Commonsense will help you get the best out of your houseplants. Compost for bought plants will have enough feed for the short term but careful watering will be needed. Go with the seasons do not fight nature just because your plant is indoors.
01.08.2023 - 15:02 / gardenerstips.co.uk / hortoris
Plants of the thistle family and close relatives are particularly good for wildlife. When in flower they attract Bees and Insects and the fine seeds provide bird food particularly for Goldfinches. In many cases the Thistles can and have provided food and medicine for human consumption.
These plants are hardy and the flowers, leaves, root, seed and stem are all edible. The root is best mixed with other vegetable due to it’s bland taste, leaves and young flower stems can be removed of prickles, cooked and used as vegetables. The stem base of the flower buds can be used like the heart of a globe artichoke. The seeds of milk thistle have been used for 2000 years to treat chronic liver disease and protect the liver against toxins.
Cirsium rivulare Atropurpureum is popular with gardeners as it flowers 4-5 feet tall. It has spreading roots and the flower heads should be cut off before being allowed to seed unless you are feeding birds and prepared to weed. ‘Atropurpureum’ is a tall statuesque plant that is perfect for the back of the herbaceous border. It produces elegant, long, leafless stems, each topped with a huge magenta-pink thistle head.
A perennial plant of the Cynara family they are an old favourite. Originally grown as a vegetable and blanched for use rather like celery, the cardoon is now valued for its striking silvery, thistle-like foliage which adds a theatrical touch to the border. In summer, tall flower stems are topped by fat thistle buds which resemble small globe artichokes. The buds open into large purple thistles which attract lots of bees. The dead flower-heads can be left on the plants and will provide an attractive feature over the winter months.
Commonsense will help you get the best out of your houseplants. Compost for bought plants will have enough feed for the short term but careful watering will be needed. Go with the seasons do not fight nature just because your plant is indoors.
Red, White and Blue the patriotic colours of the Hydrangea are augmented by pinks and purples like H. Ayeshia above as a variation on those themes. Flowering from mid-summer these shrubs give a magnificent display with very little effort. Did you see Hydrangea maritima on seaside holidays in large displays of sugary pink and sometimes blue.
Think before you allow poppies to proliferate. Poppies rob a lot of goodness from your soil.
Check how you compost looks then use these tips to make it look and perform better.
Annual begonias can make a good display in a planter. Not all planters are as tall as this.
The best Rhubarb is grown in the ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ in West Riding of Yorkshire. There are low brick buildings visible from the M1 around Wakefield that are used as the forcing sheds. Forced Rhubarb is kept in the dark so the stems are long thin pink and early to crop
Diarmuid Gavin Garden Recreated
This Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum) houseplant is being killed with kindness by the family waterer.
Japanese maple or Acer palmatum are popular trees and small shrubs. They are grown for an attractive habit and dramatic foliage.
Bug eyed but not spritely.
Your book shelves wont propagate themselves but with just a bit of help from Amazon……