Over late winter my amaryllis plants flowered very well, and I decided to pollinate the flowers by brushing them with a small paintbrush. I succeeded with two plants and over the month of February they produced seed heads. Now that the seed pods have dried and opened naturally it’s time to collect the seeds.
It will take a seed raised plant three…
This week’s sunshine has really brought about a quick change to the garden, and dormant beds are suddenly bursting forth with shoots. The first of course are the early performers including dicentra (bleeding hearts) and peonies.
My peonies look set to put on their best show yet. I planted them three seasons ago and have been happy with their performance, but…
Spring bouncing forward
The time has come to plant my potatoes in the ground. Yes it is rather early for some regions, but down here on the south coast, having set them out for chitting in a cool but light place, they have already started to dehydrate a little, and look like they need a bit of TLC. I have yet…
I thought I’d give you a quick update on the budget topiary ball I planted up back in AG 29 Oct 2011.
At the time, I wired together two wire hanging baskets (below) to create a spherical frame and then set this over a large pot containing three small ivy plants.
Kept in the greenhouse over winter it has put on some…
Fans of The Only Way is Essex will know the ‘Towie’ crew’s pre-holiday mantra ‘No carbs ‘til Marbs’.
It’s something I wished I’d followed in the build up to my sunshine break this week in Estapona, 20 miles down the coast from Marbella. I’ve been taking advantage of the tapas bars and the menu del dias (day menus) on offer, and…
With the lovely early spring weather at the weekend, my nectarine (Nectarella) a cultivar suitable to grow in a pot, had a sudden urge to blossom!
It had been in the greenhouse to help protect it against peach leaf curl, but the extra heat has made it surge into life.
This presented me with a couple of urgent tasks. The first was…
I have run out of room in my garden to plant any more standard fruit trees, but after planting a step-over in AG 24/31 December issue I realised that I could get away with another one, using the excuse that it is needed for dividing a border.
This apple step-over is a two-year-old maiden tree, with two side branches ready to…
No one likes a show off, so you’ll have to forgive my smugness, but look at the size of my tomato plants!
I reckon I must have some of the biggest and best home-grown plants in the country right now (I’m happy to be proven wrong – if yours are bigger, show us the proof by posting some photos on the…
With the sun shining, giving me a subtle reminder that spring will soon be here, I decided last weekend to create a new border beneath my instant hedging.
Before the new hedging went in, there was a thick overgrown hedge and bark chippings on the ground. With the new beech hedge in place I have won back a rather substantial piece…
Even though the weather has prevented me finishing my winter digging in borders, I did manage to venture into the greenhouse last weekend.
Trying to stay busy I decided to check over my potted plants for pests and diseases. One plant that caught my eye was a hellebore, which I bought bare rooted last autumn.
The foliage is showing signs of either…
