Category: January

Dahlias are the best value of all the summer bulbs. They flower from July till the frosts of autumn and their flowers can be single or double in a wide range of colours. You can also get small dahlias, ideal for patio pots or tall kinds for large borders and cutting. You can grow the…

Look along the racks of summer bulbs at Nags Hall and you will see lots of begonias. Unlike the lilies I discussed last week, begonias are a bit more complicated, though they are not difficult to grow. Please bear with me! Begonias are a big group of plants and they vary from shrubby houseplants grown…

The next few months will be busy in the garden and the time to plant summer-flowering bulbs. Most of these are frost-tender and need to be started in heat but lilies are completely hardy. They can be planted now outdoors or in pots and if you have have lilies in the garden or in pots…

If you are like me, now that Christmas is cleared away I want to think about summer and the garden year ahead. It is never too early to plan and dream of our spring and summer gardens. But it can be too early to sow. While it is the perfect time to browse the rows…

I hope the New Year finds you fit and healthy and ready to enjoy a great year of gardening in 2023. Last year was challenging in many ways but the weather always brings rewards as well as problems and the heat and sun certainly helped my apples. This is the time when, with all the…

Continuing from last week’s post about buying seeds ready for sowing in spring, today I’m highlighting those cottage-garden favourites, the hardy annuals. These are flowers that bloom the same year as sowing and then die. But unlike the Half Hardy annuals discussed last week, these are hardy which means that they can withstand frost and…

Annuals are the least expensive and quickest way to fill a garden with colour. The photo above is of a garden that was completely bare in February but, by August the same year, after laying new turf, was filled with colour from annuals. All from a few packets of seeds I had sown that March….

Rhubarb is one of the simplest home-grown crops. A clump should remain productive for up to a decade and can be relied on to produce tasty crops every year. Rhubarb is hardy and will grow in most soils, provided the soil is not waterlogged in winter or too dry in summer. But rhubarb does appreciate…

The weather is not exactly conducive for doing much in the garden. It is either cold or soggy underfoot. I find myself staring out of the window wishing spring were here. But it isn’t far away and now is the perfect time to think about spring sowing and getting everything ready.  Most plants can be…

… except that it is not like winter at all. It has been unseasonably mild and not at all like winter. It is strange how plants react to peculiar weather and although some plants have been behaving oddly, with flowers on the apple trees, others seem to avoid being tricked by mild nights. The witch…