Garden Life

I once viewed a flat and the prospective landlady pulled out a dead tomato plant that had been growing on her window sill, asking me why it hadn’t fruited.

With the soil drier, I have finally managed to plant the last of my garlic and onion sets.

When a letter starts “I must strongly protest at an article written by Adam Pasco…” then I do wonder what I’ve done wrong.

I was blissfully unaware of wasps’ nests till one summer at the allotment, when I got stung on my bottom …

[...] when a Siamese cat strutted along the back wall we contemplated the Mammal Society’s and RSPB’s calculations that cats kill some 55 million birds each year in the UK.

I am always in a panic at this time of year – there are so many things that need to be done. All before the end of March. So, the time has come to make a list.

Be Plant Wise, a government campaign to halt the spread of non-native, invasive pond plant species in our ponds, streams and rivers, was launched this week.

The sky is grey, my toes are turning rigid in my boots and the rain is hammering down, but my thoughts are turning to the Mediterranean, and summer holidays.

Last summer I discovered a twining, tender climber called Lophospermum, or lofos. I bought two varieties, ‘Burgundy Falls’ and ‘Summer Cream’, as plug plants from a mail-order seed company.

I’m not sure how I feel about super-rich Russians buying up British newspapers or football clubs, but there’s one invasion I thoroughly approve of.