, don’t you think? Especially in small gardens and balconies, where you’d be mad not to make use of the vertical space. But which to choose? We 3growbags have each come up with a suggestion for the three main flowering seasons. […]
What a privilege it was to be invited to the Garden Press Event in London – our chance to learn about horticultural innovations, review new products and have a good old chinwag with other lovely garden bloggers over cups of tea. Elaine and I took our brief to look and learn quite seriously, I wish […]
It’s National Nestbox Week and at last – an element of consensus among the 3Growbags! We all three love giving wildlife a home in our gardens, and early spring is THE time to start a campaign to encourage more to move in. So this week we’re proposing practical things you can put in place now […]
Between minus double-digits and torrential rain it’s been hard to catch those first scents of our New Year gardens so far in 2023. But on our Zoom call this week we laughed about this post on winter scent from a few years back and wondered if you would too… I can’t believe my sisters sometimes….! When […]
Whether you’re snowed in, flooded out or just bored of hearing about Harry’s frozen todger, there is a sure-fire way of raising your spirits in the middle of January: planning what seeds you’ll be sowing this year. This week we’ll be sharing our own ambitions and tips, and rest assured, there will be inspiration for […]
Happy New Year, everyone! Let’s hope it’s going to be a fabulous one – at least for our gardening exploits! This week we’ve been thinking about how we can improve our gardens by choosing plants that flower at just the right time for us. For old hands like me and Laura this will involve some minor tweaks […]
No gardening chat and banter this week – our Christmas offering is some jolly gardening puzzles, a nice little plant ID exercise, and we finish with terrible festive jokes. Hope you enjoy them! You’ll be pleased to hear there is a link at the bottom to the Answer Sheet, for when you get stuck. We won’t […]
Is anyone else feeling ready to move on from baubles and tinsel? They are, of course, re-usable but after hauling them out of the Christmas Box for 30 years or so, it feels as though life has moved on a bit, doesn’t it? It might be the cost of living… it might be climate change, […]
Gardeners World, Garden Rescue, The Beechgrove Garden, Gardener’s Question Time? There are so many opportunities for us to go on enjoying gardening from the comfort of our sofas now the weather’s turned bad. But which is your favourite? We each have our own of course! I’m going to get in early and say right here […]
One of the many exasperating habits of both my sisters is their lackadaisical approach to the scientific names of the plants they talk about. Elaine likes to wallow in the Latin meanings but loses interest the moment things get technical, and Caroline, well she doesn’t even try. Today we’re looking at the scientific names of […]
When we opened an online shop to help with the costs of running our blog, we wanted to stock it with great gardening gifts. But what would these be? Quality garden tools (me, obvs), books, cards and pretty kitchenware, (Elaine), edible birthday cards for dogs (Caroline ?). This week we’re explaining why we thought our […]
What are you going to do with the tender perennials in your garden? They have delighted you all through the summer and early autumn, for sure. But the sun is soon going to start tucking his hat into the drawer for the winter, and your frost-prone beauties will start feeling the chill. Living as we do in […]
‘I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers’. We might not all be as breathlessly excited as Anne of Green Gables on this one, but she had a point. There are some marvellous plant colours and shapes in our gardens right now. Here are some of our favourites…. I’m rather in […]
I must have looked very I incongruous as I boarded the London-bound train from Horsham at 8.30 pm. The other travellers were mainly young people dressed for a Friday night out, and there was I in a thick coat, walking boots, and a wicker shoulder bag full of sandwiches and snacks looking for all the […]
We’re doing something different this week. We thought we’d share last week’s trip to Scotland with you. We have always loved giving talks together (as you can see from our feature pic) – though it can be hard to juggle things in order for us all to be in the same place at the same […]
September is the month we should be planning and planting new hedges, but what do you want from a hedge? This week we’re going to explore some options for you and as usual we won’t agree – for me it’s got to be a wildlife magnet, Elaine will give you properly sensible ideas for practical […]
Has your mind been ever so slightly blown by the weather this summer? And more importantly, what it’s done to your garden! Laura’s front garden, our feature photo, this week, is a point in question. Obviously there is a danger of being a little too ‘knee-jerk’ about drought (or flood). but the signs are there that we […]
There have been some extremes of weather in many necks of many woods this summer, have there not! Two of the3Growbags have been dealing with weeks of drought and heat. Caroline has contended with something altogether WETTER in her Highland realm but given the steep topography of her garden we still let her contribute to this […]
It really is HIGH SUMMER now, and dozens of the early summer shrubs – philadelphus, weigela, deutzia, rubus , etc. etc. have done their thing already. So this week we 3Growbags are discussing one of the few shrub species that will fill the garden with gorgeous colour and form in July and August. Hydrangeas, of course! […]