Create a Mouthwatering Colour Combination in your garden
Alliums were all the rage a few years ago and they still haven’t lost their attraction. From time to time I’ve seen them dotted around gardens, in masses in borders, even marching along straight borders at Wimpole Hall – they looked exceptionally good.
I was reminded of them having just seen an offer on the Thompson & Morgan website – 100 allium bulbs for £5. The 100 bulbs is made up of different quantities of four different varieties: 
16 bulbs of Allium aflatuenese, 24 bulbs of Allium sphaerocephalon, 50 bulbs of Allium caeruleum and 10 bulbs of Allium Purple Sensation. All flower in early summer. See details on: http://www.thompson-morgan.com/taf147
We are planning on planting them in front of a lovely Cumbrian wall, interspersed with either creeping jenny and/or Alchemilla mollis.
On the BBC plant finder page It suggests campanula portenschlagiana and geranium Philippe Vapelle would work well with them. They comment that for all gardens, large or small, the campanula is an indispensable alpine. Hardy, vigorous and persistent, it’s easily grown on the rockery, on walls, in front of borders or even in pots, forming generous, dense mats of small ivy-like leaves which become hidden beneath the mass of small purple bells in summer.
So that’s sorted. I might even buy a David Austin rambling pink rose to give a beautiful contrast which has a strong scent too – Mary Rose fits the bill. I’d like to add in some lavender to give another purple burst in late summer, when the roses are still flowering.
Purple, pink and yellow … A great combination. Can’t wait for summer!
The Allium offer ends midnight on 20 August 2013 …
Yours in health
Val Reynolds, Editor
News Flash!!! Bargain Plug Plants for 24p
A quick note to all those who follow my Front Garden on the web http://ourfrontgarden.com/2012/02/15/2012-month-by-month/
Wedding Bells – Penstemons
We thought those readers who enjoy gardening, and there are many of you we know! would want to hear about the latest Thompson & Morgan bargain plug plant offer:
24 plug plants of the self same penstemons – Wedding Bells Mixed – that attracted so much attention from passersby at our front garden in Welwyn Garden City
T&M are adding 24 plugs for 24p that’s only 1p a plug! to any orders made between 9-15 August 2013
This really is value for money.
The blooms are striking, bloomed for ages, are perennial and came up well for more than 5 years and showed every sign of long term growth. They look really good in a border, or a pot.
I bet T&M run out of stock fairly quickly so if you want some, and we certainly do!, it would probably be best to order some asap.
| OFFER ORDER CODE: TAF146ZURL: www.thompson-morgan.com/taf146zTerms: Limited to one pack per order.This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or with promotional vouchers. |
Keep in touch!
Val Reynolds, Editor
Grow Your Own Potatoes for Free!
OFFER OF THE WEEK*Free Potato Collection – Worth £15.00
What you get in the kit: 5 x tubers of Potato ‘Vales Emerald’ – A Maris Peer/Charlotte cross with an RHS Award of Garden Merit that is proving to be very popular. Potato ‘Vales Emerald’ produces generous yields of oval, cream-skinned and pale fleshed tubers. Perfect for your first potatoes of the year, and a simply delicious as a salad potato. Height and spread: 60cm (24″). 1 x potato planter – Holds approximately 40 litres of multipurpose compost (sufficient to plant 3 or 4 tubers). 5 x packets of vegetable seed – Receive 5 packets of quality vegetable seeds. The vegetable seeds will be chosen by Thompson & Morgan and may vary from those illustrated. *Just pay £4.95 postage HOW TO GET YOUR FREE POTATO KIT: GO to www.thompson-morgan.com and enter Offer Code: AF11109 in the box labelled “Enter catalogue or newspaper code:” This will ensure the £15 is crossed out and only the postage is applicable. Terms &Conditions: Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer code and is only valid with orders placed online START DATE: NOW END DATE: Midnight Sunday 27th November 2011 This is a really generous offer – 5 tubers of top quality potatoes, packets of seeds, and a planter bag which you can reuse for subsequent crops, or other vegetables. For instance, we have just planted two lots of asparagus in planters. Such a neat and easy way to grow vegetables, especially plants that need to be kept under control. So if you are interested, don’t delay, apply today! Happy gardening! Val Reynolds, Editor |
Thompson & Morgan are offering a fabulous Potato KIT FREE* for every visitor – worth £15.00!All Over the Place!
Lady Boothby
Lady Boothby, a really beautiful climbing fuschia, is on offer in a price clearance from Thompson & Morgan
The plant, with two-toned flowers on red stems, is the world’s only climbing fuchsia, suitable for pergolas, trellises, arches, walls, fences and will give years of colour. It will climb up to ten feet and spread over three feet in sun or semi shade, flowering from June to September.
The Thompson & Morgan website gives brilliant instructions on how to grow and aftercare information.
Current prices while stocks last are 3 jumbo plugs for £7.99, 5 jumbo plugs £9.99, and 15 jumbo plugs at half price £14.99. At prices like these you could afford to buy several and give some away as gifts.
Delivery will be by end May 2011, so get your order in now and look forward to a plant that’s sure to attract lots of interest!
Plants Galore!
Lemon Basil
Some years ago I came across a packet of Lemon Basil seeds from Thompson and Morgan – my favourite seed supplier since 1970! – that I have to confess had been ‘loitering’ in my seed box for some time, four years in fact! As I had a bit of space in my tiny greenhouse, I thought I would see if they germinated, expecting a few to come up which would be very useful for salads. To my great surprise the whole seed tray bounced into life and I had so much basil I had to give much of it away! Recipes and more information is here.
With that experience in mind I decided to go through the T&M catalogue looking for herbs that I could grow to add to salads, even if they didn’t grow to full size they would add a variety of flavours. Most herbs are available at very reasonable prices and with germination rates generally pretty high it’s a win win situation!
Most recently I have successfuly sown
Basil
Outdoor Basil This gave an excellent germination and again found I had so much I had to give many plants away. I kept some indoors and others in the kitchen garden. I love picking a leaf or two and eating it when I’m wandering around looking for weeds to pull up.
Borage, the young leaves have a cucumber taste and widely used in salads and the bright blue flowers look wonderful in drinks, or salads. At the end of the season the plant can be added to your compost. It does get a bit untidy but I can forgive that characteristic as it attracts so many bees and other insects, it is a joy to see it thriving.
Coriander This can be sown direct in the ground. However it is useful to sow some in pots to keep indoors for year round fresh leaves to add to salads, salsas and Asian cuisine. Another flavour indispensable TO the adventurous cook.
Chervil
Chervil Used in French cooking to flavour fish dishes, sauces and soups, is a familiar taste of France. Can be grown in pot on the windowsill for all year fresh leaves.
Summer Savory this comes highly recommended from Bob Flowerdew who waxes lyrical about its effect on broad beans! Try it chopped and mixed with melted butter. Thompson & Morgan suggest adding it to breadcrumbs to coat fish, added to soups and stew – said to be magnificent!
Endive not often found on sale here in the UK, is easy to grow from seed. Easy too to grow it as salad leaves.
Other seeds I have successfully grown for the kitchen garden this year are globe artichokes, beetroot, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, sugar snaps, french beans, courgettes, leeks, pumpkin, outdoor melons – the jury is out on these they are not growing very quickly and I wonder whether they will flower and produce mature fruit, they are protected by a cloche to keep the heat in and the wind out.
I have grown many plants to attract insects. French marigolds, calendula, I have allowed the parsley to go to seed for insects to feed on, poached egg plant, nigella, and alfalfa to dig in as a green manure. Red clover has been sown for the same reason.
I have also used odd spaces to grow flowering plants for the main garden, for instance escholtzia, chrysanthemum daisies, scabious, sweet peas and I have experimented with unusual plants, for instance cucumelon.
It will be some weeks before I know which plants are worth keeping and which seeds are worth sowing next year. As always the gardener in me is constantly adding, subtracting and repeating plants, always aiming at perfection. Ever hopeful!
Val Reynolds, Editor In Balance Magazine
In Balance 