The Gardeners World Exotic Garden was recently voted the most popular by viewers which confirms that gardeners become hooked once they see what an amazing effect you can create with the bold foliage, exuberant colours and luscious scents of exotic plants.
Will Giles Exotic garden in Norwich opened last weekend and is open all summer transporting [...]

Tags: Exotics, Will Giles

Growing vegetables from seed is a great way to source plants for your garden and veg patch. It costs almost nothing and you can stagger the planting to get a crop that runs for weeks. In May I bought a packet of lettuce leaves for £1.20 and have planted these into the ground [...]

Tags: seeds

The wet weather is back in full strength in the North West and the Midlands tomorrow according to the Met Office weather forecast.

Advisory of severe or extreme weather

These advisories are issued by 1100 daily as routine and indicate confidence of expected severe or extreme weather. Early warnings and Flash Warnings supersede advisories when confidence levels [...]

Tags: rainwater harvesting

It is unlikely that we will ever grow mangos in the UK but, I have just had my first taste of exotic fruit gardening - Ruth presented me with 3 melon plants that she has grown from seed.
The plan is to plant them outside as, according to the RHS, rising average night temperatures in March [...]

Tags: citrus

I feel slightly pathetic when I moan about the snails and slugs eating my oriental salad leaves. This is hardly a major problem compared to parts of the world where local people depend on regular crop harvests for their day to day survival.

This week the Times reported about the implication of climate change for many [...]

Have not written about my very tiny veg patch for some time as I have been watching which plants do best. In early May, I planted some veg in grow bags and others into the ground .The idea is to see which needs less input in terms of water and feeding.They have been in for [...]

Tags: Vegetables

This is perhaps the most popular flower in the world and well placed to adapt to climate change.
According to fossil evidence, the rose is over 35 million years old .The cultivation of roses began in Asia around 5000 years ago, and they have been a part of the human experience ever since, appearing in ancient [...]

Tags: roses

The weather was very hot again so i decided to cool off by the sea.
Eastbourne promenade looked very English apart from the drought loving plants which are increasingly popular in our coastal resorts.

The most impressive plants for me are the Agave which seem to enjoy the sea air.
Their sword like leaves conjure up a feeling [...]

Tags: agave

Australia has just experienced the driest May on record and the government is seriously concerned about water supplies. They issued a drought statement on 31st May which clearly explains how dire the water situation is http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/drought.shtml
Presumably, plants like this native Bottle Brush are thriving in the drought? My blog is visited by [...]

Tags: Bottle Brush

The hot weather came back with a vengence today .Temperatures in the garden climbed to a glorious 26c by 3pm.
The sun was very intense and even the wet soil from the past few weeks of heavy rain, quickly begin to dry out. It is amazing how rapidly moisture evaporates from soil - this turned [...]

Tags: cardoon