Pittosporum for Leaves & Flowers

It is a regular debate whether you should leave your tomato leaves on the plant or snap them off. For intermediate varieties I am strongly in the ‘get them off camp!’

Abeliophyllum distichum also called White Forsythia is more refined than traditional yellow Forsythia to which it is distantly related, both being part of the Olive family.

Hosepipe bans and talk of drought conditions turns gardeners minds to plants that can still thrive in those circumstances. I have suggested several types of plant to consider in the lists below.

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.

This is one of the many books in my collection but the only one to focus on growing big, bigger and biggest vegetables. If you want to grow giant vegetable for exhibition or to get large crops then there are many pointers in ‘How to Grow Giant Vegetables’ by Bernard Lavery and below.

Tale Valley nursery hold a national collection of these floriferous plants.

The Witch hazels are great winter flowering shrubs and small trees. If your garden is on the small side the Witch Hazels or Hamamelis can be kept in check by judicious pruning. Take care not to prune off and stop the scented winter flowers. Careful annual pruning can encourage the formation of more flowering sideshoots.

There are two great uses for Geraniums that make it worth growing these fine flowering plants. Outdoors they make fantastic border plants and the red varieties are very popular in formal bedding schemes. The second use is as a long flowering houseplant and if you deadhead and feed you plants you will get lots of geraniums from one windowsill plant.

Extraordinary Leaves by Armytage and Schrader is available from amazon.

On the new craze of gardening for cut flowers, where America starts will we follow or is it really voice versa?

Before the Autumn leaf colours start to invade our senses I am just recapping on the leaves that have made an impact for me this summer.

Ipomea indica the blue form of Morning Glory is a cool clear blue, a startling colour in the garden. As you would expect from a member of the Convolvulous clan it is a strong twisting and binding climber.