How to Grow and Harvest Pea Shoots

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It's that time of year when we're summer dreaming, especially about our summer gardens. Choosing which starters and seeds to invest in can be a bit overwhelming, no matter how seasoned you are at it.

How to Plant and Grow Parris Island Cos Lettuce Lactuca sativa ‘Parris Island Cos’

Hydrangeas are much-loved deciduous hardy shrubs, some of which are climbers. Their striking flowerheads come in a range of shapes, from large balls to cones. The most popular and recognisable types are mophead and lacecap, which have large, rounded flowerheads in shades of white, blue and pink in summer and autumn.

How to Plant and Grow Scarlet Runner Beans Phaseolus coccineus

Hebes are popular evergreen shrubs, mostly native to New Zealand although some are native to Australia and South America. They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and are suitable for growing in a range of sites and planting schemes. Hebes are excellent in shrub borders, used as ground cover or low-growing hedging, and are relatively low-maintenance.

How to Plant and Grow Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum) Pycnanthemum spp.

If you've ever marveled at the cozy ambiance of a room, chances are a great lighting scheme was at work.

Kale is one of my favorite vegetables to grow. These versatile greens can be steamed or stir fried, chopped into soups, or baked into chips. And the young leaves are delicious in salads. It’s a perfect double-duty plant, because it adds interesting foliage in various shades of green to a garden or an ornamental container, with the added bonus of being able to harvest some of the leaves. Plus it’s super-healthy. Kale is a good source of fiber and high in vitamin C. Learning how to grow kale is pretty easy. Unfortunately its nemesis, the cabbage worm, can crush—or rather eat—all your kale-growing dreams very quickly. Here are some tips on raising healthy kale plants. Varieties of kale to grow There are many different varieties of this member of the Brassica family (Brassica olerace

The umbrella plant is popular for its large leaves that are held on a long stem, with five long leaves spanning out like the canopy of an umbrella. There are two species of umbrella plant, Schefflera, that make good house plants – Schefflera arboricola and Schefflera actinophylla. These are both easy to grow and low maintenance, being able to cope with a bit of neglect when it comes to watering. These house plants are fast growing, reaching up to 3m, with evergreen foliage that will make an impact in the corner of a room. The most common one found online is Schefflera arboricola, which is native to China and its cultivar ‘Nora’, which is more compact than the species, reaching only 1.5m tall. There is also ‘Gold Capella’, which has yellow margins on its leaves.

Summer wouldn’t be summer without dahlias. Their beautiful flowers come in almost every colour imaginable, from pale pastels to hot, vibrant shades. They come in a range of flower shapes, from small tight balls to lily-like blooms the size of dinner plates. They’re perfect for adding late summer colour to borders from July to October and look good in any style of garden, from a cottage-style border to a jungle or exotic scheme. They look especially good with cosmos, grasses, Verbena bonariensis or cannas.

7 Types of Legume Inoculants and How to Use Them