The weather is on such a yo-yo that things are growing but slowly. Super quick crops to harvest whilst longer maturing crops get going include radish and rocket. The latter can be harvested at an amazing 25 days. Many salad leaves are best when young such as spinach and this helps avoid its tendency to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘black plants’
Dark succulents
Black plants are not as rare as you might think amongst the succulents. Adromischus often has leaves that are edged in maroon, red or approaching black. A. caryophyllaceus is one example. The large tubular flowers are white with reddish purple markings. Looked at face on, the flowers look like dark stars on twiggy growth. These [...]
Sowing and growing tomatoes
It’s not always a sure fire thing growing tomatoes outdoors in the north of England. I used to be too eager and start sowing in February, now I leave it much later and the results are the same as the plants get a better start. This year I didn’t get around to sowing the seed [...]
The day that the hail came down
Imagine the scenario – for once England is enjoying pleasant weather for Easter weekend. Temperatures have been a very pleasing 24C, 75F, that’s as good as it gets at this time of year. In fact it rarely gets any better all year round. This bank holiday weekend is one where all good gardeners and ‘bank [...]
Black sweet peas plus more
I did get the black sweet peas sown a couple of days ago. Like many other flowers, the ‘black’ sweet peas are more maroon or burgundy. I have sown Midnight, Black Knight, which has the bonus of being scented and Black Diamond. I have also sown Louise for the first time, which is deep maroon [...]
Harrogate Flower Show Spring 2011
I always know that spring is sprung when it’s time for the Harrogate Spring Flower Show. Although this is their 21st year celebration, I didn’t think it was the best year. For one, the Alpine Garden Society did not have their marquee, and this has always been the highlight of my Saturday visit. To satisfy [...]
Black Iris
Just a brief respite from seed sowing to bring you the latest news about my new ebook ‘Black Iris’. For the past few years I have been concentrating my research upon black iris. Iris are such wonde rful flowers and I have included over 490 black iris. This includes iris that are called black or [...]
Sowing more seeds
If you only have 15 to 30 minutes to spend on your garden, growing from seed is a quick and easy way to get things going. This evening as temperatures here plummet, I have sown the first batch of sweet peas I spoke about yesterday on the blog. I have soaked a second batch of [...]
Planting tulips
Now is the time to plant tulips. I decided to put my bulbs into containers this year and have a lovely combination of Tulipa ‘Black Swan’ and the wonderful pink ‘Angelique’. I have had problems with container planting bulbs before owing to very wet winters where planters get waterlogged. To avoid this, I always make [...]
Digital Gardens
Thought I’d share a couple of digital images. I have been working on digital images since my College course last year. It is something I find very fascinating and time can just fly when I’m doing it. I shall be putting some in the shop soon. I have made digital images of all manner of [...]