The best gifts of all are true love, friendship, and respect, which cannot be bought, yet are priceless gifts that we all aspire to receive. If you’re considering purchasing a gift for someone special, may I recommend seeds of a sweet pepper that I’ve trialled, tested, and found to be easy to grow, tasty, and productive. I’d also like to share with you the gift of advice: sweet pepper plants (and chilli peppers) are tender plants that are killed by cold temperatures.
Chilli pepper and sweet pepper plants grow slowly and can take longer than we expect to reach maturity and produce peppers. January is my favourite time to sow chilli and sweet pepper seeds, as it gives the plants a longer growing season with extra time for fruit to develop and ripen, compared to the standard spring-sown plants.
Spring and summer weather often leaves plants and gardeners wilting during punishing droughts and intense heatwaves. Raising plants in containers requires far more water than growing plants in the ground. If you’ve got a penchant for container gardening, I’d like to introduce you to self-watering containers: literal lifesavers for plants and gardeners!
This year, I’ve been running more Trials with Tomatoes; I’ll share all the results from my Tomato Trials with you in due course, but today I wanted to show you my Quadgrow Self Watering Planter. Most of my tomato plants have now given up or been affected by Late Blight, but the tomatoes in my Quadgrow have (for the moment) escaped this disease.
I love growing vegetables, it’s a truly wonderful, soul enriching experience to grow your own food! Sadly an increasing number of us are without the luxury of a garden or allotment and have nowhere to grow vegetables, herbs, fruit, or flowers; while a great many others struggle to garden in small, often paved spaces, without any access to the soil.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show Plant Of The Year Award was first presented in 2010 to promote the continuing work of breeders and nurseries in producing improved new plants. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show Plant Of The Year Award celebrates and recognises the exciting and diverse range of new plants which are launched at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show each year.
It’s an exciting and romantic time in the garden, with lots to do this month, and so much to look forward to in the garden! Take time out to relax and enjoy the wonderfully scented flowers of Daphne, Sarcococca, and Hamamelis.
Prune Buddleja davidii now. If you’ve got an old, and maybe rather neglected, specimen then start to rejuvenate your plant now, by removing any old dead wood and cutting it back hard.
I love the excitement of the garden at this time of year, with colourful, cheery spring flowers emerging and the promise of so much more to come. This is such an invigorating and inspiring time, with so much to see and do in the garden!
Prune Figs. The latex that figs readily emit when you prune is an irritant, so it’s advisable to wear gloves whilst pruning or tending to your plants, and then wash your hands thoroughly once you’ve finished.
I enjoy the quiet romance of February in the garden. Here are some jobs you can be getting on with this month:
To enjoy the best flowering display from your Wisteria you need to prune it; you’ll enjoy more flowers of better quality, and it will look tidier. At this time of year the structure of the plant is clear of foliage, so it’s easy to see where to prune.
It’s an exciting time and romantic time in the garden, with lots to do this month and so much to look forward to! Take time out to relax and enjoy the wonderfully scented flowers of Daphne, Sarcococca and Hamamelis.
Prune Buddleja davidii now. If you’ve got an old and maybe rather neglected specimen, then rejuvenate it now by removing any old dead wood and cutting it back hard.
