Gardeners are optimists. We know that planting hardy bulbs now will bring us flowers in spring — tulips, daffodils, crocus, squills, hyacinths, fritillaria and alliums, to name a few. Bulbs should be in the ground four to six weeks before the ground freezes. In Colorado Springs, that means plant them from mid-September through mid-October. Bulbs … Read more
Plant this Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ is a stalwart of a “hot” border, producing generous explosions of scarlet flowers against stiff iris-like foliage in late summer. It makes a wonderful cut flower, too. Grow in full sun or partial shade in any reasonably fertile soil. Height and spread 1m x 1m. Treat this If something is taking irregular notches out … Read more
Stone House Garden made it through the garden walk and by all accounts it was a great success. Folks loved the color and diversity of plants. The purple garden is always the fave of visitors and this year it was a challenge due again to the weather. The warm season annuals sat and sulked after … Read more
With animal products out of bounds for vegan gardeners, what do they use? “Certainly not blood and bone!” Fiona Harman, who has a micro-organic farm near Oxford in the North Canterbury foothills, is almost spluttering down the phone. “I don’t think I would ever use it even if I weren’t vegan,” she laughs. “All those antibiotics.” Some gardeners … Read more
Is that your garden?’ my friend Michele, who was smoking a cigarette out of our kitchen window, gestured down at the bramble jungle below that was, technically, our garden. ‘What a waste,’ he said. He was staying with us in north London while he flat-hunted and most of the places he saw didn’t even have … Read more
Hedges This is a good month to plant hedges. It’s worth looking out for bare-root plants as they’re cheaper than pot-grown ones. They’re dug up from the field and posted directly to you so they miss out on all the costs of watering and re-potting that bump up the price of container- grown plants. The … Read more