Its time to think about sowing biennials for a display next year. Biennials are those plants we grow that flower in their second year from sowing after which we traditionally rip them out and replace them with summer bedding; foxgloves and forget-me-nots are perhaps the two most popular. The plant world does not always follows
New trends in planting design call for large numbers of perennials to replace traditional lawns and fill our garden landscapes. I want to encourage you to join in, but the biggest problem for most of us is simply affording all of the hundreds of plants these schemes potentially need. One strategy I am investigating is
Annuals are not always true to their name as many which we grow from seed each year are in fact perennial plants that originate from warmer climates than our own. True annuals are often more delicate, etherial and ephemeral elements in our gardens and I would encourage everyone to grow at least some every year
Can you grow Annuals in a Perennial Flower Border? Read More »
In February snowdrops and hellebores are indispensable, but we must know how to use them and avoid the hype that surrounds them. It is not the plants, but the people who promote and sell them that I have a problem with. Snowdrops at their best create sheets of white nodding flowers around the dark stems
February is the season for snowdrops and hellebores. Read More »
Perennial meadows fill our gardens with drifts of colour and texture replacing labour intensive lawns and dull areas of gravel and ground cover. However, this new trend in planting design has one big downside – the cost of the large number of plants needed! At between six to eight plants per square meter/yard we are