Plants in containers really come into their own as the summer progresses. Pelargoniums, salvias, plectranthus, dahlias and all the others are getting well into their flowering stride and none does it better than my subject today – Pelargonium acetosum or sorrel-leaved pelargonium. This very floriferous species pelargonium has glaucous green, almost fleshy leaves, they are more like […]
The middle of August? No way! The year is slipping by too quickly as usual, and there is still so much to be done! Let’s at least keep the summer alive as long as possible with lots of dead-heading, chive-division and judicious propagation of tender plants……. A short discourse on dead-heading The harsh fact is […]
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 […]
This is another hollyhock relative! Some call it the Russian Hibiscus which could be confusing as it most definitely is not one, but they are both members of the Malvaceae family which includes many favourites of mine – abutilon, anisodontea, althaea, modiolastrum to name but a few. Kitaibelia vitifolia is a very sturdy, very hardy, tall […]
Many of our gardens have certainly appreciated the very changeable weather so far this summer. Even if it has meant that accurate planning for social events has been largely thrown out of the window! With water-butts full, and lush green growth even in August, we can get on with other summer jobs like pruning some […]
Have you ever gone off into the garden with a wheelbarrow – and your gloves, your secateurs, your trowel, your twine etc. etc. and all of them have become muddled up with the dead-heads, weeds and stalks as you chuck them in on top of your tools? I certainly have, and what I needed was […]
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 […]
I see that I’ve never chosen a phlox as my special plant before now; but as so often happens when I’m wandering about our garden in the early evening, this one called out to be included! Although not yet in full flower, the leaves, strongly margined with creamy white, make a fine statement. I’m not […]
All our water butts have been filled to the brim in the last few days of downpours – relieved about that, at least! The garden is bursting with colour and growth, and a daily wander around is essential – deadheading this, tying in that….but there are some specific jobs to be done as well, like potting […]
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? […]
I’m not sure whether we were distracted by the ravaged look of our Cotinus ‘Grace’ after such a harsh winter or whether it was another of those spring pruning procedures that was never carried out through lack of time, or maybe we just felt that after several years of hard pruning, the poor plant needed a […]
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 […]
Flamin’ June? It certainly was round here. If last year’s drought made lots of folk re-think their plant choices, they’ll be feeling a touch more complacent than many, I daresay. I know that much of the north of the UK has had a wetter time of it, but most of us have been praying for […]
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 […]
The garden is super lush right now having just received a well timed and most welcome half-inch of rain – quantities may have differed around the UK! In every corner of the garden there is a floral tableau so naturally my stand-out plant of the moment has to be spectacular! Ultimately it’s the intense colour […]
Oooft, it’s been proper hot this week round here! Things are bearing up well….so far, but I’m keeping a very wary eye on plants that may struggle, particularly anything planted this spring. In the meantime, how about making easy free plants, cutting sweet peas, and sowing lettuces amongst other jobs… Free plants The price of […]
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 […]
After that ferociously hard winter, I have nonetheless found silver linings in our garden, and probably we all have. Many evergreen shrubs were amongst the hardest hit, and for us these were the large euphorbias, a particularly massive Teucrium fruticans and the hebes. However, the former are now showing green shoots which is cheering, but the […]
Flamin’ June – and isn’t it exciting! Fresh beautiful flowers opening every day, and longer evenings to enjoy them in. But there are jobs to get on with, when you are not floating around in loveliness – shrubs to prune, basil to nurture, tulip bulbs to dry…..so let’s stir our stumps….. Early summer shrubs Call me […]
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 […]
If, like me, you have been led to believe that Chiswick House’s glasshouse collection of heritage camellias was its chief horticultural asset, then this needs redressing. For, lovely as they are, it transpires that the camellias are actually just minor walk-on characters in this West London garden with much greater stories to tell. About half […]
‘Dainty’, ‘delightful’, ‘quietly attractive’, ‘trendy’, ‘slow spreading’, ‘neat clumps’, ‘likes damp shade’. All these descriptions are to be found when you google this gorgeous looking woodland grass, and doesn’t it sound just the job? As it’s often used in Chelsea show gardens, I bet a lot of people have rushed out to buy it. And, […]
All of a sudden the days just aren’t long enough for all the intense gardening jobs pressing for our attention! I keep making lists, losing the lists, making new lists, going outside to do something on the list, and getting distracted by at least five other jobs on the way.. But I won’t miss out […]
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 […]
‘People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion.’ The words of the Luciano Pavarotti and how well they describe the approach of the Christie family to their gardens at Glyndebourne – the iconic opera house in East Sussex. Everything about these truly unique gardens is designed to support the drama of Glyndebourne’s […]
sweet cicely I’ve grown sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) for as long as I can remember. I have no recollection of when or where I first bought it, it’s just always been a part of my gardening (and cooking) life. Not dissimilar to cow parsley, sweet cicely is also a British native but I’ve never seen […]
HURRAY, IT’S MAY! We 3Growbags are in celebratory mood – not only for the Coronation of King Charles III (it just HAD to be crown imperials for our feature pic this week, didn’t it), but also because we started our blog together seven years ago this weekend! If you haven’t already, do sign up to our […]
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 […]
perennial honesty What colour is mauve? Now there’s an interesting question – it’s the colour of my chosen plant today. I’ve been reading a little about its origins and history and I’ve found some quite funny anecdotes including that apparently the artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler once called mauve “just pink trying to be purple”! I always […]
Everything in the garden has grown about a foot in the last week! The great spring push is definitely on now, even in the far North of Scotland where I spent a lovely few days with the youngest Growbag 🐣 in her new Highland home and garden. The Natural World is surging forward, and so must […]
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) […]
Iris pallida ‘Argentea Variegata’ – Dalmatian iris ‘Argentea Variegata’ Even in springtime, when all around are the mounds of soft, fresh green foliage that makes this season so captivating, the accent of a good spiky plant cannot be underestimated; and especially one that is sufficiently hardy to have come through such a harsh winter unscathed and […]
Happy Easter everyone! Time to welcome in one of the most joyful times for anyone interested in horticulture or indeed the whole natural world. Let’s quietly give thanks for all the emerging beauty of spring while we go about our many gardening tasks, such as dealing with the daffodils, hardening off seedlings or sowing cucumbers……………….. Hardening them […]
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 […]
oso berry- Indian plum Unable (and a bit frustrated) as we are to grow such elegant spring flowering shrubs as corylopsis pauciflora and stachyurus praecox (because we are on heavy neutral clay and they like acid soil), I am delighted to say that my chosen plant today is happy and easy to grow in almost any soil. This hardy […]