Posts from ‘May, 2009’

I’m rather excited about my sweet peas this year. They have just started flowering, and I can’t stop crouching over the willow obelisk to have a good sniff. All this is hardly unusual, but the real reason I’m excited about these sweet peas is that they are among the first varieties ever grown in gardens. And I think [...]

This hot weather is perfect for germinating tender vegetables such as sweetcorn. You can now sow these seeds in their final position outdoors, which is the best way of preventing growth problems resulting from cramped tap roots.

We’ve had rather generous weather lately: warm, sunny days, and showers overnight. And while this is great news for most of your garden, there are a few plants which need extra attention at the moment.

I can’t stay in denial any longer. For too long I have pretended to be like everyone else. But I’m not. I love weeding. I love finding a long border full of hairy bittercress and bindweed, and working my way slowly along it. I know, I’m sorry.

If there was ever a shade-loving plant which makes you sit bolt upright with surprise, Meconopsis grandis certainly fits the bill. They aren’t really poppies, but that doesn’t matter: they are blue and they look like poppies, which means they turn heads. The trick is to plant them in a nice large group under trees, [...]

Green Lane Allotments
26 May
 
 
 
This week has been very mixed weather-wise. We have been dashing between heavy showers one minute and basking in sunshine the next; in many ways ideal growing conditions.

Edible flowers are terribly exciting and trendy at the moment. A dash of green alkanet in your salad, or some fried courgette flowers are great fun. But even this takes second place to making your own bubbly from the fat white disk-like elderflowers which are popping open in English hedgerows. Once you find a bush [...]

Hostas are fantastic link plants within a garden, with lush, rubbery leaves sandwiching nicely between clumps of blooming perennials. But they also put up a splendid display themselves when planted en masse. The contrast between these sea-blue and lime-green cultivars when planted together is striking. 

What was your favourite garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2009? Was it James May’s garden-that-wasn’t-a-garden, or bronze fennel and peonies in the Laurent Perrier garden?
And what designs are you taking home? True, Plasticine roses don’t suffer from aphids, but you might find model clematis suffers from wilt if exposed to bright sunlight. Chelsea is [...]

Yellow can be a terribly difficult colour in the garden. Too much, and the borders can look sickly and dead. But used in the right combinations, it is so cheery and heartwarming. Click here for design tips and tricks with yellow.

If you fancy waking any snoozing dinner guests up with some purple carrots or white asparagus, click here to read about how to plant a rainbow potager.

When I was a teenager, we moved to a beautiful dolls house in the sticks and planted a garden. This was the front garden, which we kept nice and simple. We planted lavender at regular intervals along the gravel path and twined a red climbing rose over the porch.
This is what a low-maintenance garden should [...]

Green Lane Allotments
19 May
 
 
 
This week has been a bit of a wash-out. The rain that was really welcome at the beginning of the month has now outstayed that welcome. It always seems to be an all or nothing situation with our weather.
Each time we have ventured to the plot we have been rained off. On [...]

Vegalicious May 2009

 Pea bruschetta
 
 
 
The humble pea is one of the most useful, and widely enjoyed of vegetables. Whether it’s the common green pea (also called English pea), or sugar snaps, snow pea pods or died spit peas; people have been enjoying peas for centuries. Peas prefer a cooler climate and can be sown shortly after the [...]

Redcurrants are such a versatile crop. They are tangy and sweet, and shine as well in summer puddings as they do with roast lamb. They are also easy to grow, and will settle in happily to partially shady areas of the garden. We used to have an enormous bush growing underneath an apple tree, and [...]