Search - Articles

There are times when it is, quite frankly, just too freezing to do any work in the garden. In some ways I'm glad of the harsh weather; it should help to finish off garden pests such as slugs, and spores of fungal diseases such as tulip fire

’s quite surprising how different bulbs' flowering times are. For example, one catalogue showed how to plan for 100 days of flowers from daffodils alone. Tulips are equally versatile, but add in crocus, hyacinth, fritillaries, snowdrops, anemone and others

year.They've got so much to offer, and I'm always amazed by what my friends and neighbours can produce in their back gardens. Current shows will be showcasing the last of the daffodils and tulips with other spring-flowering bulbs, annuals, and some

and fritillariesMore spring pot displaysCreate a pot display of daffodil, celandine and corydalisCombine daffodils, tulips and crocusGrow thrift, phlox and saxifrage in a potPlant up a pot of primroses and primula

friend who has a plot in the heart of the city centre.Like lots of allotmenteers, she lives in a flat with no garden, so her plot is always a riot of colour, with spring plantings of tulips, daffodils and wallflowers, followed by cottage garden

I'm not overly fond of grey squirrels. Compared to the reds, which the greys have replaced, they are great lumbering brutes. But I suppose I'm lucky that they do little damage in my garden other than digging up a few tulip bulbs, so I can appreciate

with pots of 'Tête-à-tête' daffodils, followed in late-spring by dwarf tulips.Large ivy plants are usually made up of several small cuttings in one pot, which make them good value. Simply tease the roots apart to give you several plants.More advice

, every gardener needs to know a bit of botany and this book explains various things in a very entertaining fashion. The author talks about the effect humans have on such basics as the apple, the potato or the tulip. A bit of history, a bit of anecdote

:Tulipa 'Ballerina': so many tulips, almost all of them gorgeous, but as I have to choose, I'll plump for this one. Water-ice-orange, a waist like Grace Kelly and the faintest scent of velvet glove.Bupleurum longifolia: the leaves have a slight blue tinge

they hunted in packs, like wolves. Of course, each is hunting alone, but they often appear in numbers at this time of year, scurrying across bare ground in the spring sunshine.The ones running around my tulips are Pardosa, and although I can't decide exactly