News
-
Thrive announce second charity ambassador
Garden designer Mark Lane has become an ambassador for the charity Thrive. Kent-based Mark is the UK’s first recognised wheelchair-bound garden designer and the first BBC TV gardening presenter in a wheelchair. Mark is passionate about good garden design that…
-
New stunning Zinnia ‘Lilliput Purple’
Zinnia ‘Lilliput Purple’ has abundant, small and perfectly formed pompom flowers on strong, medium height, perfect-for-cutting stems. Thrive is celebrating a new partnership with Chiltern Seeds which is selling a stunning new Zinnia ‘Lilliput Purple’ in aid of the charity,…
-
Spring soon to be announced in Cornwall as champion Magnolias bloom
Six beautiful Magnolia trees in Cornwall are set to herald the start of the nation’s long-awaited Spring. Blooms on the South West Peninsular start appearing a lot earlier than the rest of the UK mainland thanks to the warmer climate.…
-
‘Spring is on the way; you can smell it’, say National Trust Gardeners
12th annual Valentine’s Flower Count National Trust garden teams in the south west [1] have conducted their annual flower count for Valentine’s Day and although spring seems to be on the way, just as we would expect, what is noticeable…
-
Weeds still on offer
An essential go-to reference for any organic – or would-be organic – gardener. The excellent new edition of John Walker’s Weeds: An Organic, Earth-Friendly Guide to their Identification, Use and Control, which was featured in the January issue (read an…
-
Front garden research needs your help
How does the trend from green to grey affect our health and well-being? We’re increasingly aware of the effect that green spaces have on our physical and mental well-being, and there’s also been much recent publicity about the alarming rate…
-
Sign up to grow blooms for bees
The Blooms for Bees team wants to improve bedding plant recommendations to support pollinators. The new Blooms for Bees project is looking for citizen scientists to take part in an experiment to assess ‘Mignon’ dahlias, to determine their value for…
-
Guide to growing a business
The Growing Enterprise Guide offers detailed advice and practical information about how to sell what you grow in the city. If you’re an urban grower who’d like to sell your produce, whether on a small-scale ‘garden gate’ basis or as…
-
Boxes for birds
National Nest Box Week lets you contribute to conservation efforts whilst gaining the pleasure of observing any breeding birds. For bird-lovers, Valentine’s Day marks the start of National Nest Box Week. The aim of the week, which runs from February…
-
Limited-edition vases for Unwins customers
Unwins is linking up with pottery designer Emma Bridgewater to offer customers the chance to own 1 of 1,000 limited-edition sweet pea vases. Seed retailer Unwins is linking up with pottery designer Emma Bridgewater to offer customers the chance to…
-
Early evidence of vegetarian cookery
A team of scientists has uncovered the earliest direct evidence of humans processing plants for food. Researchers at the Organic Geochemistry Unit in the University of Bristol’s School of Chemistry, working with colleagues in Italy, studied pottery dating from more…
-
Courgettes hit the headlines
courgettecrisis hashtag trending The past month has seen the dawning realisation amongst supermarket shoppers that vegetables do not, in fact, have a 12-month season, and that they are, unaccountably, subject to the weather. A ‘perfect storm’ of flooding, cold weather and…
