my top 12 podcasts of the last 12 months

Amy Batog

A cherry plum, sweet, thin-skinned and very prolific (you’ll also find it sold under ‘Red Grape Sugar Plum’). It was in the top three of our recent taste test and everyone liked it for its strong tomato flavour that’s sweet but not overly so, and its firm not mushy texture. It has a slight acidity running through it which all sweet tomatoes need. It ripens quite late compared to ‘Sungold’ and produces for a long period of time. It’s lovely in a mixed salad with the larger varieties. 

Welcome to the wild ride known as parenting teens! If you’ve ever found yourself caught between eye-rolling moments and heartwarming instances of wisdom, these quotes about parenting teenagers will definitely hit the spot.

No food signifies summer more than watermelon. We’re so sweet on the hot pink (or yellow) fruit that we designed an entire watermelon bar party showcasing the many ways to snack on, sip, and even centerpiece-ify the hydrating produce item.

Collaborative post

Collaborative post

Violas are more than just small pansies in fact Pansies are just over blown Violas. They are both in the family that also includes many species of Violets, Violas and Violettas.

No other plant native to South Carolina has such fragrant and beautiful spring blooms and stunning fall color as the witch-alders. Fothergilla was named after Dr. John Fothergill, an English physician and gardener who funded the travels of John Bartram through the Carolinas in the 1700’s. These beautiful shrubs have been planted in both American and English gardens for over 200 years, including gardens of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Are you frustrated because there are dandelions and other weeds in your lawn? Did you know that dandelion flowers provide one of the first springtime sources of pollen for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects?

For the last two or three years I have kept a rough record of how many hours I spend gardening (excluding things relating specifically to our charity openings). It’s usually the afternoon before any gardening can be done, and a couple of hours a day is the figure I generally quote when someone suggests I must spend ages working in it to get keep on top of it, but of course this varies during the week and over the year as a whole. This year, in the three months prior to this one, I spent 31, 20 and 39½ hours gardening; in April it was 59 hours! In previous years, the number of hours worked in the months after April dropped back to 30 or 40 and then tailed off towards 20 hours or so in December, showing that April is indeed the busiest month.

Everyone could use a little extra space for storage, but if you feel as though you've exhausted all of the possibilities in your home, you're going to want to read on, as there is definitely still hope.

MY GARDENING LIFE STARTED with a hedge—cutting one back hard, specifically. It was the threadbare, tall old privet surrounding my childhood home, and I was determined to “rejuvenate” it, after reading about the process in a book. No artful hedge has ever been created by my hands, though—a fact that feels all the more lamentable after watching Sean Conway’s video tour (above) of designer and nurseryman Piet Oudolf’s garden in the Netherlands. What magic.