Search - Articles

changing from pink to blue...a clear illustration of the affect of pH on plants.My garden soil must have got more alkaline, possibly through watering with 'hard' tap water during hot weather last summer, hence the pink flowers this year. I'll need to change

developing, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a milder week ahead to enjoy these new flowers in pristine form.Adding a few winter flowering plants really pays dividends, providing another reason to get outside to breathe in some of the freshest air

coloured flowers, usually with a brilliant boss of yellow stamens at the centre. While many bedding plants remain dwarf and compact cosmos grows taller, swaying above them on the breeze. Seeds are cheap, and these tender summer bedding plants are always

of each crinkled leaf and the reddish pink below is stunning. Who needs flowers when you've got colour like this?Many of my patio pots are planted for season-long impact, and that often means foliage wins over flowers. I've pots of ornamental grasses like

of apple trees to swell, flushed with pink, before the pure white flowers burst open. As my main reason for growing apple trees is for their fruit, I'm keen that the trees produce abundant blossom, and also that there will be plenty of bees to enjoy it

of nerine in full, glorious flower in my garden.One nerine been doing its thing in the same pot for more years than I care to remember is Nerine undulata. I think it was called N. crispa when I first bought it, but as with so many plants its name has changed

terracotta pot that was normally planted with bedding. Filled with loam-based John Innes compost my Nerium oleander took up residence in June, and was soon in flower. Now, I wouldn't describe its display as spectacular, but my shrub produced luxuriant stems

hyacinth produces a mini forest of stems, each carrying a small head of flower. It comes in blue, pink and white, and I'm hoping that a single bulb per pot will produce a really good display.

Much of my gardening time in September is spent planning for spring colour. I'm not wishing the year away - I love autumn in all its fading glory - but now is the time to buy spring-flowering bulbs for planting over the next couple of months

Christmas is fast approaching, and perfume houses will soon be tempting us to buy fragrances for our nearest and dearest. No doubt they'll do a roaring trade, but to my mind natural perfume can't be beaten. Fragrant plants and flowers add another