Origin of the species
IT IS AMAZING how quickly plants are recovering from our record cold winter now that spring is here. So start removing any dead leaves from large plants like Dracaenas, Cordylines
Underneath the spreading carob tree
By Clive Goodacre PlantScape Garden Centre, Almadena THE CAROB (Ceratonia siliqua) must be one of the most underused landscaping trees in Portugal, despite being part of the natural surroundings for
Christmas calmers and cold busters
Christmas is on the doorstep and, as we begin to plan for the festivities ahead, I have been repeatedly asked which herbs I would recommend to have at hand for
Indian winter
If there was a longevity category for Petunias and other bedding plants in the Guinness Book of Records then it would have been broken many times this year. The calmest,
Rain, rain, glorious rain!
So, at last we have had some really consistent rain. Within hours, plants in the garden centre are looking better, while layers of dust on roadside trees have been washed
All fired up
Several readers have e-mailed recently regarding fire-damaged trees, asking whether they will recover. A good rule of thumb is that trees regarded as indigenous, such as oaks, carobs, eucalyptus, olives
Big flowers with short lives
Who would have predicted heavy rain in August? While the holidaymakers made a dash for the shops, muttering ‘we might as well be at home’, gardens woke briefly from their