Making a compost heap is such a positive thing to do. People with compost heaps enjoy fabulous compost delivered straight to their gardens and allotments, for free! Save money on council green bins and spare yourself weekend trips to the tip by starting a compost bin. Homemade compost enriches our soils and benefits nature and the environment.
Ox-eye daisies are one of Great Britain’s most endearing wildflowers. These charming large, white daisies with their golden centres light up our meadows; we should embrace these beauties, as they can bring just as much joy to our summer gardens! August and September is the ideal time to sow seeds.
The ox-eye daisy, dog daisy, or Marguerite is also known by the botanical name Leucanthemum vulgare.
Hardy annuals grow, flower, and die within the same year. Short-lived they may be, but their generosity of spirit and abundant flowering give our gardens a delightful floral boost, making these plants welcome additions to our gardens. Sowing seeds directly in the soil now requires less physical effort and is more economical than buying plants to plant in springtime. Spending under £10 on hardy annual seeds at the garden centre can produce enough plants to fill an average sized garden!
My heart is full of love for butterflies, so I’m encouraging everyone to take part in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, which starts on Friday 17th July 2026 and runs until Sunday 9th August 2026.
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are beautiful, reliable plants that flower for ages, their attractive blooms provide an abundance of nectar for bees and butterflies. Plus, chives produce a regular supply of tasty leaves and flowers from May until the end of summer – they’re such great value plants! In addition to all of the above, chives flourish in containers of peat-free compost or will thrive planted in any soil (apart from waterlogged soils) in a sunny or partially shaded site.
First things first, if you’ve not sown any courgette seeds yet, don’t miss this chance – sow seeds now! I like to sow a few courgette seeds outdoors in May, then I sow a couple of extra seeds at the start June, and two more towards the end of June. Staggering seed sowings ensures a steady supply of courgettes from summer until the frosts arrive in autumn.
If you’re visiting the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show (or watching the television coverage) this week, look out for Plant Heritage who will be unveiling their first ever Chelsea Garden when this prestigious Flower Show opens to the public on 19th May 2026! At the show, you can also meet the Plant Heritage team inside the Great Pavilion on stand GP088, selling seeds collected by National Collection holders and Plant Heritage Members.
I get such a thrill from writing about plants that I know are super-star performers, as I’ve trialled and tested them over a number of years. The thought of a lovely reader discovering an exquisite plant that flourishes in their garden fills me with happiness! Clematis ‘Hågelby Pink’ is a stand-out clematis from my Clematis Trial; this strong-growing, yet mild-mannered climber is incredibly floriferous.
Sweet peas are one of summer’s many prized delights! These exquisite, frilly flowers have a sweet and heady, musky fragrance, which gently envelops the garden with its charm. Sweet peas are floriferous plants that produce divine cut flowers. If you want to enjoy sweet pea flowers this summer, springtime is the ideal time to sow seeds!
Sweet peas seeds can be sown directly in the soil now, but to grow the best sweet pea plants I recommend sowing seeds in good quality, peat-free growing mediums, in deep pots.
The greatest gift in life is true friendship and time spent together; nothing is more important or as valuable as our love for each other and our genuine connection. However, if you’re looking to give a physical gift this Christmas, seeds are a truly special something that can be wrapped up and given or posted inside a Christmas card (NB: Remember to use a padded envelope to protect your seeds from the machinery that processes our letters at Royal Mail’s sorting offices; post from a Post Office to ensure you pay the correct postage).
Our garden plants have endured punishing conditions this year, thanks to repetitive heatwaves with record-breaking, scorching temperatures, and seemingly everlasting droughts from springtime until autumn. This had a particularly adverse effect on plants like roses that need sufficient water to grow and flower well, causing the plants to produce far fewer, smaller blooms and become frazzled, duller versions of their former selves.
Hard frosts, low temperatures, and wet weather can obliterate our borderline hardy garden plants over the autumn and winter months. To avoid unnecessary losses this coming winter, seize the moment and embrace this opportunity to increase your stock of Penstemons (and other perennials) by taking cuttings now!
Generally, Penstemon cultivars with the thinnest leaves tend to be hardiest, but even the hardier types can be lost during wet winters.
It’s difficult to predict what our Great British weather will deliver from one week to the next, but there are beneficial activities we can do now to make the most of whatever conditions we experience in our gardens and allotments this August.
If we’re blessed with a night without rain, followed by a sunny morning; head out first thing and harvest herbs to hang up and dry for use over autumn and winter.
Many of the edible plants we can grow from seed need to be grown in a bright location where they bask in the sunshine in order to generate strong and healthy growth and enable these edibles to really flourish; however, we are not all blessed with sunny gardens. If your garden is shaded, or if you’ve struggled to grow your own edible plants in the past, I’ve got two fabulous suggestions of seeds that germinate readily, can be sown directly in the soil or in containers of peat-free compost on a patio, balcony, or window box now.
Does your garden need a boost? Do you have enough summer-flowering perennials? Treat yourself to some Echinacea, these gorgeous plants have stunning, long-lasting flowers that attract butterflies, moths, bees, and other pollinating insects.
I adore Echinacea, also known as Coneflowers. My favourites are the purple and white flowered forms of Echinacea purpurea, as well their elegant cousin, Echinacea pallida.
May is a totally thrilling month, as there are just so many exciting plants that we can grow from seed now! Courgettes (Cucurbita pepo) are quick-growing plants that can be very productive, making them desirable additions to our gardens and allotments. Varieties vary in their colour, texture, flavour, and productivity, so it’s worth taking the time to do some research before you order your seeds.
Red Mason Bees emerge from hibernation this month. These bees don’t sting. Male Red Mason Bees have white hairy faces, they awaken first, followed by the dark-faced females; both are ginger in colour. After mating, the female Red Mason Bee chooses a nest site, often a hole in a wall, a bee brick, old bramble stem, or nest box. The female works tirelessly gathering mud to construct a chamber in the back of a hollow stem or tube.
I want to inspire you to support nature and Surrey’s conservation groups and make a positive difference for the Small Blue Butterfly by growing Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) in your garden, or at your school, workplace, or allotment.
The Small Blue Butterfly is Britain’s smallest butterfly; it was once common in Surrey. This rarity is classified with Near Threatened status by the IUCN Red List.
Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) is one of our beautiful British wildflowers that grows in chalk grassland, over sand dunes, across shingle, and atop cliffs, in South East England. These stunning plants should be cherished, as from late spring and early summertime, Kidney Vetch bloom continuously for around three months. Their flowers are a magnet for bees, and Kidney Vetch thrives in containers on a sunny patio or balcony.
Ilex aquifolium is the botanical name for our beautiful, British, evergreen holly. Holly’s vibrant, scarlet berries and glossy, undulating, spiky leaves delight us at Christmas time, yet these handsome plants retain their good looks throughout the year and enhance our gardens, woodlands, and wild landscapes. This holly species is a vital caterpillar food plant for the Holly Blue Butterfly. Hollies are evergreen, they shed a proportion of their oldest leaves in summertime.
