Steve Ott
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Heatwave brings bumper year for British flowers
While arable vegetable crops are struggling in the heat, this summer’s heatwave has helped the British flower industry to blossom The Great British Florist has seen its cutting patch and wild meadows produce a bumper crop of flowers, thanks to…
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Gardeners ID best plants for bees
The three flowers most visited by bees are viper’s bugloss, teasel and toadflax, according to gardeners using the new Blooms for Bees app The app, created by scientists from Coventry University, is the only bumblebee-surveying app to record the flower…
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Partnership to Alleviate Food Poverty Crisis
With an estimated three million children at risk of being hungry during the school holidays in the UK this summer, and as food bank usage is reportedly hitting record highs, Miracle-Gro has partnered with FoodCycle to grow and donate fresh…
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New study shows EU pesticide ban is failing to protect suburban bees
Bees living in suburban habitats are still being exposed to significant levels of neonicotinoid pesticides despite the EU ban say scientists Bees living in suburban habitats are still being exposed to significant levels of pesticides despite the EU ban on…
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BEE AND WASP STINGS CAN BE FATAL
Gardening expert Chris Beardshaw launches campaign to raise awareness of potentially fatal bee and wasp sting anaphylaxis Chris Beardshaw has taken on a new role as the inaugural ambassador for ‘Bee Resistant 2018’, a national campaign that runs annually to…
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New gardening feature to appear on Hartley Botanic’s website
Gardening expert, writer and commentator Matthew Biggs to help growers get the most from their greenhouse British greenhouse and glasshouse manufacturer Hartley Botanic, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, has added a new, regular ‘how to’ feature on…
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Rare tree flowers for the first time ever at Batsford Arboretum
Very rare Chinese tree flowers after a quarter of a century in Gloucestershire Excitement is building at Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire as a 25-year-old specimen of Emmenopterys henryi, a highly rare tree originating from China, is coming into flower for…
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Garden amphibians drying up
Results from the RSPB’s 2018 wildlife survey reveal that garden amphibians are becoming rarer The results from the RSPB’s 2018 wildlife survey, conducted as part of the Big Garden Birdwatch, reveal that sightings of garden amphibians are becoming rarer. Frogs…
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Services to horticulture honoured
National Allotment Society (NSALG) President Phil Gomersall has been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to horticulture His many other roles in the allotment world include serving as Chairman of the Yorkshire Allotment Gardeners’ Federation, as Publicity Officer of…
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Young gardeners of the year
A Shropshire 15-year-old has been crowned RHS Young School Gardener of the Year Ellie Micklewright, from Newport Girls’ High School Academy Trust, started her school’s gardening club from scratch, inspiring a team of 40 students and staff to transform the…
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Bumblebees breed better in cities
A surprising new study has found that bumblebees in urban areas produce more offspring than colonies in agricultural areas Ash Samuelson, a PhD student from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, set out to discover…
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Don’t bring back a souvenir plant disease
An survey has found that millions of plants could be entering the UK in holidaymakers’ luggage, increasing the risk of pests and diseases Of the 57% of respondents to the RHS survey who were planning to travel abroad in the…
