Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
Practical advice on growing food and flowers, improving soil, and making the most of small spaces. Start anywhere — the garden will meet you.
Mirabilis Jalapa. Half-hardy perennial This flower may be treated either as an annual or as a biennial. As an annual the plants are very compact and effective, the leaves and flowers forming round gli...
Tagetes. Half-hardy annual Marigolds of several classes are valued for the profuse display of their golden flowers in the later summer months. The choicest are the so-called French, or Tagetes patula,...
The first duty is to ascertain that there are no arrears to make good or failures-to replace. If any sowing has gone wrong, do not waste time by repining over it, but sow again. Growing flowers under...
Lupine. Hardy annual and hardy perennial Both the annual and the perennial Lupines are extremely valuable for garden decoration and for supplying an abundance of cut blooms. Each class includes a numb...
Annual and perennial; half-hardy There are several distinct classes of Lobelia, differing materially in height and habit. For dwarf beds or edgings the compact varieties should alone be used. These gr...
Hardy border Lilies are among the most useful garden plants known. They are peculiarly hardy and robust, requiring no support from sticks or ties; several of them remain green all the winter, and are...
The Spring Snowflake (L. vernum) blooms as early as February or March, and the Summer Snowflake (L. aestivum) comes into flower in May and June. They closely resemble the Snowdrop, but are much larger...
With dung. 3 to 4 lb. superphosphate 1/2 to 1 lb. nitrate of soda Without dung. 3 to 4 lb. superphosphate 1 to 1-1/2 lb. nitrate of soda 1 lb. sulphate of potash ONIONS never succeed without an ample...
Allium Porrum The leek is not so fully appreciated in the southern parts of England as it is in the North, and in Scotland and Wales. It is a fine vegetable where it is well understood, and when stewe...
Mallow. Hardy annual and hardy perennial Countryside gardens owe not a little of their floral brightness to the Mallows. The modern varieties of Lavatera, however, far surpass in effectiveness the flo...
Hardy annual The cultivation of the annual Delphiniums, more familiarly known as Larkspurs, is so simple in character that it calls for little comment. But these handsome subjects are so widely grown,...
An elegant plant which is not quite hardy enough to be trusted in the open ground; but it is the easiest matter possible to grow it well in the greenhouse. The bulbs should be potted as soon as they b...