Flowering Climbers Look Great

White was the order of the day for Kate Middleton’s bridal bouquet.

Copper from an old penny, vinegar, lemon juice and aspirin have some preservative effect as they are all acidic.

Picnic in the shade of Cherry Trees

This selection of top ten Roses to grow as cut flowers has been chosen for their scent and the length of the vase life. If Roses are picked as the buds are breaking they will last at least a week and if they are picked fully open it will be several days.

Alstromeria are one of the longest lived cut flowers I know. Several weeks of flowering are possible if the bunch is bought with colour just showing. Ensure there is plenty of bud and you will be delighted.

Compact, early flowering shrubs with jam making potential from fruit in autumn make these plants well worth cultivating. As I think you can now imagine Chaenomeles make good and often under utilised shrubs and small trees in the garden  landscape. Varieties vary from 3 feet to 12 feet in height. I grew my plants from seed supplied by the Royal Horticultural Society in the annual seed distribution.

Check how you compost looks then use these tips to make it look and perform better.

Formal or informal, neat or exotic, there are so many ways to do justice to the flowers. Here are just a few tips to get you thinking.

Some Camassia species were an important food staple for Native Americans and settlers in parts of North American

White is the second most useful colour in the garden after green. I am progressively increasing the number and variety of white and grey plants that I grow.

My perennial Phlox have been a good stalwart flower for cutting and filling a vase this last few weeks. I found the pink colours had more scent but all the Phlox seemed to drink copious amounts of water (I wondered if water and scent were related). The Penstemon in the same vase as the Phlox was not as successful as they had a far shorter life. Another successful long lasting cut flower is the Alstromeria. The Reds performed better than the yellows but both lasted over a week.

Gustav Klimt-