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The original sweet pea

May 31, 2009
by F&F
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I’m rather excited about my sweet peas this year. They have just started flowering, and I can’t stop crouching over the willow obelisk to have a good sniff. All this is hardly unusual, but the real reason I’m excited about these sweet peas is that th
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Sweetcorn

May 30, 2009
by F&F
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This hot weather is perfect for germinating tender vegetables such as sweetcorn. You can now sow these seeds in their final position outdoors, which is the best way of preventing growth problems resulting from cramped tap roots.
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Flowers and showers

May 29, 2009
by F&F
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We’ve had rather generous weather lately: warm, sunny days, and showers overnight. And while this is great news for most of your garden, there are a few plants which need extra attention at the moment.
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Need to weed

May 28, 2009
by F&F
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I can’t stay in denial any longer. For too long I have pretended to be like everyone else. But I’m not. I love weeding. I love finding a long border full of hairy bittercress and bindweed, and working my way slowly along it. I know, I’m sorry.
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Meconopsis: blue poppies

May 27, 2009
by F&F
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If there was ever a shade-loving plant which makes you sit bolt upright with surprise, Meconopsis grandis certainly fits the bill. They aren’t really poppies, but that doesn’t matter: they are blue and they look like poppies, which means they turn he
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{Green Lane Allotments} May #4

May 26, 2009
by F&F
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This week has been very mixed weather-wise. We have been dashing between heavy showers one minute and basking in sunshine the next; in many ways ideal growing conditions.
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Elderflower champagne

May 25, 2009
by F&F
1 Comment
Edible flowers are terribly exciting and trendy at the moment. A dash of green alkanet in your salad, or some fried courgette flowers are great fun. But even this takes second place to making your own bubbly from the fat white disk-like elderflowers
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Hostas

May 24, 2009
by F&F
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Hostas are fantastic link plants within a garden, with lush, rubbery leaves sandwiching nicely between clumps of blooming perennials. But they also put up a splendid display themselves when planted en masse. The contrast between these sea-blue and li
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Stealing from Chelsea

May 23, 2009
by F&F
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What was your favourite garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2009? Was it James May’s garden-that-wasn’t-a-garden, or bronze fennel and peonies in the Laurent Perrier garden? And what designs are you taking home? True, Plasticine roses don’t suffer from
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Mellow yellow

May 22, 2009
by F&F
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Yellow can be a terribly difficult colour in the garden. Too much, and the borders can look sickly and dead. But used in the right combinations, it is so cheery and heartwarming. Click here for design tips and tricks with yellow.
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Unusually coloured veg

May 21, 2009
by F&F
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Who said vegetables looked boring? Not anyone who has been reading F&F over the last few weeks. Here are some great unusually coloured fruits and vegetables in hues and shades that you never knew existed.        
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Where plants are the heroes

May 20, 2009
by F&F
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When I was a teenager, we moved to a beautiful dolls house in the sticks and planted a garden. This was the front garden, which we kept nice and simple. We planted lavender at regular intervals along the gravel path and twined a red climbing rose ove
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