Search - Articles

During an enjoyable day scouring for new plants at a horticultural trade show last week, several growers told me about a devastating new fungal disease killing off busy Lizzies in parks and gardens up and down the country.Impatiens downy mildew

and Alys will be handing out advice at the Plant Swap stand, so take along some seedlings or young plants to swap with other visitors.And as if that wasn't enough, I'll be at the show every day, too, along with fellow blogger James Alexander-Sinclair. James

How inspired were you on your last visit to a garden centre? Did you leave with a trolley full of plants or empty-handed?My recent comments on this blog certainly generated some interesting responses (thank you - we love hearing your thoughts

houseplants, and I'm often surprised where you can pick one up. Of course good garden centres usually have a dedicated area under glass for indoor plants, and M&S sell some nice ones, but how about Tesco's? Just look at what I found there last week (pictured

' as a general catch-all term for those plants that can be grown from dormant bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes. Among my regular favourites are begonias, dahlias, canna lilies and eucomis, the pineapple flower. Then there's galtonia, the summer hyacinth

true to their parent. But that's part of the fun of growing plants from seed, and the thrill of growing a brand new variety. It could result in something stunning and original, and you can even name it whatever you want. Hmmm. Agapanthus 'Adam's Delight

So many of my favourite plants come from South Africa, a place that certainly feeds my appetite for bulbs. Moving on from the summer delights of agapanthus, gladioli, eucomis, galtonia, crocosmia and a host of others, I enter autumn with pots

How tastes change. Going back five years, I hardly remember ever cooking with chillies, but now I use them nearly every week. They're so easy to grow from seed, but you can buy young plants from garden centres, like the pretty 'Medusa' (pictured) I

to everyone.For me it's the single colours that appeal. Bedding plant producers tell me that at retail it's always packs of colour mixtures that sell best, but I always avoid these. OK, so I must be an exception, but thankfully the seed companies cater to my

Rose Shades (from Mr Fothergill's seeds), producing a simple, single rosette in shades of rose pink. They only grow to about 45cm, so I've planted them closely to form a carpet between some standard Bonica roses in a complimentary shade. The marvellous