Beans have been the most important vegetable crop through the ages. They are the best vegetable source of life-giving protein, and today in many societies, beans are still the staple of life. Beans are also the one protein source you can keep for a long time without processing. And you can get a heavy harvest from a small amount of work.

Our family relied on dry beans when Iwas young. Every Saturday night (if not more often), the heart of our family meal, like the traditional New England Saturday supper, was baked beans. Read the rest of this entry »

There are two good ways to have fresh corn week after week.

Plant early and mid-season varieties the same day. Early varieties will usually produce after 8 or 9 weeks; later ones need 10 to 11 weeks or more. The result is 5 or 6 weeks of steady eating.

Stagger planting dates. In my garden I do this with Butter ‘N Sugar corn, one of my yellow and white favorites. I sow a block of it, and every 10 or 14 days for about a month I plant another section. This way, I get many weeks of tasty corn. Read the rest of this entry »

Too many people think head lettuce or Iceberg lettuce has to be bought at the market.

I grow wonderful crops of head lettuce and yet every year some new visitor looks at my bright green rows and says, “Hmmmm. I didn’t know you could grow that here.” Well, you can and it’s easy.

All you need is some cool weather in spring or fall. Get started early; head lettuce needs as much time as possible developing in cool weather, so the earlier you can set out some plants, the better. They will have the best chance to head up before the scorching days of summer.

Great Lakes, Iceberg, and Ithacavarieties have all done well in my garden. I start them indoors in shallow flats or pyramid planters about 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost date.

The most important step in early planting is to harden off the plants very well before setting them into the garden. After they are about 4 weeks old, I start giving them some time outdoors. That way they can handle unexpected cold snaps and even a light frost. Read the rest of this entry »

Without a doubt, the most popular garden crop in America is tomatoes. Approximately 35 million families grow them. They’re growing varieties that bear tomatoes from the size of marbles to the size of grapefruits; pink ones, red ones, and even yellow ones. There are tomatoes which grow in the coolest, cloudiest, and shortest growing areas and there are those developed to withstand the heat of hot southern summers. No matter where you are, there’s a tomato variety for you.

Almost everybody grows tomatoes by setting out transplants. How you treat these young plants and transplant them has a lot to do with your harvest. For more and better tomatoes, here are my best planting tips:

Shop for the best plants

I’m amazed each spring when I stop at the greenhouses and nurseries and see people selecting tomato plants that are too tall and leggy! Perhaps they think that bigger means better; but with tomato transplants that’s not the case. Read the rest of this entry »

A good watermelon or cantaloupe needs a smooth start in warm, well-drained soil, a steady water supply especially when the melons get big, and plenty of heat at ripening time.

Anything northern gardeners can do to trap extra heat for their plants will help them grow bigger, better melons. In the warm states, a steady supply of water is most important.

Melons like well-drained soil and lots of water. It’s not a contradiction. They like to “keep their feet dry” but still get regular drinks of water. Go out to the farmstand with the biggest and sweetest melons and you’ll probably discover the melons are growing in well-drained sandy soil. If your soil is heavy clay and does not drain too well, you’ll get better melons on raised beds. Read the rest of this entry »

Plant your berries in a sunny location for the sweetest berries and the healthiest plants. Try for an open spot on a slight south facing slope. Low spots on your property could be trouble since cold air flows like water down a slope and will collect in pockets. Frosts will hit these low spots first.

Strawberry plants are usually set out in the early spring (March or April) in the North, but southern gardeners often have the best luck with fall planting.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil is a must. If you have heavy clay, make raised beds. These keep plants from sitting around with wet feet” which lowers production. Raised beds also prevent plants from being heaved out of the ground by frost during the winter. Add plenty of organic matter to help loosen up clay soil. Read the rest of this entry »

Thirteen subjects to prune in late winter or spring

These are popular deciduous shrubs, climbers and roses, all of which flower even better if regularly pruned.

• Butterfly bush(Buddleia davidii) Group 2. Allow a framework of woody branches to required height.

• Californian lilac(Ceanothus) Group 2 (deciduous ceanothus only). Allow a framework of woody branches to form, and cut back to keep it at the required height.

• Clematis Pruning technique for these climbers varies according to type. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are many lovely plants for soil which does not dryout and receives dappled shade — in other words, shade cast by trees with a light canopy of foliage. Typical areas are light woodland or parts of a shrub border. Work plenty of peat or well-rotted organic matter into the soil for these plants.

• Candelabra primulas (Primula species) Whorls of flowers up the stems in early summer. Various colours, such as red Primula japonica. 60-90cm/2-3ft.

• Drumstick primrose (Primula denticulata) This has large globular heads of mauve, pink or white flowers over a long period in spring. 30cm/12in. Easy and reliable. Read the rest of this entry »

These plants are suitable for growing around the base of winter- or spring-flowering shrubs, for bright splashes of colour in the border..

• Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) Pink and white heart- shaped flowers in spring above attractive foliage. 45-60cm/ 1¹/2-2ft. A pure white form is becoming popular. Moist peaty soil and dappled shade.

• Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) Evergreen hand-shaped leaves and white single-rdse-like flowers in winter. 30cm/12in. Fertile moist soil and partial shade.

• Elephant’s ears (Bergenia species/varieties) Large, shiny, leathery evergreen foliage and dense heads of pink, red or white flowers in spring. 30cm/12in. Foliage often turns reddish in winter. Moist soil. Sun or partial shade. Read the rest of this entry »

Roses are the most romantic of all flowers, and among the most versatile. Many are deliciously scented, and the blooms come in virtually every colour except blue, in spring, summer or autumn. Moreover, some roses offer the bonus in autumn of colourful fruits or hips.

You can grow small roses in tubs on the patio. Certain climbing varieties are ideal for brightening up a shady wall, and there are lots of climbers too for pergolas and similar supports and for climbing through trees. A recent fashion is for prostrate varieties used as groundcover — ideal for steep banks. Some roses are most suitable for shrub or mixed borders, while the old-fashioned kinds are an inevitable choice for the cottage garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Garden pools can look rather bleak unless you grace them with water plants. These should certainly include some waterlilies, with large, rounded, floating leaves which help to shade the water and exotic-looking blooms, mostly bowl-shaped, in summer and autumn.

Water plants are best planted during late spring or early summer. Most will be happy in ordinary fibrous garden soil in purpose-made planting baskets, but first you must line each basket with clean, coarse sacking. Before immersing in the pool, spread a layer of coarse gravel over the soil to prevent it from floating off and to prevent disturbance by fish. Baskets 25-30cm/10-12in square are suitable for most vigorous plants, but small versions, 20cm/8in square, are better for pygmy waterlilies and less invasive plants. Read the rest of this entry »

These flowering shrubs are indispensable for bright colour in the spring garden. Grow some spring-flowering bulbs around them, to augment the effect.

• Barberry (Berberis darwinii) Highly popular evergreen shrub with shiny, deep green, holly-like leaves and deep yellow flowers followed by blackish berries. Any soil, including chalk. Sun or partial shade. Grows to around 2.4m/8ft.
• Broom (Cytisus scoparius hybrids) Green stems bear masses of yellow, red, cream or white flowers. Height about 2.4m/8ft, very quickly attained. Good for poor, sandy, acid soils, needs full sun. Cut off dead flower heads. Read the rest of this entry »

Arepertoire for reliable and easy shrubs to grow for their flowers or coloured foliage. Some of these should be in every shrub or mixed border.

• Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora) Bushy semi-evergreen which produces its tubular pink and white flowers from mid-summer to mid-autumn. 1.5-1.8m/5-6ft, soon attained. Needs a warm, sunny sheltered spot and well-drained soil.

• Barberry(Berberis x ottawensis Purpurea’) Vigorous shrub grown for its large oval, rich red-purple foliage. Quickly attains 2.4-3.6m/8-12ft. Grows on any soil, particularly good on chalk, and best in full sun. Read the rest of this entry »

Dense shade under large trees, where the soil dries out in summer, is a difficult situation for plants, yet the following will flourish. Dig in plenty of organic matter before planting, and water well in summer.

• Cherry laurel (prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’) A dwarf shrub, about 60cm/2ft high, with long narrow shiny evergreen leaves and, in spring, spikes of white flowers. Makes excellent dense groundcover.

• Holly (Ilex aquifolium J.C. van Tor) Many hollies are suitable for shade with dry soil, but this variety bears particularly heavy crops of red berries. 6m/20ft. The evergreen leaves are almost spineless. Read the rest of this entry »

Vegetables grown at home and used immediately after gathering have a much better flavour than those bought in the shops. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to have a large garden. Various small vegetables do well in containers on a patio, or in patches in a flowerbed or border. There are several vegetables, too, for the greenhouse, and even for growing in partial shade. It is possible to have an all- round supply: many people especially appreciate fresh produce in the depths of winter.

As an alternative to the traditional method of arranging vegetables in rows, the “deep-bed” system allows you to grow more crops in the space available, because the plants are closer together. The crops are grown in blocks or bands across the I.2m/4ft wide beds, which are separated by 30-45cm/12-18in wide paths, from which you work at all times, except when digging. Initially you should prepare the beds by double-digging (see p36) and adding plenty of manure or garden compost. Repeat the double-digging every3-4 years: in the intervening years, use normal single digging. Rotate crops to get the best from the soil. Read the rest of this entry »

Corny it may be, but there is no more heart-warming sight to a gardener than the emerging spikes of the first spring bulbs. If you plant your bulbs early in boxes of good peaty compost— not bulb fibre, some of which is about as much good as sawdust—you should see the first signs of growth soon after Christmas. As I write (in early March) I have snowdrops and crocus, both the tiny species crocus, which I prefer, and the big fat hybrids, which I like less but have to admit are a welcome splash of colour just now. Then there are Eranthis hyemalis, the winter aconite, which has buttercup flowers surrounded by a frilly ruff of leaves as early as February and so is beginning to go over now, and chionodoxa, which have blue, pink or white star-shaped flowers; C. gigantea reaches 8 inches in height and has large pale violet-blue flowers with a paler centre and C. luciliae ‘Alba’ reaches 5 inches and has white flowers. The pink form C. luciliae ‘Pink Giant’ reaches 6 inches; it is not always easy to get hold of but worth growing if you can find it. Read the rest of this entry »

Alyssum is always associated with lobelia—usually planted alternately along suburban front paths and all right, I suppose, if you like that sort of thing. Once available only in white, it can now be found in pinks and purples that have more charm. Ageratum, too, now comes in some really deep shades of lilac and blue, which makes it more appealing for the front of the box. Again, pack it in tightly.

Dianthus, the annual, is increasingly produced for window boxes and also for hanging baskets. Most varieties flower in flushes, three or four times during the season rather than continuously, so it is a good idea to plant a second basket three weeks later in the hope that when the flush in the first one is over you can quickly replace it with the second just coming into its best. Read the rest of this entry »

High summer, when everything in the garden is blooming and burgeoning in competition, is the time when window boxes should be planted very boldly. Colours in the summer must be bright to compete with the sun or perhaps make up for the lack of it.

Red geraniums and dark blue trailing lobelia are something of a horticultural cliché but for effect against stone or stucco they can hardly be bettered. As a change from the red geranium—like ‘Sprinter’, which is massed outside Buckingham Palace every year—you can have ‘Cherie’, which has soft salmon pink flowers and deeply zoned leaves, or ‘Ringo Salmon’, which is almost orange, or ‘Rose Marie’, a really intense pink. If your house is built of brick avoid all the colours and choose white, either ‘White Orbit’ or ‘Iceberg’, which will look asking if they would like them. Few would be so stunning. In fact when choosing geraniums thechurlish as to refuse, and most would be delighted to golden rule is to shop around because newer, moreexciting colours are introduced every season. When you have found a geranium in a shade you like, mass it for maximum effect. Read the rest of this entry »

In the open garden autumn is a time of cutting down, tidying up and battening down the hatches against the onslaught of winter. In the more restricted garden on the window sill there is a little more scope for planting, to provide interest and perhaps colour for the grey days to follow. It is the greyness of the days, and hence the lack of light, rather than the cold that makes the late autumn and winter such a dead season as far as flowers are concerned.

For early autumn you must have dahlias. Their paint-box colours are quietened by the softer light of autumn and dahlia blooms laced with cobwebs and beaded with dew are, for me, a final confirmation that summer is truly over. Read the rest of this entry »

Window boxes are often impulse acquisitions. You are halted in your tracks by a wonderful display of bedding plants and there is nothing for it, you must have some. No garden? Never mind, there is room for a few window boxes….

Such impulses can be the beginning of a long and enjoyable acquaintanceship with window box gardening. They can also be the reason behind the starved and unhappy specimens you sometimes see as the summer draws on, the unwanted kittens of window box gardening that you cannot give away and that certainly don’t seem destined for a death by drowning. If your first boxes are impulse buys, or if you know only too well that you are one of those people whose early enthusiasm is liable to wane, then hold your horses for a moment and plan. Read the rest of this entry »