General Gardening Discussion

readers digest encyclopaedia of garden plants and flowers. to me it's like the garderers bible, that and hillier's manual of trees and shrubs, and as fran says the "expert" books by dr. hessayon are a very good start.

I would agree with Peter - chances are they are either dead or not far off - they are not hardy. Best treated as annuals. However dig 'em up - cut off the top growth and put them in some pots of compost and vermiculite. Give a little drink and leave them on a sunny windowsill for a month. You...

Not a briiliant pic but this might give you some idea, the trunk can be wrapped further if hard frosts are expected

Brrrrr, I saw on the weatherforecast that another lot just appeared - even we may get some - but I hope not.It ain't nice when you got to drive, less about the snow, more about the other idiots on the road :(

Hi LG Good on you for setting up in business & using your initiative - this reply is a bit lengthy so apologies in advance! I have been working as a gardener for about 3 years now, and yes its tricky when you first start out, the winter months can be a killer. I'm doing a degree in...

I suppose a green one would also suffice.

no problem.. this is traditional time of year for cutting back hedging

To grow lilies from scales. Remove the scales carefully from the bulb, so as not to damage the point where they were attached to the mother bulb. Take a sealable plastic bag and put in a handful of either peat or vermiculite, whichever you prefer. This should be damp but not sodden. The best way...

All sounds rather fishy to me and a travesty of good plantsmanship.

Thank you very much indeed Bayleaf.

Liz, lovely pics. We've got a few fuscias surviving too but don't know if the next few days will finish them off.A little frost I don't mind but SNOW - I hate it. Roll on Springtime!

Thankyou so much for your replies, I do feel a little more confident that I may be able to resolve this issue, interesting to hear from PeterS that you are happy with your shed now but I still find it odd that the door doesn't open fully, it would only take another 2-3ins height to resolve the...

I use an old blanket, fleece I find isn't enough on really cold nights, and remove it every day if the temperature is above freezing. Fleece is good for those spring frosts that we get when the temperature drops just for a couple of hours or so.

Sounds like they flowered off the bulb the first year, but weren't able to rebuild that bulb after flowering. Maybe after two years, they will have built up enough to flower in 2006 if the conditions are right.

I once planted a 9cm pot of pampas grass in the top of a 4inch wide x 5ft long drainpipe filled with compost. Over the course of one season it rooted right through into the ground & formed a 'pampas palm tree'. It had a very sturdy stake to hold it up & ivy growing up the 'trunk'. Weirdly...

Saw him on a tv prog recently - can't remember when/where - but it was his last RHS show so might have been a repeat. His display of veg was spectacular, though. Pity I'd not heard of him before. BTW he got a gold, of course!

Now that's annoying. I go away for a few days and when I get back home I find the garden is looking much like I left it.The coleus and daturas are looking fine in my sheltered bed and the American Elephant ears are still fine, but...At the end of the garden there is a bed of coleus grown...

Hi, outside temp here has not risen above 5deg. C since 16th. All looks very pretty and still freezing tonight, though only -3. My outside cyclamen flowers in window box are wilted but leaves are fine. I think the rate at which things thaw has a lot to do with damage, these catch early morning...

Well, they are supposed to be deciduous, so yes it is normal. they may have stayed green over the last few winters becaue of the mildness of the weather.

It came from a friend who now has no where to put it now he has moved. He got it from a garden centre where they said it was hardy, but who knows? He had it outside under a verandah but lived in town whereas we are out in the sticks. Its in a big pot, very difficult to move, and I intend to...