The summer rolls on, and what a scorcher we’ve had so far! Water-preservation has been the order of the day round here and the drought-tolerant plants have had a field day while much else has struggled. To take your mind off miserable mimulus and such like, here are a few tasks to be getting on with: […]
As in ‘Life’, amongst garden plants there are winners and there are losers. And then there are those who diligently graft away in the background until circumstances collude to give them that moment to shine – their Gareth Southgate moment, their Diving Rescue Team moment. So it has been this summer in my garden. There […]
There’s no doubt that many herbaceous perennials suffer during hot dry spell, and although I try to keep watering anything that I have planted this year, those longer established plants just have to survive on their own reserves. However, in the shrub category, there are one or two which seem positively to thrive, to glow […]
It’s high summer and time to sit back in a shady nook and admire all your fabulous gardening efforts so far this year. Certainly much of the urgency has gone out of the tasks but for those who don’t like to sit around for long, here are a few ideas to get you up out […]
What has intrigued me most about the World Cup (yes, completely hooked now) is how each team has a personality that reflects their nationality. Wildly talented and colourful South Americans, not too fussy about etiquette on the field, small but fiercely determined Japanese, ice cool Swedes (worrying this…..especially if it goes to a penalty shoot […]
Watering can be an industry in itself at this time of the year. During my increasingly frenetic morning and evening activity with the watering can, I throw my Aeonium arboreum grateful and admiring glances in equal measure as I rush past, making a mental note to water it in a few days time! With their bold, architectural […]
Here we are, deep into another glorious British summer, and our gardens hold the real promise of bright days and long evenings among the flowers, produce and greenery. This season is not as frantic as spring when it comes to gardening jobs, but there are still bits and pieces to be getting on with: […]
What is a garden exactly? Can you have a ‘garden’ without a human element? You perhaps know that the etymology of the word is ‘enclosure’ (Middle English from Anglo-French and Old High German), but an enclosure of what? One thing for sure is that it is a heck of a lot more than just plants. […]
There is a faint lull in our garden in the middle of June, many summer flowering plants are poised for the next act, but right now Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’ is the show-stopper. It has been flowering for several weeks already and will continue to do so for many more to come … and it is […]
What a wonderful time of year this is! The longest day is around the corner and summer is beckoning us on. It’s no hardship to be out in the garden pottering and here are some of the jobs you could be doing: YOU AND EUPHORBIASEuphorbias have been delighting us through the spring with their zingy […]
June is prime time for brilliant gardeners and barmily generous householders to throw open the gates to their gorgeous borders; home-made water features and adorable cats. It’s garden visiting season! Never mind the perfect show gardens of Chelsea, this is when you can find out how your neighbours tackle ground elder, and what return they […]
Laura knows a good rose when she sees one! A few years ago she spotted a neglected specimen which was just about surviving near an aircraft hangar at Shoreham airport. It was autumn, the perfect time to take rose cuttings, and they thrived. She gave one to me and we all called it Rosa ‘Shoreham […]
It’s roses, roses all the way, now that June is here! You can stay in the garden till late on warm evenings, admiring your efforts with a pleasant glass of something. But do not think your work is done, Dear Reader, oh dear me, no. There are all sorts of tasks you could be getting […]
Chelsea meant boots when we were teenagers – fast-forward 50 years or so and now it means a fantastic day out for all three of us at the Greatest Flower Show in the World! This year it was definitely all about the lupins but Laura wasn’t impressed: “The trouble with lupins is they put so much […]
If I wake in the night and can’t get back to sleep, I take a mental tour of the garden; and as it’s May I start by counting clematis. I get as far as C ‘Black Tea’ … beyond shadow of a doubt, it’s this week’s star plant and can only be described as ‘sumptuous’. […]
What a fantastic weekend and our fabulous May-time gardens are keeping that feelgood vibe in top gear. Here are a few things to attend to when you’ve got a minute…. TYING UP THE LOOSE ENDS Summer clematis are putting on a mass of growth just now, and you need to be vigilant about tying them in. […]
What fun hardy annuals are! Lots and lots of easy, pretty things from seeds scattered over a bit of soil – even a most frightful horticultural snob like Laura can’t get sniffy about that, surely? Now I am well aware that the clever-clogs among you will be saying “Why are the Growbags talking about hardy annuals […]
From the moment the first young shoots push their way up through the earth in early spring, I am watching its growth daily, and waiting for the buds on this captivating plant to form. The anticipation is part of the pleasure of P. mlokosewitschii (also known as ‘Molly the Witch’) … the primrose yellow, bowl-shaped flowers […]
Help! There’s suddenly so much to do in the garden and not enough hours in the day to do them all! The trick is just to get started on something somewhere – one job at a time, that’s the secret. Here are a few to consider: PLANTING OUT THE SWEETPEASIf you have germinated sweetpea seeds […]
Branklyn Garden is surely one of Scotland’s national treasures. Its eccentricities start before you’ve even got there. For although it’s in Perth – a wonderfully central and connected city, it’s quite a tricky little number to locate even for your top notch Sat Nav. (Basically head over the river as though you’re going to Scone […]
Hurray spring has finally sprung, and there are many reasons to be cheerful. But which spring plants cheered you up the most? Here’s our top 10: 1 Honesty (Lunaria annua– although it is actually a biennial) I have finally managed to spread this simple soul into various nooks and crannies around my garden whilst keeping the […]
Blue-Eyed Betty Thanks to a good friend (and 3growbags follower), who reminded me of the common name of this week’s special plant, I have been dipping into a couple of books by Margery Fish. Having read most of them years ago, I am again inspired by her chatty and informative prose and am finding them hard to put down. A […]
Ooh, things in the garden are really starting to put a wiggle on, aren’t they! The soil is starting to warm up properly, and the jobs can pile up quickly unless you keep on top of them. Here are some suggestions for the next couple of weeks: DIVIDE AND RULE It might seem a little late, […]
How can anyone not love a Magnolia? Their lavish flowers declare in their classy way that spring has really arrived in all its finery. People like Caroline might assume these celestial-looking beauties are all the same but it’s NOT TRUE and you must be careful to choose wisely. Most are deciduous (lose their leaves in […]
Every area of RHS Wisley garden in Surrey has ‘its moment’ some time in the year so it was with great intent that I set off last Sunday to take my annual tour around Battleston Hill, principally to look at magnolias. Unsurprisingly for this spring, it was wet, but en route to Battleston Hill there were […]
In our garden, Epimedium x warleyense is the first of the genus to flower and it never fails to delight. The sprays of unusual coppery orange coloured flowers, held high on thin wiry stems, seem almost to hover above ground. The effect is delicate, yet this clump forming plant is tough and a very efficient […]
Hurray! It’s April and the clocks have gone forward, giving us a realistic expectation of evenings light enough to get out into the garden after a day at work. It’s a busy month with lots to get stuck into, now that the soil is (at last!) warming up. Here are a few ideas…. DEALING WITH THE […]
So I took C and E to the Spring Plant Fair at RHS Wisley on Sunday, on the promise they’d behave themselves. Wisley is very much my stamping ground and I didn’t want any embarrassing incidents which might compromise my regular Sunday morning visits to this fantastic garden, (which I am now illustrating in a […]
This is undoubtedly a well known and popular cherry, and deservedly so; but somehow I overlooked it until a few years ago when, right time, right place, I found I had a gap for a spring flowering shrub and it fitted the bill perfectly. Compact, slow growing and twiggy in an architectural sort of way, […]
If you’re already a member of the Royal Horticultural Society you’ll know that besides its internationally renowned Chelsea Flower Show each May, a more permanent jewel in its crown is the RHS garden at Wisley, just off the M25 in balmy south-east England – and luckily a manageable drive from my house. I’ve been visiting […]
So, we have struggled through The Beast II: ‘Fright From the Right’ and are now hopefully on the sunny uplands of early spring when we can realistically be getting some proper work and planning done in the garden. It’s Elaine here with a few ideas for you: BEING BOLD WITH BUDDLEIA One of the loveliest […]
Outside the garden is still being battered by the return of ‘the beast’ but the days are lengthening and we can all indulge ourselves in a bit of remedial therapy by getting some new plants on the go. Seeds of many northern hemisphere plants are best sown in autumn so the winter rain and cold […]
This rhizomatous perennial (closely related to our own native cuckooflower) always takes me by surprise when its fresh bright foliage appears in February. The attractive leaves are five lobed and toothed, and they set off to perfection the mass of pinky purple flowers which can appear at any time during March. These are always a […]
It’s time to dandy up the dogwoods OK, you’ve enjoyed those lovely bright stems of Salix (Willow) and Cornus (Dogwood) cultivars all winter, cheering up the garden through the dull months, but if you want the same again next year, you must be very stern with them (being a schoolteacher, I’m quite good at that). Sharpen your secateurs and cut […]
Yikes, just when we thought we’d got away with it, the weather went all Winter Olympics on us. So how far were you prepared to go to protect those borderline shrubs which you were just congratulating yourself on having nursed through the worst of the winter? In my case it was quite far; I have […]
I am not a fan of the sort of mild winter that slips almost imperceptibly into spring, so I am happy with this one! February means hellebores at their best, but I’m not going to get bogged down with too many different sorts here, for there are many, including some very interesting species. I’m going […]