Homes

One dreary winter’s day… One dreary office desk… Add one pot of bright pink cyclamen… Okay, you won’t get a miracle, but I bet you’ll get at least a smile every time you look at those ridiculously pink pink PINK blooms peering up over the leaves. Winter flowering cyclamens brighten up any office desk, kitchen […]

Camellias are perhaps our best loved winter bloomer, cheering up many a grey winter day. But often gardeners wonder why next door’s camellia is covered with blooms, while their’s rarely has a flower, or looks brown leafed and dingy. The answer? Many gardeners don’t know what sort of camellia they’re growing. But a camellia is […]

A gorgeous garden costs money – or does it? All our garden plants once grew wild – and managed to create new plants all by themselves. Some of today’s plants are hybrids – if you collect their seed they won’t grow like their parents. But a surprising number of common garden plants are veryeasy to […]

Images courtesy of Kerrie Hess.

A look at the interior designer and architect's best work.

Want a gorgeous big flower that blooms in sun or light shade, doesn’t need watering, pruning, weeding or feeding, and will refuse to die even if a semi-trailer backs over it? Then you need some agapanthus. Agapanthus are among the most generous bloomers about but… (there are always ‘buts’ in the gardening world!): ‘But’ number […]

Palms are tough. I once saw a photo of part of Hawaii after a tsunami had passed over it. Only the palms were still standing! Most palms grow fast, too. Some accept any amount of tropical heat; others adore the cold. Some need water, and some accept years of drought. In other words, there’s a […]

When to plant your roses Now — spring to early summer. Because most roses bloom most magnificently in spring, so you can see them in bloom to choose which one you want to buy. Winter is the time to buy bare root roses, ones that have been dug out of the ground when they are […]

Shade Roses won’t bloom in dense shade. Check they haven’t been overgrown by a tree or shrub. Roses grown against the house wall may be shaded by the eaves as they grow taller. Prune them lower or cut away vegetation around them. Starvation If the flowers are small or lose their petals after a day […]

Frost-free climates Plants for beauty: Seeds or seedlings of ageratum, alyssum, amaranthus, carnations, celosia, coleus, cosmos, dichondra, echinops, erigeron, gaillardia, gazania, gloxinia, gourds, hymenosporum, impatiens, nasturtiums, phlox, salvia. Very hot and dry gardens: move a shade cloth to cover veggie and flower gardens now to shelter them from the worst of the heat, pull out […]