By John Warrington | Sunday, March 7, 2010 | 0 Comments
Believe it or not the rain forests of the Amazon basin can be very dry places. Of course when the rains are around vast areas …
By John Warrington | Sunday, February 28, 2010 | 0 Comments
The most frequently asked questions about pests and diseases are ‘What is it?’; ‘what do I use to control it?’; and ‘how do I apply …
By John Warrington | Sunday, February 21, 2010 | 0 Comments
Well over a century ago the British Admiralty required all naval vessels to carry stocks of limes as part of the food intake for sailors …
By John Warrington | Sunday, February 14, 2010 | 0 Comments
There is nothing sillier than sticking a handful of leaves into your mouth and setting fire to them. Equally silly in my view is the …
By John Warrington | Sunday, February 7, 2010 | 0 Comments
The ixora is one of the most popular of flowering shrubs of the tropics, and in particular the dwarf forms which have gained enormously in …
By John Warrington | Sunday, January 31, 2010 | 0 Comments
The maze was very popular in the UK five hundred years ago. The most famous one, but by no means the only one, being at …
By John Warrington | Sunday, January 24, 2010 | 0 Comments
You have to knock a plant out of its pot to see if it needs moving to a larger container. The way to do this …
By John Warrington | Sunday, January 17, 2010 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
An old friend of mine grew the most glorious, flawless chrysanthemums for over twenty years at Kew Gardens. A highly skilled specialist, Bert …
By John Warrington | Sunday, January 10, 2010 | 0 Comments
Visitors to our gardens include birds and small mammals which make their homes with us. Most are welcome non-paying guests. Many are not, and here …
By John Warrington | Sunday, January 3, 2010 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
Gardeners in present day Britain are experiencing a fairly new phenomenon: a preoccupation with size which has got to competition level. It’s become an …
By John Warrington | Sunday, December 27, 2009 | 0 Comments
I was interested to read that gardeners throughout Britain are being urged to collect and save trimmings of their yew trees (Taxus baccata) for processing …
By John Warrington | Sunday, December 20, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
I expect everyone reading this column will be familiar with mistletoe. Sprigs of it held over the heads of the fairer sex have …
By John Warrington | Sunday, December 13, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
John Warrington
A few words about climbers, an invaluable group of plants which can cover up anything unsightly like concrete, soften the most angular …
By John Warrington | Sunday, December 6, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
I suppose that introducing the subject of worms just after breakfast on a Sunday morning is not quite the done thing, but the …
By John Warrington | Sunday, November 29, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
At this time of the year one is quite anxious about trying to get one’s hands on particularly choice plants now coming onto …
By John Warrington | Sunday, November 22, 2009 | 0 Comments
The laboratory is replacing the potting shed
Over the past few weeks I have dealt with some aspect of the propagation of plants, and it’s obvious …
By John Warrington | Sunday, November 15, 2009 | 1 Comment
A Gardener’s Diary
I have previously mentioned some of my favourite flowering plants, and now, because of the proximity of Christmas I will say a few …
By John Warrington | Sunday, November 8, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
For longer ago than I care to remember the Frangipani has been one of my favourite tropical trees.
It is also called the Pagoda …
By John Warrington | Sunday, November 1, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
By John Warrington
One of the greatest literary pleasures of my childhood was reading the story Robinson Crusoe written by Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe was …
By John Warrington | Sunday, October 25, 2009 | 0 Comments
A Gardener’s Diary
The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a member of that great family; the Solanaceae. It has a lot to answer for since Sir Walter …