Other Plants

If they're doing well as they are, I'd hesitate before giving more feed... Plants mainly eat light!

I have a Japanese holly in a very shady location - north facing garden next to a low wall, overshadowed at times by the geraniums that pop up every year. I bought it because the tag said it was good for shade but in the two years I've had it, it has lost a lot of leaves and doesn't seem very...

Thank you

I've had an idea that has worked for me before. I shall dig a large hole and bury the centre of the bush with only the green leaves above ground. It's worked for me before with different bushes. I'll give it a try.

Thanks @fairygirl i think I read somewhere that lilies like ericaceous soil and I grow lots so got some. As you say regular beetle patrols are a necessity here.

That is rather disappointing!

A fascinating city with a rich history I'm sure, but the climate there looks very difficult to live in year round. I often wonder how a city with such bitterly cold and long winters became a sprawling urban metropolis of ~10 million people.

I see You'd still be able to have plants directly into the gravel, in the way I described with those little sedums I have, if you grow them on initially in pots or trays, so that they have a little layer of soil to help them. Those sorts of plants which need very little help [thymes and sedums...

Just to update this thread, and I will also update it in a few months when the rhodedendron has properly settled in.I dug it completely out of the ground and made the hole I'd taken it from a lot lot bigger. Then I put a load of ericaceous compost in the hole. I put the rhodedendron on top and...

I've started planting in clumps, when planting in their final spots I sometimes split them again into smaller clumps. I've done this with pansies, alyssum, wallflowers, poppies, borage, carnations. Have a go at doing both and see what suits you best.

Thank you all for your very helpful thoughts. I think I’ll put in a pot this year and overwinter it in the garage and see how it fares. I also bought a Fuchsia Delta’s Sara which you mentioned in another thread yesterday I’ve grown it before and your post reminded me, so thank you. A bit more...

A plant with foliage, real or fake, is going to get dusty and be hard to keep looking good. I'd go for some stylish bare branches - just what you find in your garden or local woods or maybe some bare stems of corkscrew willow. Use plain, discreet lights or decorative ones depending on the...

Thanks, lol. My beauty star is one of my better looking calatheas, it's positively thriving. Others are doing well but need a few "tweaks" to look as good as that one.It's very rewarding when you finally find out what a plant really likes, and they stop sulking at you and actually get on with...

My Camassias are just starting to go over, hastened by the hot weekend, 27C. They are planted in a border of perennials in my garden in SW France. It gets very hot and dry here in summer and wet in winter. The bed gets watered occasionally by my handyman when I'm in the UK. The soil is clay with...

I’ve been repotting pelargonium cuttings and some of them are in flower. I was planning to start putting them in the cold frame during the day, but I’ve reconsidered after seeing the forecast for next week.Santa Maria Centennial Antique Rose

Oops. That could be an expensive mistake.

Not too late at all @AuntyRach . I often sow them at this time of year. I just sowed some a couple of days ago, and may do some more soon. It'll give you a later display, which many people find useful. Remember that they don't necessarily need lots of sun either. I grow lots of mine in shadier...

Going for easy, reliable plants is always better with the scenario you have. If they do well, and your daughter then enjoys it, she'll experiment and maybe do a bit more research etc as she goes along. My two aren't remotely interested, and I've never tried to make them because it would be like...

I don't know about science, but I am a simpleton when it comes to gardening, as I am in my personal being and prefer natural remedies to chemical.You can just look at my garden and see if anything suffers by my neglect or only occasionally feeding with natural products and I don't grow the...

Down here the camellias and magnolias are taking a hammering. It is such a shame. Everywhere is littered with fallen petals. With an amber warning for more strong winds tomorrow.