Veg Plotting

I must have picked up the housplant week vibes (which ends today) because I've spent lots of time tending to my houseplants. This chilli 'Basket of Fire' is one of my more unusual specimens and I'm pleased to say it's now entering its third year of cultivation. It can be a bit rampant, but a severe haircut soon brings it back under control. The last one was back in November and as you can see it's ready to give me plenty of chillis for 2023. A sunny windowsill is all it seems to need and I'm growing mine in a self watering pot, so only an occasional top up is needed at this time of the year. I'm pretty frugal with feeding it too. I've also been tidying up the houseplants on our shady bathroom windowsill. They've been suffering from scale which is proving tricky to eliminate, so the unrescuable ones have gone, hence the empty pots awaiting fresh plants. Don't be alarmed by the jade plant on the left. This is a bit of an experiment as it had go

I've tended to pass poinsettias by in the run up to Christmas, but this tasteful display in a local florist's window during my recent wander around town made me pause and think again. They're quite an unusual plant, so here's a little more about them... They originally hail from Mexico, where they were valued by the Aztecs, who used them to decorate their temples and also thought they represented a new life for warriors who'd perished in battle. Another Aztec legend says the plants red bracts represents the blood of a goddess who died of a broken heart. This inspired the plant's French name, Etoile d’amour  aka Star of Love.  Poinsettias became more widely known following a botanical expedition to Mexico in 1803. It was named as a new species, Euphorbia pulcherrima by Johann Friedrick Klotzsch in 1834. The name poinsettia comes from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US official to Mexico, who was an avid botanist and brought it back to the United States in the

Houseplants are trendy. Houseplants are cool. And who wouldn't be tempted by this spectacular  Alocasia x amazonica  (aka Amazonian elephant's ear) when it's going for a song at their local supermarket? Not I for one. Luckily I knew what I was getting as I lust after them whenever I see them at a show or in a heated glasshouse. Why lucky? Because there was no care label anywhere to be seen and most of the information out there rates these as Difficult. Later, I checked at several such outlets, then my local DIY store and found exactly the same situation: tons of attractive and tempting houseplants, succulents and cacti... all with zero information to tell the buyer what they are and what to do with them. In this instance the amazonica in the name is the clue. This is a plant that likes plenty of humidity and warmth. It needs rainwater instead of my limy tapwater and requires misting every day. It's currently around 10 inches in height, so I need to prepare my

I was really happy when Barbara gave me an unusual looking Pilea peperomiodes aka Chinese Money Plant last summer. Little did I know then just how cool and trendy they are, being at the forefront of the houseplant revival. They even have a dedicated Pilea Lovers page on Instagram with over 21,000 Followers - it's not often you'll find me amongst the hipsters! I nearly wrote an article on my new treasure back then, but Jane beat me to it with a far more comprehensive guide than I could have managed with loads of links to further information. Jack's written a great blog post on how to divide them too. When I noticed my plant wasn't looking quite as happy as it should as you can see above photo, I knew just the right people to consult on Twitter, along with Andrew who's acquired quite a houseplant collection recently. From their replies it's clear I am a perfect example of how not to look after a Pilea as follows: Place it on your sunniest wind

Following last year's Windowsill makeover , I'm pleased to report my basket of plants has filled out nicely and continues to look good in the kitchen one year on. The Aloe vera  can be pressed into burns relief duties if needed, and the two Plectranthus on either side don't seem to mind being hacked back occasionally to keep them within bounds. For this month's Blooms Day it's the plant on the left which is of interest... ... fifteen months on from when Barbara gave me a cutting it has a few spikes of delicate white blooms. I thought they looked a little Salvia -like, so it's no surprise she says it's one of South Africa's indigenous sages, aka Plectranthus grandidentatus,  aka vicks plant*. As well as looking sage-like, I also think the flowers are sticking their tongues out. Barbara goes on to say: "... it was growing between the plum trees etc at a wonderful winery I visited in South Africa a few years back, Babylonstoren ."

Part of the Federation of British Bonsai Societies gold medal exhibit at this year's Chelsea Flower Show, including some from Swindon.   I have a confession. I usually leave the bonsai exhibits at flower shows alone. They're quite difficult to photograph and until recently this is a branch of gardening which was a mystery to me ('scuse pun). However, I was given a bonsai tree in March and it's clear I need some help to look after it properly. I'd read they should be kept outdoors, which was fine until April's hard frosts. My poor tree ended up with lots of leaves sporting an unhealthy bleached look. So this year for once I made a beeline for the Federation of British Bonsai Societies ' exhibit at Chelsea Flower Show, where a friendly expert was more than happy to give me a few tips. My tree is probably Ligustrum sinense and is approximately 9 years old  As you can see, my tree is quite small, even by bonsai standards and my first piece of a

Before: evidence of my shameful treatment of Aloe vera   I knew something was wrong when I found the pictured basket of Aloe vera on my kitchen chair recently, instead of the windowsill where it usually resides... "... What's that doing on my seat?", I asked NAH. "It's getting in the way, and I'm fed up. What is it anyway?" "It's Aloe vera . I keep it there in case we have a burn to treat." "And how many times have you used it?" "Er, none," was my shamefaced reply, "that's why it's got rather out of hand." Aloe vera is a tough succulent suitable for growing indoors in the UK. That pictured little lot goes back well over nine years, as I was given an offshoot to pot up by my GNO friend H well before I left my last permanent job. The only care I've taken since then was to pot up the pictured three pots of them grown from the original offshoot, and to trim the dead ends and leaves fr

The summer holidays are beckoning and thoughts turn to reading matter. Here are five review books and other discoveries I've enjoyed over the past couple of months... The Little Book of Bonsai This RHS book tackles a less well-known aspect of gardening. It's a jargon-free introduction, written by two of the UK's bonsai experts. Packed with lots of information and top tips, it's illustrated with plenty of photographs and clear drawings. There are step-by-step instructions for you to look after an established tree or to grow your own. A guide to the most commonly used ones towards the end of the book, will allow you to select the tree of your choice. I didn't know each shape has its own name, nor that wiring is an important step in the process of growing a bonsai tree. There's a comprehensive list of other resources at the back of the book to help take you beyond this introductory text. This is a thoughtful gift for a keen gardener, or for someone

AOL's sign-on screen rotates through a number of pictures and now my moth orchid 's back in bloom this month, it's the ideal time to have a play with the pictures to bring you this post. Hat Tip to Private Eye , who always label their pictures the wrong way round for their Lookalikes feature. Could they be related? I think we should be told.

It's been a very satisfying week as I've managed to make a success of two things: one I've never tried before, the other where I've failed previously. I hope you don't mind while I bang on my drum a little bit... Firstly, I've managed to get the moth orchid I posted about here to bloom again. This is despite my completely destroying its leaves because I left it outside whilst the nights were really too cold to do so safely. According to an aside in a fab book I'm reading at the moment ( The Flower of Empire ), the key to orchid success is not to let the roots die. Seeing they're in rude health, perhaps that's why I have a positive result. Now, I've got to achieve the same with the Cymbidium mentioned in the same post. It's enjoying its summer holiday on the patio very much and is currently throwing out a couple of new shoots. Perhaps that's why it's not flowering... And here's my 'Basket of Fire' chilli plant.

Cardamom and kaffir lime enjoying the view from the computer room window When I visited the Edible Garden Show in March, I was inspired by James Wong's talk to bring home a cardamom  (the green one i.e. true cardamom, not the black) and a kaffir lime plant. NAH and I use both of these extensively in our cooking, so it made sense to have a go at growing them for myself. I hadn't set out with the intention of extending my GYO activities to embrace edible houseplants, but reading the cultivation notes, I soon realised I'd inadvertently branched out. They're both relatively tender plants (OK with temperatures down to around -2 to -5 o C), so most places in the UK will have to keep these indoors for the winter at least. I might let them out for a holiday out in the garden sometime, if the weather ever warms up again. My track record with house plants isn't that good, so the fact I still have these a few months further on is encouraging. I've also spotted

One of my unexpected challenges for 2013 is looking after some orchids. This one - a Cymbidium - arrived just before Christmas and is brightening up our lounge. You may remember I also received an unexpected gift of a moth orchid on leap day last year :) The main challenge for me will be how to make them flower again. According to the RHS's  cultivation notes ,  the Cymbidium 's flowering is initiated during the summer months and is helped by having a distinct difference in day and night time temperatures. It also says the temperature should be kept below 59 0 F, which could be tricky even in our climate. However, I'm up for giving it a go and will start by cutting the pictured flowering spike down to its base when the flowers have faded in a few weeks time. The moth orchid requires slightly different treatment. When the flowers faded last year, I cut the flowering stalk back to just above the second node (joint) beneath the spent flowers. Mine hasn't develope

Today's Leap Day , the traditional day when women can propose marriage to their men. I didn't do that, but we did get married in a Leap Year so since then NAH and I have a running joke where I propose to him every Leap Day and he flatly refuses because he's a 'happily married man'. It's a shared joke which has me giggling and hugging to myself for days beforehand and it brings us closer together on the day. Our cosiness was interrupted this morning by the arrival of the local florist's van and the proffering of the pictured Phalaenopsis to NAH. His concern I might have a secret admirer soon turned to relief when I showed him the accompanying message: Dear VP, Sorry we couldn't get your original plant but hope you enjoy the orchid. Love the Flower Council of Holland (@meandmyplants). My thanks to Victoria for her quick wit on Twitter this morning :) You can see which of 30 houseplants is your perfect partner and have the chance to win

The dank, grey miserable weather the past few days has removed my New Year's optimism and sent me into my usual January Slough of Despond. So it was a rather nice surprise - even if in truth I'd completely forgotten, despite marking it up on the calendar in the kitchen to remind me - to find Threadspider on the doorstep yesterday morning ready to whisk me away to our local garden centre for a look round, a cup of coffee and a good old chinwag :) It's at these times you really get to appreciate your friends. Threadspider loves the newness and endless possibilities of January with an infectious enthusiasm. She insisted we visit the Hamamelis on display to give them a cheering sniff. The day's drizzle may have drained their spicy scent away, but at least the rain I got up my nose in a vain attempt to obtain any last vestige of perfume meant my grumpiness changed into fits of giggles. Then yesterday evening I realised to my surprise that what these desperate time