8 Root Crops You Never Knew Existed (and some you maybe knew already)
Growing your own food has never been this interesting. Most of us enjoy root crops of two kinds; the starchy mostly-carb kind, such as Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes, and secondly the ‘vegetable’ kind such as carrots, parsnips, turnips and swede. Our diets have changed dramatically over the past few centuries Continue Reading
Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) (aka Plant Hormones, or Phytohormones)- What They Are, How They Work, and How To Use Them
They’re natural… sort of. It is a true miracle of nature that the individual cells of any multicellular organism each have identical DNA to each other, but find a way to create a variety of very different cells in just the right places. Of course, this doesn’t happen by sheer Continue Reading
The Best Sunflower Varieties to grow from seed this year
The Best Sunflower Varieties to grow from seed Sunflowers are one of the best and possibly underrated of garden plants, being easy to grow from seed, and producing a tremendous displays of bright colourful flowers in a range of shades, shapes and sizes. Plant the seeds in April to May Continue Reading
USDA Climate Zones: What they mean, and how to choose the right plants for them – in Europe!
USDA is for the USA, but also everyone else. The United States Department of Agriculture provides essential information and other services to people and organizations involved in the growing of plants – including a system of identifying climate zones and plants that are hardy enough for them. It can be Continue Reading
What People Ate in Europe before Potatoes
What do you mean before potatoes? It is hard to imagine today a European diet without Potatoes, but before the 16th Century, Europeans had to get by without this delicious and familiar root crop, and find a variety of other sources of calories and carbohydrates. For many people a ‘complete Continue Reading
The Best Unusual Bulbs you can Grow and Enjoy at Home
We’ve all been there – staring at the shelves and shelves of bulbs in the Garden Center, or poring through pages and pages of online bulb-merchants. It can quickly become overwheming – how do you choose which bulbs to grow in your garden? Which Bulbs will thrive in your climate? Continue Reading
Plant Breeding – How to make your own new crosses and hybrids
Breeding Basics Many Gardeners and Plant-lovers find themselves captivated by new and interesting varieties. But how are new plant varieties made – and how can amateurs try this in their own garden? Well, sometimes you’re lucky and a new variety will just ‘pop up’ as a random mutation or chance Continue Reading
Planting Alliums for early summer flowers
Alliums are tremendous flowers for the border, with the taller stemmed varieties making a wonderful punctuation to the summer display. These can be planted later than some other Spring-flowering bulbs, and are often offered alongside the autumn and summer-flowering bulbs/tubers (such as Dahlia), however for the best results these should Continue Reading
Plant Profile: Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia – Stunning xeric subshrub
Sphaeralcea species occasionally pop up in seed and plant offerings of various nurseries and seed-merchants. Usually the species on offer is the striking Sphaeralcea coccinea – a pretty plant for a sheltered rockery, with a low-growing habit. Of that species perhaps 50% of the seedlings will thrive in colder, Continue Reading
Plant Profile: Leucocoryne hybrids- A stunning flowering bulb from the Andes
Back when I used to run the nursery, we used to make a lot of sales of these bulbs. They were super-popular. However actually GROWING Leucocoryne was a bit of a challenge, and I could only rarely get them to flower. These are mostly supplied as mixed hybrids, or sometimes Continue Reading