Just because the flowers are over it is important not to ignore your spring flowering bulbs if you want another great show of flowers next year. Flowering early in the year takes more energy than the plant can produce from photosynthesis with short days and low light levels and the food stored in the bulb is used up. If the...
Winter is the time for more planning and less gardening so it’s a good moment Iris foetidissima - The Stinking Iris to look at the meaning of botanical plant names: Botanical names identify an individual plant uniquely across the world whatever language the gardener speaks. Plant names have 2 parts: genus & species. Like levels in ‘family tree’ showing how near or far plants...
Plants such as Rhododendron, Azalea, Camellia and Acers are often described as ‘ericaceous’, indicating that they thrive in an acid soil. In fact, it is more accurate to say that these plants do not thrive in an alkaline soil, they are perfectly happy in a neutral soil especially if iron is added. Here is the explanation: ericaceous plants cannot tolerate...
Longer lasting than cut flowers and less fattening than chocolate, the gift of an hour or two of advice and ideas to enhance your Valentine’s garden is the ideal present for a gardener or ‘would-be gardener’. A Gardening by Design visit can solve problems, supply design ideas, maintenance advice and a realistic plan whether you have a blank canvas, changing needs...
