With snow forcast and cold weather predicted to last a week or so what can we do if it is too cold to go outside!?

• Reflect on what you did during the summer. What you did well or badly, and how you can improve.

• Wash pots ready for when those plug plants arrive and you suddenly have to find 40 four inch clean pots!

• Check your seed packets, see if they are still viable and put into a box in date of sowing order.

• Browse your catalogues and order your seeds and plug plants.

• Tidy the shed / greenhouse.

• Stock up on potting compost.

• Clean garden tools. Wipe down with an oily rag.

• Check lawn mower blades. Buy new or have them sharpened.

• Get petrol engines serviced

Reblogged from Andrew's Gardening Pages:

I'm always inspired by visiting gardens to see new ideas but the "new way" of getting ideas is to check out some great blogs that are out there. One I follow is "Out of My Shed" a blog by Naomi who is in North London.

She recently wrote about planting daffodils in pots with step by step photographs of how you can layer daffodils in the pot.

Read more… 73 more words

Worlds most expensive snowdrop!

WORLD RECORD BEATING PRICE FOR SNOWDROP

On Thursday 16 February at 14:40 after a bidding frenzy of over 30 bidderson eBay, Thompson & Morgan, the Ipswich based mail order plant and seed company, acquired the world’s most expensive snowdrop Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ for £725.  This is a unique striking variety with a golden yellow ovary and yellow petal markings.

The price is almost double the previous world record price for a single rare bulb of Galanthus ‘Green Tear’ sold for £360 last year.

Over the last few years the amount paid for unique Galanthus bulbs has been steadily rising as they have created more interest and in 2008 a single rare bulb fetched £226.

Thompson & Morgan hopes to be able to produce this variety and bring pleasure to as many gardeners as possible.  These unique Galanthus are notorious for their slow rates of multiplication but we hope to be able to look into commercial production via tissue culture, which will be the most time consuming and expensive part of the venture – buying the bulb was the easy part!

When Thompson & Morgan purchased the world’s first Black Hyacinth ‘Midnight Mystique’ in 1998 for £50,000 a bulb, it took 15 years before it was available to the general public and demand has always outstripped stock.

On Sunday I have as my guest Daniel Bridge and we are going to talk all things on flower photography from types of cameras to close ups etc………… so join me on www.phoenixfm.com on Sunday 10am to 12 noon.

Hopefully we we also talk about what to do in the garden this week as well!

Happy Gardening

Andrew

I would like to wish you a very pleasant Christmas and New Year.

Why don’t you take part in the latest poll?  If you like gardening do you also like cooking?

Have a great break and plan for the hot weather ahead!

Regards

Andrew

She recently wrote about planting daffodils in pots with step by step photographs of how you can layer daffodils in the pot. Do have a look at: http://outofmyshed.co.uk/2011/10/12/planting-daffodil-bulbs/

Naomi, my only addition would be to add a couple of Colchicums which will flower in the autumn and a layer of bedding cyclamen, which providing it does not get too cold this winter will flower all through the cold months and provide an extra bit of interest. See photo below:-

Colchicum in pot topped with bedding cyclamen

The best bargains I have found are in stores such as Wilkinson’s or Boots where they are not really gardening outlets so tend to get rid of stock at low prices. I bought a few things that I needed such as a 3 metre fleece cloche at 75% off and got it for £2.50!  If you are buying seeds just take a look at the “best before date” most seeds will store well in an airtight container away from heat or frost, good bargains to have. Most things will keep so go on treat your self you will be very happy next year when you have lots of things you need.

See you on Sunday on www.phonixfm.com 10 to 12 noon for all your gardening questions and answers.

Andrew

So here is her article……..

In many areas of the UK there has been quite a bit of rain in the last few days and although that’s great for those drought-stressed plants, you can be sure it will also bring out the slugs and snails ….and as these pests just love soft, new growth on vegelatbel s and ornamentals,  you may need to take some precautions :

‘Barrier’ controls:  Create a barrier around each plant, or along the row.  Things that work well include : pine needles, crushed eggshells (but you’d need to run an omelette factory!), crushed sea-shells, soot, coco-shell (the stuff you buy in large bags as a garden mulch), or get hold of some ‘oyster-shell’, its often available from animal feed suppliers and is sold for a supplement for laying birds such as hens or geese.  Its basically crushed shell, and works out far, far cheaper than the shells you buy in garden centres .  I always use this and it works brilliantly.

Whatever you choose, use it to create a complete circle (not just a ring, around the base of the plant/along the row, making sure that no lower leaves on the plants act as bridges across which the slugs or snails could cross.  The circle needs to go right up to the base of the plant – the worst slug offenders spend about 80% of their lives underground, so could easily pop up from below ground and attack if the barrier was not complete.

Copper : Copper is not something slugs or snails like to cross.  You can buy copper rings (expensive but long lasting), copper paint (not sure what for!), copper impregnated mulch-matting (quite pricey but works well and lasts many years), or copper tape.  The tape is especially suitable for sticking around the rim of a pot (its generally self-adhesive), you could also use it around the top of the vertical edge of a raised bed, but the soil within the bed would need to be slug/snail free or else you’d be locking the pests in as well as out !

Biological control : A fantastic pathogenic nematode which is only harmful to slugs as it works underground. As slugs are based above ground, they’re not damaged, unfortunately!  Extremely useful, especially for preventing slug problems with potato crops ie underground crops, but also helps to clear an area of soil.  Pricey but also very effective. 

‘Green’  chemicals: I’m not going to suggest you use the classic chemical-based slug pellets, they’re just too awful, but there are several ‘green’ or organic slug controls on the market which have a pretty good track record.

What do I use?  : just the oyster shell, and the nematode if things are bad !  Its also worth going on early evening ie dusk time hunts, especially after it has rained or you’ve just watered, its amazing how many you’ll be able to collect.  …and I suggest that if you’ve had a lot of rain, you get going with slug and snail controls as soon as possible!

Happy “slugless” gardening!  Andrew

One way of protecting your pots is to mark the bottom of them with your postcode. Use indelable ink markers.

Also if you buy pots from a market or boot sale check the bottom!

To hear more tips on how to protect your garden from theives join me on www.phoenxfm.com on Sunday between 10 am and 12 noon when I’ll be joined by Essex police giving us advice.

I’ll be interviewing Christine on my show on Phoenix 98 FM on Sunday just after 11am.

Tune in to www.phoenixfm.com For a chance to win her latest book. Andrew