SUPER BROCCOLI IN FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

I was reading today that M&S (they don't miss a trick do they?) are the first to start marketing a new super-broccoli  called Beneforte. It apparently contains a high quantity of glucoraphine ( found in other broccoli varieties but at lower levels) which helps reduce the risks of bowel and prostrate cancer as well as preventing heart attacks and strokes.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4502404.stm 

It's interesting to see that a large number of the big supermarkets are taking a huge interest in these superfoods as well as kick-starting a trend for marketing some of the older 'Heritage' fruit and vegetables. Tesco I believe are selling Heritage cultivars of amber and yellow carrots. (Daucus carota) so look out for more of our old Heritage varieties coming onto the marketplace. This seems to be a growing trend and one that gives us as consumers, more choice. Which can't be a bad thing can it?

ASTER-LA-VISTA-BABY

Oh it's been a lovely afternoon, with a bit of late summer sun and to the garden-I-will-go. Those asters have been bugging me. Don't ask me how (they weren't there last year)  but they came up in the very front of a raised border so look very awkward towering above the otherwise rather lovely foliage plants in that bed. Such a shame too. It's a gorgeous violet thrumming with bees, but it's a wrong ' un where it is.Plants can do that you know. It might be you just inadvertently moved a plant and took a handful of roots with another one as you did so and then eh viola! A lovely plant in the wrong place.

I know I tell everybody not to move plants that are in full flower because they are at their weakest, so unable to take my own advice I dug the whole plant up, all 3ft tall and wide of it and moved it. There hypocrite that I am, but it bugged the life out of me that it was looming in the wrong company.

Lashings of water and a bit or organic compost and it will be fine by morning.

Britains's Gardens Swoon in Mini Heatwave!

These beautiful hot sunny days are absolute bliss aren't they? If only England could have a summer that was reliable like this five months a year. Still,  summers very decidedly here, so let's enjoy while we can.

But whilst our spirits soar and our level of optimism improves when the sun warms our cheeks, your garden plants don't feel the same way.  They get hot, dry and wilt.  Many of you will have wished that you knew how to help your garden cope with these hot spells as you dash about with the hose morn till night to quench the inexhaustible demands for water.

First off you could buy my book, 'Drought Tolerant Plants which goes all the way in detailing how you can sit back with a glass of wine on a summer's evening instead of running about like a trainee fireman to satisfy your plants' demands for water.

Available on Amazon  

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drought-tolerant-Plants-Greenfingers-Guides-Summers/dp/0755317599

However, if you don't have it yet, damage limitation is the key.

1. Water early in the morning and late at night when the soil will hold on to water more effectively.

2. Add some swell gel to extra compost and top dress your pots with it; better that you mix the compost and granules together to fill the pot at the start of the year, but we are where we are, so a top-dressing is better than none. This will reduce your watering time to a couple of times a week instead of every day.

3.Replace some of your traditional plants with some gorgeous drought tolerant plants that can withstand arid conditions. Or aim for a drought proof border entirely, so at least that is one bed you won't have to fret about. 



 

Wild Primroses

I am reminded today ( by an enquiry from a gentleman in Norfolk) of the sweet simplicity of our native Wild Primroses.

I know I have written them up in my book 'Fragrant Plant's (now in book shops March 2011) and the low-maintenance, easy-going nature of this semi-evergreen perennial with clusters of sweetly scented pale yellow faces make this an endearing and enduring favourite.

Wild primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Another fond favourite is 'ye olde' cowslip, (Primula vernis) which as a child I remember growing alongside cowpats along the riverbanks in Sussex.

Primula vernis

Both are easy to grow from seed too; though you can buy many wild flower plantlets online or at specialist nurseries. Plant in sun or partial shade in rich, moist soil.They are excellent  beneath trees, shrubs or hedges or littering grassy banks with their sunny disposition. Divide every three years after flowering. Deadhead regularly to prolong flowering. 

Spring has Sprung at last. Hurrah!

Lucy x

Garlic

I want to talk to you about garlic. 

It's all very well growing herbs and veg, which as a gardener I am supposed to do with consummate ease.  But as well as being a gardener, I love to cook. If the produce I use is rubbish, then the end result is likely to be pretty poor too. (Move over Gordon - I know the process minutely from seed to gob and I can tell you what works and what doesn't.)

There is no doubt that the fat, succulent elephant and French garlic is a far superior animal than say, the small rounded hard garlic heads we are flogged by British supermarkets. The reason they flog us this nonsense is that it stores longer than larger cloved garlic so is economically more viable.

Elephant garlic has huge cloves, the size of a wrestler's knuckle and is milder, sweeter, more flavoursome (and in my not-so- humble opinion) far superior herb than the 'hard-necked' stuff.

You are going to have to go further than Sainsbury's, 'Tesco metro' or 'Happy Shopper' to find it. The local deli, farmer's markets etc will provide  sublime hedonism where the large food 'sheds' stumble; you will pay more, but boy is it worth it.

One of our favourite dishes we cook in our family is whole roasted chicken liberally studded with  garlic.  Use the hard-necked English varieties you will find the flavour is sharp, peppery and a bit astringent. Use large cloved garlic and OH WHAT BLISS. Sticky, caramel, soft sweet cloves that slip gently from the skin.

Take my word for it.

And whilst I'm on a rant, is anybody else fed up with supermarket fruit and veg that is tasteless, under-ripe and hard as bullets?  I bought three avocados that took at least a week to ripen even though I prodded them overnight to test their ripeness. EVERY night they remained a hard as marble. Suddenly I woke up one morning and the buggers were soft enough to use. Yippee. EXCEPT. When I cut them open the flesh was brown. Right up there with pears. There is only a nano-second in a pear's life when it is honeyed perfection.

INSIST when you next go to the supermarket that you will not put up with this cold-stored, tasteless, invariably overpriced garbage. You vote with your pennies. Old haddocky though it may be, even the busiest of us can report inferior merchanise to a store manager. Five minutes complaint from one in thirty of us and we shall see the quality of our fresh produce elevated to something approaching edible.  

There. I'm done.

BORDER FLOWERS SHORTLISTED FOR REFERENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR

I was thrilled to learn that my latest book BORDER FLOWERS waas shortlisted for reference book of the year 2010.

All that hard work recognised at last .....

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Border-Flowers-Greenfingers-Guides-Summers/dp/0755317602/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294315829&sr=1-7

Sowing sweetpeas

Hi and Happy New Year to all budding gardeners.

I just wanted to let you know I have some new gardening tips for you on Youtube. 

Check them out: they're to the point, jargon-free and by watching them (they are only short so it won't take you much time) you'll exactly how to get the job done quickly and easily.  There are tips on sowing sweet peas, pruning wisteria, clipping box, cuttings and division etc. I'll add more as the year goes on.

Stock Photo: Robin and Snow

Stock Photo: Robin and Snow

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!

Oh mercy me. It seems only months ago we hung up our snow shovels, yet here we are again entombed in the chilly white stuff. But since we've got no place to go, let it snow ....

The box balls look like outsized Christmas puddings and everywhere is overlaid with a crisp thick layer of royal icing. Very seasonal. Plump, chatty robins, ever the opportunists seem to be almost pleading for me to step out with a few vittels and as I write this, one has just perched rather atmospherically atop a box ball. Excuse me whilst I dash a quick pic off on my phone..... Xmas card material ... Bugger. He made off before I got there.




Now you are probably a tad nervous about the outcome once the snow melts. If your garden if packed with hardy plants, you really don't even have to furrow your brow. Your plants will come through. A bit chilled and browning in spots, but come spring they will surprise you with their endurance and be as good as ever. But what about the less hardy plants you've been growing? 

If you didn't manage to protect vulnerable plants with either thick layers of fleece or bought them inside to a frost-free zone, the chances are they may well have turned their toes up. 

Nothing you can do now.If they are goners so be it. 

Wait for the thaw and inspect the damage. If the tops of the plants are soggy, mushy and brown, just remove the slimy growth. Now pack the crown of the plant with bracken, straw or fleece. I am not saying they will survive, but if the rootstock has remained unharmed you are in with a slim chance (roughly translates as wafer-thin) that they may revive come warmer weather. Otherwise you are just going to have to grin and bear the fact, you did too little too late and the garden is going to have to be re-stocked to compensate for those fatalities. Never mind, we learn through experience.

However, all is not doom and gloom. As one plant dies, another is born and to this end, don't forget it is Tulip planting time. I am the worst offender for planting tulip bulbs late, as I normally manage it around Christmas Eve. But this year the snow has served as a timely reminder; as I searched around for the snow shovel, I came across the stache of tulip bulbs I bought in Amsterdam earlier in the year. So now they are all lined up in a kitchen cupboard, waiting for the big thaw and I shall for once be on time with my bulb planting. Hurrah! Don't plant straight away. Let the snow and water run off for a few days (and pray there isn't any more white stuff on the way) before you go a-digging.

I was also reminded of how magical snow was when we were young. Forget our 'bah-humbug' adult view of snow. Remember the fun we had speeding down hill on old tea trays and soaking wet socks steaming on the radiators when we finally made it home, cheeks as red as Rudolph's nose and eyes shining with excitement? Instead of seeing it as a grave inconvenience,  embrace it in childlike manner. When was the last time you made a snowman? Well, snowman- making tops today's To-Do' list. Maybe even a castle igloo or perhaps I shall be a snow angel for a few minutes.
(No snickering those who know me well and will immediately refute the word 'Angel' and 'Lucy' would ever be found in the same sentence.


I've just passed the sweetest little boy reclining on dad's sledge, his head propped up on a bag of groceries, cocooned in a blanket, his little eye round with wonder. That's the way to travel.

Oh and most importantly of all:

HAPPY YULETIDE 

Planting Asiatic Lily Bulbs

Pruning Wisteria

Division by Lucy Summers author of Greenfingers Guides

Lucy's Top Ten Plants for autumn - Love Lucy

OK. So I know it's been raining for ages and everything is keeling over from being sodden for days. However, if your garden looks dull and colourless after the razzmattazz of summer, it's time you pulled your finger out and jazzed up the autumn flower beds, because we could all do with a bit livening up in this dull weather.

For more ideas on how to keep a steady stream of colour and interesting foliage in your borders throughout the year, try my Border flowers book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0755317602

Here's my top gorgeous perennials for adding zing to your autumn borders. 


Anemone hupehensis 'September Charm'
Has pale pink single flowers and golden centres held on tall upright stems above the deep bushy green leaves


Chocolate cosmos (Cosmos astrosanguineas) Ht. 90cm x 45cm
Luxurious, deep chocolate, maroon-brown velvet flowers

Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca 'Citrina' Ht. 1m x 1m

Pale green pea-like leaves with pale lemon yellow flowers almost non-stop throughout the year, but its particularly unusual colouring in the autumn and winter months, plus it's frenetic flowering make it an all-round winner





Dahlia 'Bishop of LLandaff' Ht. 90cm x  90cm 
Opulent deep red flowers with claret-stained foliage


Gaura lindheimerii Ht. 1.2m x 1m

Arching stems with trembling
delicate winged white flowers all the way
to the first frosts

Gentiana x stevenagensis Ht. 10cm x 15cm

Charming, flared trumpets of zure blue  with white and dark striped throats sit against deep green narrow leaves; sulks in overcast weather only opening its blooms with the sun. But boy what vivid autumn colour

 Heuchera 'Obsidian' Ht. 45cm x 30cm

Dark, almost ebony black-purple rounded polished leaves with claret stems of small airy, creamy white flowers from June to July; but it's the outstanding jet foliage that makes this a must for spring, summer and autumn borders

Phlox paniculata 'David' Ht. 1.2m x 1m
Gorgeous, gloriously scented pure white flowers on upright stems from July to November

Verbena 'Homestead Purple' Ht. 30cm x 60cm
Mine's been in violet-blue flower since late May and will continue to flower generously well into November








Verbena bonariensis Ht. Up to 2m
Self-supporting wiry, sparse stems topped with open sprays of rich purple flowers

I stole this delicious recipe from a friend who bakes like an angel.

You will need:

Finely chopped rose petals OR rose sugar

OR

English lavender

300g plain flour

100g caster sugar

200g butter

(Make sure you ONLY use English lavender petals; Lavandula augustifolia is ideal as other species can prove quite astringent.)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar. 

3. Add the petals or rose sugar and blend well into the creamed mixture

4. Now sieve flour into the creamed mixture until you get a soft dough. Chill the mixture in the fridge for about an hour.

5. Roll out your dough to the required thickness (about 0.5cm is ideal) Cut out into desired shapes, round and hearts look pretty.

Place them on a pre-greased baking tray and dust lightly with caster sugar.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes until pale golden brown. 

Cool on a wire rack and eat them up. One batch lasts about 3 minutes in our house!

Horseguard Heaven

In the main, I abhor pub gardens. Nasty ill-mown grass, ghastly childrens' play areas where no self-respecting child would be tempted to play, banned dogs and nasty, splintery wooden tables arrayed with lonely ashtrays.

HOWEVER

If you ever happen to be winding by Petworth in West Sussex on a day when the sky is blue above, birds are on the wing, the snail's on the thorn and all's right with the world - then a small diversion to the village of Tillington to the Horse Guards Inn will complete your happiness. It is rare a thing to sit in a pub garden endowed with unpretentious cottage garden charm, careless whimsy and so obviously tended by a loving hand. 

The garden at the Horse Guards Inn is the nearest thing you'll get to a hug. 

 

Delightful touches abound; small upturned terracotta flower pots remove the peril of any sharp snags on the hurdle fencing; sunflowers past their best still sway gaily amongst a profusion of cottage plants providing food for scavenging birds and whirling butterflies alight on the budlejas as you sip your bitter shandy. Scattered hay bales make suprisingly comfy seating amongst more traditional wooden tables and benches whilst courgettes, fennel, white cosmos and herbs all thrive side by side in cheerful harmony. Plants and trees are potted higgeldy-piggedly in old lead planters and old stone flagons decorate the paths.

There are too many seductive touches to this garden than I care to mention. It has no grand planting plan or clever plants and certainly the snottier garden critics amongst you won't see what all the fuss is about. This garden isn't in the style of anything, doesn't try to be something it isn't and therein lies it charm. It's there because a pub needs a garden for the  punters but the wise Misha, the garden's creator and publican, understands that a public space and a private garden needn't be mutually exclusive.

Her husband Sam wryly commented, "You know what they say, a well-tended garden - a neglected husband..." 

(Oh I doubt that very much Sam.) 

Play it again Misha.

P.s.  Sunday lunch was good too and the offered cream teas could not have a more apt backdrop.

Even the log pile was architectural and stylish, whilst no doubt providing a luxury apartment for over-wintering lace wings, so the ecological slant was accommodated too.

Damage limitation in drought

Just a quick update. I am repeatedly being asked how to rescue plants that are already scorched, swooning or have fried in the the heat. So how or indeed, can you rescue a plant that already has been torched? Is it dead or not?

Yes and No. 

For perennials; If there is still a fair amount of healthy green growth, cut the plant back to the the low basal growth  give it a feed and just water it regularly and you should be able to nurse it back to reasonable health. If the plant is brown from top to toe but when you tug it, it still clings solidly to the soil the chances are the roots are still hanging in there. Cut back all growth completely and ruthlessly, water regularly and it may well put out new growth between now and October.

Shrubs; Much the same as above. Cut out all browned growth (where practicable) and reduce the overall height of the shrub by say a third, so that the plant doesn't have to work so hard keeping all that foliage going. Put a thick ring of organic matter around the base of the plant. Water it well three times a week- a few gallons please not just a tiddly splash from the watering can! Crispy-looking trees too can benefit from organic matter and  perhaps a leaking hose at night to sustain them.  

Let me know how you get on ...

Tulips from Amsterdam

I am in love. 

I have just spent three days in Amsterdam.

The canals, the relaxed pace of life, the pretty streets and bijou shops.  And the flower markets of course. A veritable Aladdin's flotilla of greenhouses chock full of every bulb you can think of, with small packets of cannabis stuffed in the gaps to tempt the tourist into a novel souvenir.   Large recently dug agapanthus tubers coud be bought by the kilo but I fell for the scrambling charms of Gloriosa Rothschildiana (Glory lily) a North African native which is elegant as it is beautiful. Deep green polished leaves show off the large spidery, crimped petalled magenta-pink petals in July making this a climber of distinction.

It's a tender tuberous rooted perennial climber related to the Lilium family and will require cold and frost protection in all but the mildest areas in the UK.  It gets to about 6ft so I intend to start it off in a pot pot and transfer it into the border around May when all frost risk has passed.  Perhaps I shall also grow one on the patio against a sunny wall for exotic colour and shape. But they are adaptable and you can grow them against a trellis, sunny wall, up an obelisk or against a short pillar.

Why not have a go at growing this lovely exotic climber next spring as it really is easy?

The roots come pre-packed in chippings. So just plant them on their sides in pots, say, about 3-4" deep  and cover with compost.  Water them well, thoroughly soaking the compost and then allow any residue to drain away. If kept in a warm room new shoots will appear in two to three weeks. Keep them watered regularly as they grow, but don't drown them - they won't appreciate waterlogged soil. If you want to save the tubers for next year, simply stop watering around October and let the foliage die back and the compost dry out completely. Store the pot housing its tubers in a warm dry spot over winter and then its back to the green house for them the following spring so they can show off all over again next summer.

Plants Swoon in Mini Heat-wave!

These beautiful hot sunny days are absolute bliss aren't they? If only England could have a summer that was reliable like this five months a year. Still,  summers very decidedly here, so let's enjoy while we can.

But whilst our spirits soar and our level of optimism improves when the sun warms our cheeks, your garden plants don't feel the same way.  They get hot, dry and wilt.  Many of you will have wished that you knew how to help your garden cope with these hot spells as you dash about with the hose morn till night to quench the inexhaustible demands for water.

First off you could buy my book, 'Drought Tolerant Plants which goes all the way in detailing how you can sit back with a glass of wine on a summer's evening instead of running about like a trainee fireman to satisfy your plants' demands for water.

Available on Amazon  

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drought-tolerant-Plants-Greenfingers-Guides-Summers/dp/0755317599

However, if you don't have it yet, damage limitation is the key.

1. Water early in the morning and late at night when the soil will hold on to water more effectively.

2. Add some swell gel to extra compost and top dress your pots with it; better that you mix the compost and granules together to fill the pot at the start of the year, but we are where we are, so a top-dressing is better than none. This will reduce your watering time to a couple of times a week instead of every day.

3.Replace some of your traditional plants with some gorgeous drought tolerant plants that can withstand arid conditions. Or aim for a drought proof border entirely, so at least that is one bed you won't have to fret about. 

http://theopengardencompany.co.uk
 

"Summer afternoons - the most beautiful words in the English language.

Nobody does a summer's day like England; but when we get it right (alas those days are so few) an English summer's afternoon takes some whacking.

I had the pleasure of taking off for the afternoon to visit a beautifully sited wall garden on the Surrey/Sussex borders. It is only in it's seventh year and there is some promising activity going on. Lovely long pathways flocked with lavender; not entirely innovative but it's a proven formula and works effectively. Good old blousy roses were doing a great job; I espied the lively brash 'American Pillar' flowering its heart out as it always does. A lovely raised narrow rill flanked the south side of the garden, planted with water lilies that now the heat of the sun had gone, had closed their flowers and were dozing in the early evening shadows. Water features are rarely executed well, but this was the right size and scale for the garden and added a calm serenity as evening fell. One of the things that was noticeable that there might well be a dearth of colour or interest from summer into autumn.

If you know that your garden falls into a sort of dullness in summer, try the old trick of growing some annuals in pots that you can plunge into the gaps that inevitably occur in once the spring borders have done their thing. Should your garden  lacks any 'oompah' in autumn, go out and buy some great autumn flowering plants now to jazz it up a bit. How about the deep burgundy Penstemon 'Blackbird' the grass skirted golden yellow flowers of inula hookeri or those very effective brown drumstick flowers of Helenium 'Autumn Lollipop?" My new book 'BORDER FLOWERS' ( available from WH Smith, Amazon and all the usual suspects) wil give you some great ideas and the plants are arranged by season, so it's easy-peasy to choose something fab.

Keep an eye on the watering front; these hot spells take their toll and the winds too make soil dry out that much quicker. By the way keep dead nettles (lamium) well watered in this weather as they are the first to fall prone to powdery mildew.  

But most of all enjoy your garden this summer. As Henry James was so fond of saying:

"Summer afternoons - the most beautiful words in the English language. " 

 Hear hear, Henry.

Chelsea Garden Sponosrhsip

We are attempting the difficult task of finding a sponsor for the Chelsea Flower Show. If anyone can recommend any companies with large budgets that have gardening synchronicity please let us know. Thanks