Gardening Book of the Month February 2011

‘TheVictorian Garden Series’ is a bit of a cheat given our title book of the month. This month we have selected a DVD series that will enthrall many gardeners. They still work even if you have been turned digital and it is a useful way of watching the old BBC series.

Released on TV in the 1980s the Beeb recreated the Victorian Kitchen; Victorian Kitchen Garden and Victorian Flower Garden. It was well produced and has stood the test of time judging by the positive comments on the Amazon website where it can be purchased.
‘I found the series utterly absorbing. If you are looking for a programme that will relax you and feel you are sinking back into the sofa then the Victorian Garden is for you. A cracking series.’Mark Boulton

In case you feel cheated English Heritage published the Victorian Gardens reviewing historic gardens and it is available from amazon by clicking on the book cover.

BBC’s Best Gardening Magazines

A good read, with ample pictures, is a comforting pastime for weary gardeners. The BBC have cornered a glossy section of the market with best selling Gardeners World and Gardens Illustrated which features the best gardens, plants and designers from around the world.

Gardeners World subscribe or see more detail

Regular features in Gardens Illustrated include ‘Nurseryman’s favourites with plant expert Graham Gough which highlights must-have garden plants and Kew-trained gardener Alys Fowler guide through her monthly tasks in the kitchen garden.’

Gardens Illustrated subscribe

Spun out of the Country File programme there is enough interest for most gardeners in this monthly magazine. As the subject matter is far broader it tackles the latest rural and environmental stories, explaining how they affect you.

Countryfile subscribe

‘The Good Life Books’ for Christmas

Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Kitchen Garden Companion: Dig, Plant, Water, Grow, Harvest, Chop, Cook’ If you have ever dreamed of picking fresh salad leaves for the evening meal, gathering vine-ripened tomatoes or pulling up your own sweet carrots, this is the book for you.

On the other hand if you intend growing enough food to be self sufficient the you may need this book Cost Effective Self-sufficiencyby Eve and Terrance Mclaughlin. Based on the experience of many years growing ‘The Good Life’.

Read the rest of this entry »

Why do Jasmine Flowers make you Alluring?

‘Why do jasmine flowers make you more sexually alluring? When is an apple not an apple? Are trees the tallest plants? Why should tadpoles look out for Fairy Aprons? What could I grow on Mars? This book answers hundreds of intriguing questions about flowers, plants and trees for which you thought you’d never find an answer: such as why are some plants edible and some poisonous?’

A well researched book of miscellanea with a gardening slant. Caroline Holmes is a garden historian and authour of ‘The Not so Little Book of Dung’.

Oh and the twice a year flowering Sweet Violet or Viola odorata ‘occasionally toys with passing insects on first flowering but so revels in the high seed production levels of DIY pollination, that it shrinks away from the insect when it tries to alight.’

This book is our Gardening Book of the Month for December 2010

Garden Art by ‘New Shoots’

‘Wild Wild Meadow’ is an interesting Artwork combining Garden photography, Digital art and top quality Giclee fine art reproduction.

This signed, limited edition of   ’17′ is available as a 20″ wide by 16″ deep box-framed, top quality fine art canvas ready to hang on your wall or give as a gift.

To place your order send your details and a cheque for £85 to New Shoots Garden Art 7 Fairfax Road Menston Ilkley LS29 6EW or place your order via the web with Digital Sunrise our Fine Art Supplier.

99% of the  photographs on our sister site Gardeners Tips are available for conversion into unique artworks. Please contact us for details.

Below is another unique one off artwork available in a similar format to our ‘Wild Wild Meadow’.

These works and many others are available to view at an interesting new Art Gallery Unit 7E, Old Station Mill, Cononley, Skipton, Yorkshire, BD20 8LN.

List of Plants in RHS Plant Finder

If you want to know where to find 73,000 plants the Royal Horticultural Society Plant Finder 2010-2011 is the source for you.

Containing contact details, with maps, for over 750 nurseries it will help you locate and buy your plants.

At £8.00 for about 1000 pages of valuable information it is a good buy or present for another gardener.