It appears that the current wet conditions in the UK have created a new horticultural condition -
GREEN FINGERED GRIEF?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/18/gardens.gardeningadvice
The RHS reports that half of all callers to its plant advisory service are currently expressing concern about their damaged plants. It appears that many gardeners feel personally connected to their plants as they have often [...]

Thanks to both and Nancy and Karen for their lovely comments on yesterday’s blog. Great coincidence that Karen should mention Hibiscus Red Heart as I read her comment just after I had taken the pics for this next blog.
The idea came to me when I saw the sun streaming through my kitchen window for just [...]

Tags: hibiscus

My garden experienced every type of weather today - spectacular sunshine at 9am, gale force winds at midday, monsoon showers this afternoon and then, at 6pm, a rainbow cast its magical shape over Lewes Castle.

Not what you expect on this special day, known as the Glorious Twelfth since it marks the opening of the [...]

The 3 melon plants that Ruth gave me earlier this summer are now down to one. The other two withered and died when I was away for a few days which was a shame but completely my fault.
This remaining plant is thriving on my south-facing patio and I am keeping a very close eye [...]

Today was gloriously sunny and extremely hot - 30c by 2pm
The butterflies adored the hot air and spent the day flitting from tree to plant to flower in the muggy atmosphere.There were not so many bees but the ones I noticed seemed healthy and were busy dipping into various plants completely covering themselves in pollen [...]

The temperatures reached 28c in the garden today and my newly acquired beautiful cannas came out to welcome me back from warmer climes - they were almost as good as the ones I photographed in Spain. Don’t you just love those fabulous showy flowers and leaves - any idea which is the UK version?

I bought [...]

Tags: cannas

A fabulous English summer day with fluffy white clouds drifting across a bright blue sky.
For Americans, it is time to celebrate Independence Day.
For my family, it is a landmark that I would like to share with you.

Will, my 18 year old son, is leaving school. Like his sister, Amy, he has grown into a wonderful [...]

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

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

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