Plants for Hanging Baskets

As Digital Content Editor Christine Alexander explains, pollinators play a vital role in our ecosystem and we should all be doing our part to support their populations:

Bathrooms are a popular choice for house plants as they typically provide high levels of humidity, similar to a jungle environment, in which many indoor plants thrive. By adding some greenery, your bathroom can become a lush and inviting oasis, giving your home a ‘spa-like’ atmosphere.

Plants play a positive role in promoting a healthy day to day life by stimulating the five human senses – Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. Here are some awesome Sensory Houseplants for a Stimulating Indoor Garden that you can grow with ease to add an appeal to your rooms and enrich the life experience.

Don’t let the name mislead you; these plants do not possess the ability to spell magic. It is just their dark, amazing appearance and the name of these varieties “black magic.”

Lovely climbing rose on the front of this house

Mother’s day in the UK is fast approaching. If you have a habit of forgetting until the last minute, you can always rely on a bunch of flowers to save the day. But, rather than just a standard bunch of daffodils from the petrol station, what else would make your mother really happy and inspired to bake you more cakes?

Waterperry is a small village eight miles east of Oxford. It lies on the River Thame (not to be confused with River Thames), though the Thame does end up feeding into the Thames. The extensive gardens and river-side setting offer a combination of formal gardens, flowing herbaceous borders and wildlife meadows by the river. Helenium

Winter can start in December and continue through March (we even worry about snow in May up north) but do not let that put you off flowering plants.

This picture was taken in late March at the University Botanic Gardens Oxford. I’m not sure of the variety, but, they remind me of tete a tete.

Penstemon’s have been an excellent, low maintenance plant for me. They can start flowering in June and still be flowering 4 months later in October. They mostly require well drained soil and protection from heavy frosts. Dead heading is advisable as it will encourage new flowers.

Some of the other varieties good for growing with kids include: