Archive | July, 2010

Growing Ipomea – Morning Glory

By on July 29, 2010 in Flowers and Plants, Tips for Growing Series

Ipomea indica the blue form of Morning Glory is a cool clear blue, a startling colour in the garden. As you would expect from a member of the Convolvulous clan it is a strong twisting and binding climber. Uses of Morning Glory The plant was originally used to produce cloth die. The seeds should not [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Alstroemeria Photogenic Flowers for July

By on July 26, 2010 in Flowers and Plants

Thompson Morgan sell peruvian lilies and Alstroemeria under different search terms See more on cultivation on Gardeners tips Alstromeria are great as cut flowers as they last very well in a vase. See more on floristry

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

More Horsetail or Mare’s Tail Weeds to Eliminate

By on July 25, 2010 in weeds

Mare’stail or Horsetail is a common garden weed that flourishes on damp soil. Even the RHS is prone to Horsetail as the picture taken at Harlow Carr Gardens demonstrates. I look forward to seeing how they cope! Why it is a Problem The plant reproduces by spores that are readily wind dispersed but most problems [...]

Read full story • Comments { 2 }

Photos of Bees and Butterflies

By on July 25, 2010 in Flowers and Plants

Attracting bees into garden. Bees in the Garden. Bush is Ceanothus Great Foxglove. Growing foxglove Attracting Butterflies into garden. Creating a butterfly garden Related Top 10 Flower Photos

Read full story • Comments { 1 }

Scented Wild Flowers

By on July 25, 2010 in Environmental Gardening

Explanation of Scent Scent is the oxidisation of essential oils of flowers and leaves. Oils are mainly found on the upper surface of petals. The most scented flowers are those with thick velvet like petals which slow down the evaporation of the scent. Double white flowers like the rose are especially fragrant. Oils are produced [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }

Growing Aubretia from Seed

By on July 22, 2010 in Alpine Garden, Flowers and Plants

Aubretia is an excellent, 6″ high perennial that is almost smothered with flowers in early spring. Aubretia is suitable for rockeries, walls, borders, edging paths, planters and window boxes. Spread is 12-18in and flower colours include blue, rich purple and pink shades. Sowing Instructions Sow by just covering the seed, from late winter to early [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Photos from Botanic Gardens

By on July 21, 2010 in Flowers and Plants

Light and shadow over Oxford Botanic Gardens. Cloud cover clears to allow sunlight through. Crocosmia Lucifer – A great variety of Crocosmia. It is actually a deeper red, but, the midday sun made it a little washed out. Close up of Rudbeckia. More Photos from Botanic Gardens

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Growing Extraordinary Leaves

By on July 21, 2010 in Tips for Growing Series

Extraordinary Leaves by Armytage and Schrader is availablefrom amazon. The horticultural industry put most of it’s effort into flowers, trees and shrubs. Leaves however appear on all most all these plants and repay close inspection. As this book Extraordinary Leaves shows there is an amazing world out there for those who look closely and want [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Untried Gardeners Tips For Spraying Aphids

By on July 21, 2010 in Flowers and Plants

Occasionally a tip comes to us that we have not tried for various reasons. Here are a few of examples: Organic Aphid Treatments Boil orange peel, lemon and or lime in water & use the solution as an aphid control. Aphids should hate citrus oil. On the same theme steep garlic cloves and chilli left [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Best Time To Water Garden

By on July 20, 2010 in Flowers and Plants

Readers Question: I would like to ask if there are specific times of the day that you can only water the plants to maximize their growth. Thanks for being open for questions about gardening because I really want to grow more of our own plants in the next few months. from: Gardeners Questions The best [...]

Read full story • Comments { 4 }