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Articles from Floral and Hardy | Selfgrowth.com
- Saving Watery Habitats - by Submitted on May 10, 2012 from Floral and HardyAs is discernible from the recent press coverage they have been receiving, not to mention initiatives such as Lodmoor and Radipole Lake Reserve in Dorset, reed banks are becoming an increasingly threatened biosphere in Britain. In fact, in a recent new release, the publication ‘Southern Farmer’ ...
Views: 691 - Ways to Cope with the Hosepipe Ban - by Submitted on Apr 04, 2012 from Floral and HardyDespite our country’s worldwide reputation for being wet and grey, last year may have been grey but certainly it wasn’t very wet and, consequently, this week a hosepipe ban comes into force in many areas. Among the uses of hoses that are banned are watering lawns and borders with a hose attached ...
Views: 690 - Flavoursome Fungus - by Submitted on Jan 04, 2012 from Floral and HardyThis week I bring you the first in a two part piece concerning those fine fungal frequenters of our forests - the mushrooms. This first part concerns the edible of their kin that you should look out for on your next woodland walk. Of course our meagre list of five doesn’t account for even 1% of ...
Views: 685 - Five Snow Whites (no dwarves) - by Submitted on Mar 05, 2012 from Floral and HardyContinuing our weekly periodical on colour based cultivars, we bring to you a selection of white and cream hued blooms to accompany those other tones we’ve already covered. The White Garden at Sissinghurst is a famous example of the use of this single colour scheme, although it is of course ...
Views: 683 - True Blue - by Submitted on Jan 22, 2012 from Floral and HardyContinuing from our previous piece concerning the introduction of select colour schemes within the garden, we now bring you a variety of cool, blue cultivars to compliment the fiery shades we talked about last week. Floral and Hardy’s Top Five Blue Blooms: 1. Aconitum Aconitum, aka ...
Views: 675 - Caring For Your Compost - by Submitted on Jan 27, 2012 from Floral and HardyThere are fewer habits a gardener can develop that are of greater benefit than composting. Dedication and persistence are rewarded with a cost effective means to fertilize your garden, not to mention a practical use for your garden and household green waste. So, this week’s editorial will focus ...
Views: 674 - Culpeper Gardens - by Submitted on Jun 28, 2011 from Floral and HardyIf you get the chance to visit Leeds Castle in Kent this summer, don’t miss out on the Culpeper Gardens, located just past the castle and restaurants. It is a traditional garden named after the castle’s 17th century owners, but despite its mature appearance, it was only started in 1980. We ...
Views: 672 - The Ecobuild Rumpus - by Submitted on Apr 18, 2012 from Floral and HardyA few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend London’s Ecobuild conference on the emerging role of sustainability in infrastructure on the domestic and global stage. As a brief outline for those unfamiliar with Eco build, its role is that of an annual ecological summit designed to encourage not ...
Views: 671 - Good enough to eat - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2011 from Floral and HardyWe are all familiar with vegetable flowers in the form of Cauliflower, Broccoli and Artichokes, but other, more ornamental flowers have been used in the cuisine of cultures all over the world for thousands of years. The Romans were keen on them, as were the ancient Chinese, and European medieval ...
Views: 666 - The Buena Vista Gold Rush – A Cuban Weed Makes Good! - by Submitted on Feb 02, 2012 from Floral and HardyIn Cuba, word is spreading like a wild fire of a new use for a weed that has blighted the local agricultural industry for decades. With the growth of the sugar industry during the reign of the Soviet Union, and then the sudden depletion following its collapse, the ‘Marabou Weed’ quickly took ...
Views: 653 - The Return of the Butterflies - by Submitted on May 14, 2012 from Floral and HardyYou may remember some time ago we published an article covering the necessity of a healthy butterfly population to the British ecosystem, that due to particularly rainy summers and springs, their numbers had been dampened because a lack of hospitable breeding grounds. However, their recent ...
Views: 653 - Heed the Seeds! - by Submitted on Jan 10, 2012 from Floral and HardyThe January sales might not apply to gardening, but garden bargains can begin early with ordering seeds in preparation for the planting period of early spring to give yourselves plenty of inexpensive colour in the garden this summer. In light of this, here is a collection of six beautiful and ...
Views: 648 - Femme Fatales - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2011 from Floral and HardyOn the news recently it was reported that a very short sighted council had planted a bed of ‘Monkshood’ in a town in the Lake District - fair enough they're a beautiful flower, however to plant them in such close proximity to a children's area indicates a gross lack of research, as these are one ...
Views: 644 - Trees For Small Gardens - by Submitted on Feb 01, 2012 from Floral and HardyLast week we gave you information on proper pruning techniques and its many benefits, however even the most dedicated maintenance cannot make a large tree suitable for a small garden, and this week we address this with a list of smaller trees that are ideally suited to such a calling. All of ...
Views: 640 - Clipping the Clematis – a guide to proper pruning - by Submitted on Feb 17, 2012 from Floral and HardyClematis are one of the most beautiful, versatile and, subsequently, popular additions to the British garden. Due to their ability to grow vertically on walls and trellis, in containers, or horizontally entwining with other plants and shrubs, it is no surprise that, once you have this cultivar ...
Views: 636 - Black as the Night - by Submitted on Mar 21, 2012 from Floral and HardyWe are continuing this week with our regular editorial concerning the qualities of specific colour tones within the garden, how best to take advantage of them through your planting choices, and how properly to plant and then maintain the cultivars you select. This week’s colour is the elusive ...
Views: 634 - Lopping the Limbs - A Guide to Winter Pruning Fruit Trees - by Submitted on Jan 22, 2012 from Floral and HardyEverybody loves fruit - it’s nature’s ice cream with more than forty flavours, it’s the backbone of our vitamin intake, not to mention a good looking addition to the garden. Those of us who have, are or will in the future, grow fruit trees will inevitably have to learn the art of proper pruning. ...
Views: 634 - How to Choose a Greenhouse - by Submitted on Feb 16, 2012 from Floral and HardyUnlike our previous piece about choosing the appropriate compost bin, the decision to invest in a greenhouse is an altogether larger investment and the greenhouse you choose will be dictated largely by the parameters of space and budget. You also need to think about what you will be using the ...
Views: 625 - No School like the New School - by Submitted on Mar 07, 2012 from Floral and HardyFollowing on from our previous article, we’ll be discussing the ‘New School’ of garden design, how it has been shaped by the current ecological climate, and also the aesthetic focus, and how this has been supplanted by the concept of the interactive garden. As we discussed in ‘Gardens through ...
Views: 624 - Earth Plants are Easy - by Submitted on Jan 16, 2012 from Floral and HardyWe are all perhaps familiar with the stress and difficulty that comes from attempting propagation of our beloved perennial plants using cuttings or division, particularly the ever present threat of diseases that are so easily spread through such techniques. And once you’ve got the past the ...
Views: 621 - Bulbs For Your Summer Borders - by Submitted on Feb 21, 2012 from Floral and HardyAs is often the way in England, our snow has waited for the false security of nearly spring to… spring upon us! However, not to be caught out, we’ve prepared a list of bulbs that will be available to buy soon, to be your first strike back against our belligerent and unpredictable climate and ...
Views: 620 - Toxic Caterpillars - by Submitted on Jun 28, 2011 from Floral and HardyIn recent weeks a new threat to the British ecosystem has reared its tiny head. Due to the rising rate of imported plants by domestic horticulturists, an infestation of exotic moth larvae has seen the increased propagation of a new breed of toxic caterpillar. The Oak Processionary Moth, as the ...
Views: 614 - Free Trees! - by Submitted on Aug 11, 2011 from Floral and HardyIn honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Woodland Trust have recently announced their plans for a commemorative woodland. The initiative looks to purchase a introductory five hundred acres for the new site from various private and public land owners. The idea could be regarded as an homage ...
Views: 612 - Where The Wild Things Aren’t - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2012 from Floral and HardyThe other day I watched the jungle book and while I enjoyed myself with all the abandon of the first viewing of my youth, the ending disturbed me unlike I remembered - how quick Mowgli was to abandon his jungle, the place he’d been raised in. The reason I’m citing a cartoon this week is due to ...
Views: 603 - Save Shadwell Park - by Submitted on Jul 05, 2011 from Floral and HardyIn one of my recent visits to the East End, a friend of mine, and a local resident to the Stepney end of Tower Hamlets, imparted to me some disturbing news. Those of you familiar with this area of London will readily recall the urban dominance of tower blocks and concrete and steel. Needless to ...
Views: 598 - Yellow Fellows - by Submitted on Jan 25, 2012 from Floral and HardyContinuing our colour coding of the garden, this week, if yellow is your thing, we bring you a host of butter-toned cultivars. Yellow is considered, in psychological circles, to effects one’s self esteem, specifically to trigger confidence or anxiety depending on the way in which it is ...
Views: 581 - What's in a Name? - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2012 from Floral and HardyEtymology, or the origin of words, is a fascinating subject, particularly where plants are concerned. Often named after the discoverer’s love interest, or for the characters of fables and fairy tales, or perhaps their origins are just anonymous and lost among the many languages that have tried ...
Views: 569 - From Here to Serenity - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2011 from Floral and HardyThis week we'll be departing from domestic gardening conventions to appreciate the traditions of a more exotic vein of horticulture, one whose stylistic boundaries, while not necessarily correlating with European tastes, are still invaluable as a source of inspiration - namely the design, ...
Views: 566 - The Shelf Life of a Show Garden - by Submitted on Jul 21, 2011 from Floral and HardyPreviously I shared my thoughts on this year’s Hampton Court entrants, from the point of view of a judge, based on skill and imagination. In retrospect, however, it begs the question of a garden’s purpose - should artistic merit overtake its function as a garden? Many of the more esoteric ...
Views: 562 - Petal Poetry – how to say it with flowers… - by Submitted on Feb 10, 2012 from Floral and HardySince Juliet first lamented, and earlier still, all manner of flowers, trees and shrubs have been used as a form of language due to either their appearance, or their meaning to the beholder - symbolic of every emotion and concept we could think of and one of the most frequent characters in all ...
Views: 555 - Sensory Gardens (if not necessarily sensible!) - by Submitted on Jan 22, 2012 from Floral and HardyTo many, a garden is just a glorified bouquet, somewhere to apply an artistic touch and allow nature to do the leg work and, while the aesthetic appeal of this idea is undeniable, to truly appreciate all that a garden has to offer the senses, we cannot be resigned to be mere voyeurs. A garden ...
Views: 555 - Drugs you wont get arrested for growing in your garden!! - by Submitted on May 20, 2011 from Floral and HardyAs winter approaches and we must all endure the mediocrity months till Christmas, only dulled further by the flu and fevers autumn promises, Floral and Hardy present to you a list of our top ten, easy to grow herbal and medicinal remedies that can be cultivated as part of a vibrant and ...
Views: 553 - Something Fungal This Way Comes... - by Submitted on Jan 10, 2012 from Floral and HardyThe gardening headlines this week have been plastered with the threat of two new diseases that could potentially devastate Europe’s indigenous tree population. In southern France, along the famous Canal du Midi, a plan has been in motion since last winter that will see the felling and ...
Views: 540 - Britain in Bloom 2012 - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2012 from Floral and HardyWith the New Year, the Royal Horticultural Society ushers in a new batch of contestants for the annual ‘Britain in Bloom’ competition, where hopeful communities from all over England compete to be honoured as champions of Britain’s ecology. The objective of this RHS phenomenon is to encourage ...
Views: 536 - Seven Deadly Species - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2011 from Floral and HardyIn recent news, a gardener in Somerset has reported the death of a Great Tit at the hands, or stems rather, of one of the Nepenthes specimens he cultivates. Having been only the second recorded case of a bird falling prey to this species, Mr. Hewitt-Cooper was reportedly 'staggered' by the ...
Views: 510 - Emeralds and Evergreens - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2012 from Floral and HardyGreen is the colour on the agenda this week and, with the last frosts of spring soon to be behind us, we can expect a lot more of it in the coming months. The primary connotation of green is, of course, its prolific occurrence in nature and this is the primary reason green is such a popular ...
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