Some flowers are just horrible in a vase, aren’t they! For a start off, some smell AWFUL – flowering currant (Ribes) smells of cat’s pee, crown imperials (Fritillaria imperialis) smell of foxes, and sea hollies (Eryngium) smell of …..poo! But there are some blooms that are perfect for a vase indoors and we 3Growbags […]
If you’re cutting flowers for a vase we’ve got a few tips to make them last longer and more beautifully:
A good place to start, for anyone who loves clematis, is to buy a copy of Christopher Lloyd’s highly respected book of the same name. It’s a massive source of information and a good read. However, my choice of clematis today was bred in the same year as my revised edition of 1989 was printed, […]
How are your to-do lists going?! Every April, I start out with a dozen things on mine, I slog away all day in the garden, potting shed or greenhouse, and by the evening, the list hasn’t shortened at all – because I’ve added a dozen more tasks….! Let’s get on with a few – weeding, […]
Surely we ALL know by now that plastic is harming our precious planet? But the horticultural world is still full of it! How can we, as responsible citizens of our beleaguered environment, reduce our reliance on plastic in the garden? We 3Growbags have come up with nine ideas for you……. The Royal Horticultural Society has a sustainability […]
How many plastic pots have you got in your shed? Dozens, hundreds, thousands? When did you last buy a plant that was in a properly biodegradable container? There has been in recent years a quantum shift in the way other retail outlets issue plastic packaging – you must pay a premium for a plastic bag almost […]
Sedum rhodiola roseroot During the winter months the knobbly rootstock of this succulent plant looks like nothing on earth, and in January and February I find myself endlessly peering at it trying to spot the first sign of life. It’s a fascinating thing to keep an eye on as spring approaches and sometimes hard to […]
It’s Easter weekend – wow, that’s come up fast, hasn’t it! The gardens about to go into overdrive, and you might have to, as well! There are barely enough hours in the day for all the jobs that need attention, so let’s get on with spreading fertiliser, mulching, and planting potatoes for starters… Making free […]
Suzie Dewey, from the Hardy Geranium Nursery shares her top tips on geraniums with The3Growbags, and makes a great offer just for our gang (at the end of this post). Hardy Geraniums are herbaceous perennials and for the most part they are fuss free and super easy to grow. They require minimal maintenance, and, in […]
When I announced last spring that I was planning a new cutting edge garden project to mark the Coronation of King Charles III, there were the usual groans and sniping from the sisterhood. ‘Just plant a new rose’ and ‘Why not simply put a couple of extra ferns into your stumpery – he likes those’. […]
Are you charging around your patch like a demented chicken trying to get on top of all the jobs crying for attention? No? Well, you jolly well should be! We 3Growbags have compiled a handy list for you to work through before you get to wine-o’clock… Now here’s the thing – DON’T prune any of the […]
PKA Chionodoxa sardensis Common names: Lesser glory-of-the-snow or squill (from Sart*) Any mention of these beautiful little bulbs immediately brings to mind a passage in Beverley Nichols’ book ‘Down the Garden Path’ (how very dated it reads now) in which he catalogues the planting of (and waiting for the appearance of) an ‘avalanche’ of chionodoxa […]
Aarrggh! All of a sudden it’s mid-March and the gardening jobs are multiplying as the big growing season gets under way. It’s exciting too, though! Here are a few ideas to spur you into action – rose-pruning, spring planting, potting on seedlings and lots more……. How to prune bush roses My main task for March is completing all the […]
Few things are more exciting in March than finding the delicate yellow of a native primrose face upturned, towards the sun. It speaks of hope. Since the middle ages, gardeners have prized the many primroses that have developed from the native plant. The oldest are living antiques and today, great new varieties are being bred. Primroses are […]
Are plant catalogues thudding through your letterbox thick and fast right now? Most have pages and pages of petunias etc guaranteed to flower non-stop all summer long. What are your thoughts? (please do let us know!) We think the same flowers all summer is a bit dull but then neither do we want a mid-season lull. No, […]
coral-bark maple Just when you thought you’d heard the last of colourful winter stems – along comes the coral-bark maple. Please accept my apologies for raising the subject again*, but this one was begging for a mention and right now it’s probably at its peak. I’ve always loved and admired acers but sadly our heavy […]
I can’t help feeling excited now March is here! colour and life are returning all around us, and the songbirds are revving up their glorious spring voices. And what they’re telling us is to get a move on! The gardening jobs are multiplying rapidly, from pruning clematis and blackcurrants to tidying ferns, starting off shallots and […]
I always have to keep a very tight rein on Elaine and Caroline at the Garden Press Event. Despite their advancing age, they have a habit of trying to flirt with the stallholders instead of paying attention to the new products the Horticulture Trades Association (HTA) and Garden Industry Manufacturer’s Association (GIMA) have been kind […]
I was so sure ornamental grasses and classy seedheads were the ‘it’ girls of winter these days, that I fully splashed out on them – stipas, calamagrostis, pennisetum …you name it, I’ve got it. Good heavens, I’m only one unwise purchase away from pampas grass. You can, then, imagine my dismay this week when Elaine […]
Japanese quince ‘Nivalis’ By its very ubiquity, the poor old Japanese quince is often overlooked, but I have always rated them highly and not least, of course, because any shrub flowering in February is to be welcomed. This deciduous and woody shrub is very accommodating and adaptable, it’s also extremely hardy and is tolerant of […]
Here we are on the brink of another thrilling spring garden season! Shakespeare’s Henry V had the words for it: “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start. The game’s afoot..” But are we REALLY ready? This week’s tips are mostly about prepping for the manic deluge of horticultural tasks […]
February might hold St Valentine’s Day, but the garden can still be very dreary. We’ve been out trying to find some pops of joy and colour – and just look what we found! Of course what is now blooming in southern UK probably won’t be thrilling Caroline in the Highlands until the back-end of April, […]
At this time of the year, there’s nothing more cheering than a little pot of gold by the front door, and to be sure, when I chose these last autumn, I had little idea that they would be such a success. The weather has not been kind these past couple of weeks and certainly not for […]
Hurray! That’s dreary old January out the way. By the time we get to the end of February there will little signs of approaching spring everywhere, even if there are still some cold blasts to come. So let’s welcome in February by doing some cheering jobs like potting up primroses, sowing broad beans and beautifying tree-bark, amongst […]
Have you got some plants growing in your garden that you actually kinda hate? We are not talking full-on weeds here, but flowers, shrubs or even trees that you actually bought and still tend, even though your love-affair with them has long since ended. We Growbags certainly have, and here are ten with which we have […]
Japanese laurel ‘Crotonifolia’ A couple of days ago, I just happened to get a heads up that this weekend ‘the three’ would be tackling the subject of plants that we love to hate. And on that same dark, damp and spectacularly dull day, as I was taking my regular early morning stroll round the garden, I […]
Over the years, we 3Growbags and our wonderful resident plantswoman Louise Sims have discussed some of our favourite garden trees in our weekly blogs, and it seemed a good idea to gather our thoughts together into a serviceable reference list. Click on a tree name to find out what we said about it (or in […]
Things are turning a bit nippy, aren’t they, even down here on the balmy south coast! Frankly, it’s a welcome relief after all the endless rain. This may be the quieter side of the year horticulturally speaking, but there are still jobs to do like making more shrubs for free, tending your garden furniture and planting […]
Are you planning to make some eco-friendly changes to your garden this year, but don’t know how to go about it? Time was when the idea of gardening was to manhandle your outdoor space into submission. But now we know we must work WITH nature, not against it. We’ve got some ideas about how to make […]
mountain blue vervain ‘Lavender Spires’ Midwinter brings its own very particular delights and most especially when the darkened skeletons of many plants fall under the cloak of a hard frost. These are the plants that have already given us long-lasting and floriferous displays in late summer and into autumn, and now they give us a […]
Arghh, will it ever stop raining?! It’s been a very wet and windy start to the New Year here and in many other parts of the country. It’s not tempting to get out into the garden in such miserable weather, but there are jobs calling, such as releasing lawn compaction and tidying the base of trees, […]
Visiting gardens, flower shows and horticultural events is a big (and very enjoyable) part of the research we do for our blog. We always try to write a review or make a short film of our trips to pass on a flavour of our experience to you, our lovely readers. Here is a list of […]
As we close one year and start the next, we’re sharing which garden plants and projects got the thumbs up from each of us in 2023. Luckily for Caroline we’re also prepared to ‘fess up’ about the plants that failed and which projects sank without trace, so she shouldn’t be short of material for this […]