Mar 01
In the Garden of early delights… Come the spring, those slugs which have survived the winter by skulking under stones in the rock-garden, or under outdoor pots, stretch themselves and think about dwarf irises in spring. Except in slug world they are known as ‘breakfast’. As it’s spring, the Hostas haven’t appeared, while the Ligularia …
Mar 01
Best flowering shrubs and plants for winter colour. When it comes to winter colour and winter flowering shrubs in the garden, my dad, years ago, used to shake his head and utter dire predictions if I mentioned I had been out on the plot, say, any time after October’. ‘Oh, dinna ging intae the gairden …
Mar 01
Colour in the garden in the ending year Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, eh, in the autumn garden? Well, either you like autumn or you don’t. What does it mean to the gardener anyway? An excuse to go wild in the daffodil bulb department, maybe. It’s still not too late to plant some in …
Mar 01
Browsing through your local plant store, looking for some plants to produce berries for the garden, you arrive at the shrub section and many labels say ‘attractive berries’. Hah. What the label never says after that is ‘Birds will scoff ‘em’. What is pleasant to the gardener’s eye is also lunch to your nearest blackbird. …
Mar 01
Wait…Is that pot terra cotta or plastic? Container gardening is, obviously, just the thing for folk with patios, balconies, wee plots or those who simply can’t resist those glazed pots in garden centres. I caught myself just the other day admiring some handsome terra-cotta pots in a garden store. Just the thing to bring a …