I have always grown tulips in pots. At least, I always start them off in pots – it’s easy to keep an eye on them and to judge how well they do and to see how much I like them. But every year, after they have flowered, there is the same old question of what to […]
This competition is open to UK mainland residents aged 18 or over. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. The Competition opens at 5pm on the 7 October 2025, and closes at 12pm on the 28 October 2025. Entries received after that date and time will […]
We all know that winter hasn’t finished with us yet, but isn’t it great to be really up-and-doing again. Thank heavens the clocks will go forward soon and we’ll have more time in the evenings to get through the hundreds of gardening tasks clamouring for our attention. Judging by the response to our new pocket-book […]
The 3Growbags have written a book – Glory be! It has come about in rather an unexpected way, and in fact stems (see what I did there?) from the pandemic. A year ago in the first Lockdown, there were a few big positives among a morass of negatives, and one of them was the huge […]
winter windflower or Grecian windflower Just as the snowdrops and crocus are starting to go over, Anemone blanda is there to take their place in the spring parade. Many of the best plant associations happen by chance and I certainly didn’t conjure up this one; but when the sun comes out after a spring shower, the brilliant blue of the winter windflower against the cinnamon orange […]
Arrgghh! So much to do now that it’s March! There’s a shiver in the air, a lovely anticipation that the garden is about to pirouette from the wings onto centre-stage again. We need to get ready! Let’s pot up some summer bulbs, sow some salad seeds, sort out the shed……….. Smashing summer bulbs The garden […]
Never before has the blooming of spring bulbs been quite so lovingly embraced than after months of virtual house arrest with nothing but Harry and Megan to relieve the tedium. So today we’re going to have a look at a few early species that might be brightening up your lives, although I must warn you […]
Soft shield fern ‘Pulcherrimum Bevis’ Just over a year ago I chose another soft shield fern to write about, and mentioned my difficulty remembering the names of ferns; well, it seems that I am not alone in this as I recently came across an interesting article by one of my favourite garden writers, Val Bourne, who tells of ferns, oestrogen and saucepan lids all in […]
The snowdrops are in full fig, and even early daffodils are starting to flower down here in the south – praise be! We’ll soon be through this ghastly, frightening winter and into brighter, more hopeful days. Time to start some veg-plot planning, and tackling some deep-rooted weeds amongst other things… Rotation motivation If you are […]
Is there anything so full of promise as ordering and sowing seeds, but what to choose this year? We three sisters will have different approaches. I will want to experiment with a pre-determined ecological outcome in mind, Elaine will go for the dreamily romantic (thank goodness you don’t grow roses from seed or we’d be […]
Before this recent bout of snow and frost, the garden seemed almost to be in early spring mode and bursting into life with crocus, aconites, iris and of course, snowdrops. Now we have returned to winter and it’s just what the garden needed. However, my choice this week had already made its mark, quietly but […]
Brilliant! We’ve made it to February! And it really won’t be long now before the early spring flowers will be everywhere to cheer us through these dark times. It’s still pretty quiet in the garden, but we can certainly start getting the beds ready, begin rose-pruning, and sow some broad beans………………… Can you dig it? […]
Don’t you just adore those small and medium-flowered summer clematis – they will enchant for weeks and weeks from mid-summer onwards, if you have a good hack at them now. All that mass of tangled brown top-growth can be cut off entirely now, right down to about 1ft off the ground. I know it’s scary […]
It’s catalogues galore now isn’t it! Sarah Raven, Mr Fothergills, Parkers – just so tempting. But remember a garden is not created by plants alone. A garden needs to have paths and seating at the very least, possibly steps and walls, and ideally some tasteful artefacts placed around it (a hot tub is, of course, […]
The timing couldn’t be better: the RHS have just announced that the Chelsea Flower Show 2021 is being postponed until September. Bring in the new! This is a big opportunity for change: for the RHS, for the nurserywomen and men, for the exhibitors and for us, the gardeners. The announcement also coincides with a few […]
While the world hunts desperately for snippets of good news amongst all the awful stuff, we gardeners still have the little buzz of feeling that spring is not hopelessly far off now. The snowdrops are pushing through, and we can begin preparing our plots for the coming season. Let’s get going on tasks like pruning […]
We’re pretty much confined to barracks now in our gardens and local parks, but our daily exercise walks can be livened up no end by one of those many winter shrubs that puts its best foot forward in the coldest months of the year. As the most normal of the 3growbags sisters (let’s face it, […]
From Roman times onward, our garden sage has, as its Latin name suggests, been valued in connection with innumerable medicinal and, since Tudor times, culinary uses. Steering clear of the former, I can certainly vouch for its use in the kitchen, as without shadow of a doubt it is my go-to herb in the winter months; not only that, its evergreen good looks are reliably handsome all year round. Over the years, I’ve also grown the forms ‘Icterina’, ‘Purpurascens’ and ‘Tricolor’, also a broad-leaved one, […]
Back to ‘normal’ apparently but no doubt still very challenging days ahead for us all. We lucky, lucky gardeners at least have an interest that can sustain us. There are early seeds to sow, plans to make, tools to sharpen…………..let’s get going! Early seed-sowing Before we start, I must just share with you part of […]
Twenty-twenty will go down in history as a year in which we went back to basics and changed habits of a lifetime (although obvs a few remain – Elaine still thinks four squares of Cadbury’s Whole Nut constitutes a healthy breakfast, and Caroline continues to count red wine as one of her five a day). […]
eulalia ‘Morning Light’ The plumes are palish pink – very pretty if you’re lucky enough to get them! That doesn’t sound like much of an endorsement does it? So, it seems odd to be recommending a grass that in most years fails to produce a single flower, and even after this year’s hot summer spell, we had none; but I hardly noticed their absence, for that’s not why we grow it. This statuesque, clump-forming grass grows to 1.2 – […]
This week we’re doing something a little different. 2020 was tough wasn’t it? If ever gardening came into its own, it was this year so instead of Growtips this week, we’d like to share with you a short video of our 12 months. This, dear readers, was our 2020 Next week we’ll be looking at […]
As you can see from our feature picture, we Growbags are wistfully remembering the times when we could share large slabs of cake and cuppas in a cosy café…….! We’ve decided this week it’s your turn to put your brain cells to work. To give you a break from baking mince pies and festive Zoom […]
“Not a privet!” I hear you cry. But this one is quite distinct: an unusual, curious even, evergreen shrub which once seen is never forgotten. What it does have in common with other privets is the slightly sickly scent that exudes from the white flowers in summer – brilliantly described in the opening paragraph of ‘Spies’ by Michael […]
So. 2020 is just about done, all bar the shouting. Not a year anyone in the world is ever going to forget in a hurry. But Glory Be! At LEAST it’s meant that millions more people love and appreciate plants and gardens now. Let’s escape the knotty and stressful confusion of who’s allowed to go […]
Who doesn’t love a beautifully-planted festive pot by the front door? And surely we need the pleasure of that this year more than ever. So much classier than a flashing Santa on the front lawn (if you know what I mean) and kinder on the neighbours who live opposite. Your first task is to decide […]
Along with P. sidoides, which has deep wine-red, almost black flowers, this festively named pelargonium cultivar is one of the latest into flower and together they take first prize for carrying on longest at the end of the season. Sloe Gin Fizz is definitely the winner this year, it has been flowering strongly through October, November and now – well into December! Hardly surprising as this has been the mildest of […]
So, we’ve arrived at December in the strangest year most of us have ever known! We’ve needed our plants and gardens to help us stay sane, in a million different ways, and now we need them to get us through a very difficult winter as well…… A bright spark for us has been the publication […]
Christmas is starting early this year so we’re here to give you a head-start on your garden gift shopping. Our first offer is something very close to home – our very first book! Unlike E and C who have frittered away lockdown getting their Zoom settings perfectly angled to show themselves and their home offices […]
Make no mistake, this group called the Flower Carpet roses are not trying to compete with the ethereal beauty of the old roses. They were bred over many years by Noack Rosen in Germany, and the main objective within this breeding programme was good disease resistance. They are also exceptionally long flowering, drought tolerant and easy in terms of maintenance. ‘Coral’ was introduced in […]
As the world teeters on the brink of a wild hope that an effective vaccine is on the horizon, it reminds me that Hope is one thing we gardeners are pretty good at. Actually Hope and Patience are the two things we need in abundance, to enjoy our wonderful hobby. To illustrate these admirable qualities, […]
Who inspired you to take up gardening? To whose books do you return time and again? Whose name do you Google when you want an opinion on a plant? Today we three Growbags are going to be talking about our all-time gardening heroes. Obviously, just as in Bake Off (see how our cultural horizons have […]
Oregon grape ‘Soft Caress’ The plant is a winner, literally, for it won the RHS Plant of the Year award in 2013 at Chelsea, and deservedly so. Initially I was so put off by the name I almost didn’t buy it – it sounds like something off the side of a soap powder packet – but […]
Halloween is upon us! I hope you’re in the mood for clanking skeletons and spooky shenanigans. I might even be tempted to wear my big witch’s hat, as I trim up the rose bushes, plant some lily bulbs and make a bag or two of lovely leaf-mould…. Roses in the wind We’ve had some very […]
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 […]
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 […]