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.
Annuals and Biennials, Hardy.--In the majority of English gardens the spring display of bulbous flowers is too often followed by a dreary blank, which is almost unredeemed by a touch of colour, except...
Hardy perennial In the early months of the year few subjects in the garden present so gay an appearance as Aubrietias, for with the first approach of genial weather the cushion-like plants burst into...
Callistephus sinensis. Half-hardy annual In high summer so many flowers are available that no difficulty arises in making a varied display. The real trouble is in discarding, especially for a limited...
Asparagus officinalis Asparagus is a liliaceous plant of perennial duration, and it demands more generous treatment than the majority of Kitchen Garden crops. Under favourable conditions it improves w...
Plants, like animals, require food for their sustenance and development, and when this is administered in insufficient quantities, or unsuitable foods are supplied, they remain small, starved, and unh...
Columbine. Hardy perennial Since the introduction of the long-spurred hybrid varieties the Aquilegia has become exceedingly popular. Like the Nasturtium, it is particularly accommodating in character,...
Vegetation is now in full activity, the temperature increases rapidly, frosts are less frequent, and showers and sunshine alternate in their mutual endeavours to clothe the earth with verdure and flow...
Snapdragon. Hardy perennial In bygone years Antirrhinums were seldom seen beyond the limits of old-fashioned cottage gardens. But even then the Snapdragon was a popular flower, and it was generally pe...
Windflower Our observations on this flower will be limited to the tuberous varieties; but even with this restriction, the range of form and colour is exceedingly wide. The Anemone is an accommodating...
Hippeastrum The majority of the named varieties are expensive, and a very considerable saving is effected by raising plants from seed. Thanks to the skill of the hybridiser, the seedlings not only com...
An elegant plant which belongs to the nearly hardy group referred to in the notice of Ixia. In autumn it may be safely planted out in almost any part of the United Kingdom, provided it is planted nine...
These popular half-hardy flowers are not only valuable for a summer display in borders, but they make charming subjects for the conservatory in the spring months. For blooming outdoors seed may be sow...