Magnolia Time

It’s a couple of days until the next stop on my virtual book tour, so it’s time to take off the pith helmet and put my feet up with a cup of tea and a biscuit. In a recent interview, I respond to a question I was asked about my favourite biscuit – which has to be Snickerdoodles. You can’t buy them, you have to make them, and they have nothing whatsoever to do with Snickers chocolate bars, or peanuts in general. They are a divine, spiced* biscuit (cookie) that’s very moreish and goes very nicely with a good cuppa.

In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Dr Jenny Mortimer from the University of Adelaide, one of the scientists involved with the new Plants for Space (P4S) project. Jenny currently has a bit of an obsession with duckweed, a plant with superpowers that could be right at home in space!

With amazing white blooms and aesthetic looks that can uplift any home, check out these Best Magnolia Bonsai Tree Pictures to encourage you to get a beautiful Magnolia Bonsai Tree.

A cheap tip for members of the RHS is to borrow books from their libraries. I am reading the entertaining Techniques and Tips for Gardeners from the BBC Gardeners Question Time Team.

Available from Thompson & Morgan

See also

Thyme has over 350 varieties and can make an interesting collection. Thymus is claimed to have volatile oils that have anti-ageing properties and good anti-oxidants to aid health. It retains its flavour after drying and can be stored successfully.

Late blossom arrivals in 2015 looked like being a good year for apple blossom and thus fruit in the North of England. And iut was with some great crops in my Yorkshire garden.

In 2008 a google search for sunflowers would have found gardeners tips in the top 3 results. Now it would be luck to be found in the top 3 million. We are number 115th for the more specific ‘sunflowers gardeners tips’ as Tips for Easy Sunflowers from 2015.

Yes it is well past time to look at geraniums again. Since this blog started there have been over 60 pages of tips about geraniums. The most popular have been about scented,  regal and dwarf geraniums but zonals and bedding also retain much interest. (You can find these and more links by using our search button).

I received a book for Easter entitled ‘Ornamental Shrubs for Temperate Gardens May Flowering’ by Edward Hyams. Since its publication in 1965 the botanic names of the odd variety may have changed (this is a continued source of annoyance to me as soon as I learn one Latin name it is changed into another). However the awe that spring blossom can produce may let me forget this minor issue.

Where has all the rain gone? In winter there were floods aplenty so I was predicting water rationing by summer. Now it is mid May and the ground is parched and rock hard.