When I first started gardening I emulated the grasshopper in the old fable, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Like that high-living insect, I basked in the summer sunshine, cultivating a...
Gardening through the Winter
Judging by the hysterical television coverage that happens whenever more than three inches of rain or an inch of snow is forecasted, nobody prepares for bad weather anymore. During the fall mont...
Winter Protection for a Rose bush
Then comes the question of protection, which I am convinced is made too much of, so far, at least, as concerns gardens in the southern England counties. I live in Middlesex, and I never protect a...
ANTIQUE PAGES – Gardening
A couple of years ago I met a fascinating woman in her sixties who had made a career as an estate gardener. Working for an assortment of wealthy clients, she spent years weeding, dividing and...
Growing Poinsettias in the Greenhouse
This is the time to set Poinsettias under way. If last year’s plants were kept for growing on for another season they should now be brought from their resting quarters and given a location...
Grow Poinsettias for next Christmas
The real gardener derives his satisfaction from his ability to nurse plants along every step of their growth to their ultimate flowering glory. However, the greatest thrill is enjoyed by those w...
The More Things Change
At this time of year, with the earth frozen, or at least semi-frozen, catalog madness strikes many gardeners with a considerable wallop. Sometimes when you are in the throes of this particular s...
PERILLA, The Beefsteak Plant
‘Every year it seems as if some arbiter of taste and fashion anoints a member of the vast mint family as “mint of the moment.” Several years ago it was thyme–not just ordinary thyme but le...
Roses recommended for your garden
To help you decide whether a particular rose is suitable for your rose garden design, the heights and vigor are included, but it must be remembered that under very good growing conditions, these...
How to fertilize a Rose bush
How to fertilize a Rose bush
Roses need to be kept regularly fed, but like human beings and animals they do not want to be overfed, and certainly not with the wrong foods. What they li...