Indoor Flowering Plants

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

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.

I admire Cyclamen more and more as the years go by.

Think before you allow poppies to proliferate. Poppies rob a lot of goodness from your soil.

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.

More plants drown than die of thirst but Azalea houseplants do need damp soil.

Climbers can look really great if you do some preparation. Select an appropriate wall to train your Climbers against or use a free standing structure like this metal frame for the blue Clematis.

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.