Ranging from $500 to $5,000 per kilogram, saffron, or the Red Gold as it is commonly referred to, takes a total of about 150,000 flowers to produce just one kilogram! Now you know why it would be a great idea to have its plant at home!
04.03.2024 - 09:43 / houseandgarden.co.uk / Hazel Sillver
The beautiful balcony plants on the terrace at the London house of Henrietta Courtauld of the Land Gardeners
The smallest outdoor spaces can be transformed into flowery, leafy pockets of scent and colour, with the right balcony plants. From a large balcony to a bit of window ledge, there are containers and plants to adorn them. Troughs can be secured to sills; planters and holders can be hung from railings; ledges can be made fit for pots with miniature railings; and – in the style of the courtyards of Cordoba, where geraniums splash the sides of houses with red and pink – pots can be attached to fences and walls. Fill them with long-flowering, trailing plants for waterfalls of colour throughout the summer. On larger balconies, there is room for plants in standing pots to create a mini urban oasis.
Agapanthus, such as the new long-flowering cultivar Midnight Sky, are delightful in pots; as well as producing sculptural boules of blue flowers, they have exotic-looking strappy leaves. For blue flowers that will trail out of a windowbox, try blue rock bindweed, Convolvulus sabatius (which is not nightmarishly invasive as hedge bindweed is) and the breathtaking ultramarine Glandora prostrata 'Heavenly Blue'; the latter requires ericaceous compost.
Producing manes of red and orange, trailing nasturtiums (such as 'Empress of India') and ivy-leaved geraniums (such as Pelargonium 'April Hamilton') have the flower power to perform all summer. Less well-known is Lotus berthelotii, which has flame-like copper-ruby blooms amongst glaucous foliage. Also good for tumbling over the side of a balcony are trailing forms of petunia and calibrachoa – both reliable for non-stop flowering, if they are protected from slugs.
Later in the season,
Ranging from $500 to $5,000 per kilogram, saffron, or the Red Gold as it is commonly referred to, takes a total of about 150,000 flowers to produce just one kilogram! Now you know why it would be a great idea to have its plant at home!
Peace lily, Spathiphyllum wallisii, is a popular, low-maintenance house plant with glossy, green leaves and white flowers, called spathes. Native to Central America, it’s used to a warm, humid environment and is perfect for growing in a bright bathroom. Peace lilies are easy to grow and relatively trouble-free.
1. The Promoter is Immediate Media Company London Limited (company number 06189487), Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT (“Immediate”). The competition is sponsored by Weetabix Limited (company number 00267687) (t/a “Alpen”).
Common juniper (Juniperus communis) is one of only three conifers native to the UK. It’s a member of the cypress family and grows on chalk or limestone in lowland areas, and moors, woodland and cliffs in northern Britain. Juniper is in decline in wild populations and has been designated a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species. This special tree has disappeared from several areas in the south of England. Many remaining colonies are so small that they’re considered functionally extinct. Scotland is now the stronghold for 80 per cent of the UK’s juniper trees.
There’s no denying that gardening is an occupation that throws up a lot of questions, but garden design apps can help. Whether you’re new to it or a seasoned, green fingered pro, big projects like landscaping or planning a garden from scratch need a lot of information along the way (which a garden designer can help with if you have one, but these apps will help if you don’t) but it’s the smaller issues like plant identification or concerns about flowers that are equally tricky and it can be a nuisance to dig out a book to help you.
You might have seen the most colorful or the most fragrant blossoms, but do you know about the longest flower names? Well, you are in for a treat!
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They say that you can tell a surprising amount about a gardener by the kind of potatoes they grow. Some of us, for example, are traditionalists who’ll plump for the floury, fluffy ‘British Queen’ (colloquially known as ‘Queens’) every time. Others are passionate foodies who prefer the firm, waxy, flavoursome, yellow flesh of a salad potato such as ‘Charlotte’, or the heirloom ‘La Ratte’. Individualists, meanwhile, often like to seek out unusual kinds, such as the dark magenta-fleshed ‘Vitanoire’, or the knobbly ‘Pink Fir Apple’, the heritage variety famed for its more-ishness.
March unfolds, garden enthusiasts eagerly prepare to breathe life into their outdoor spaces. This month marks the beginning of a vibrant gardening season, filled with promise and potential. The earth starts to awaken from its winter slumber, making it the perfect time to sow the seeds for a spectacular garden. Among the many choices, carefully selecting the right plants in March is crucial for a thriving and colourful garden.
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