HORTICULTURE

Today, I learnt about the term for an inexplicable change in a plant. A "sport"! I had part of one of my chrysanthemum flowers come out a completely different colour to normal. A usually red flower came out part red, part yellow.

From the Daily Telegraph Magazine, 7th April 2007 Out of the ruins Ten years ago, the Duchess of Norfolk took the neglected kitchen garden at Arundel Castle under her wing. Today the patch has been restored to its former Victorian glory, and is even earning its keep. The kitchen garden may be only one of a succession of developments at Arundel Castle driven by the Duchess of Norfolk, but it is of special interest in that its progress shows her approach to gardens and gardening. Testifying to her keen respect for historical detail and a preference for the organic approach, the project has given her an opportunity to create a new attraction at the castle. It has als…

Well I just aquired 200 Sq. Ft.of gardening space for an organic herb and vegetable garden so I thought I'd open up this forum for all you gardeners to shoot around ideas, techniques etc. to share with everyone. Hopefully there will be some insight into Medeival techniques and tried and true methods that still work today...(and why wouldn't they?) This garden is a microcosm experiment to practice organic gardening and soil sustainability so I'll be posting updates and results often for feedback and discussion. The plot was handed over to me already weeded and the topsoil was already loosened by the previous owner, so I didn't need to start from scratch like my l…

Bee, flower diversity falls sharply in Europe: study Thu Jul 20, 5:52 PM ET The diversity of bees and the flowers they pollinate has fallen drastically in Britain and the Netherlands over the last 25 years, a study said. "We are shocked by the decline in plants as well as the bees," Koos Biesmeijer of the University of Leeds, the lead author of the study published in Science magazine. "If this pattern is replicated elsewhere, the 'pollinator service' we take for granted could be at great risk. And with it the future for the plants we enjoy in our countryside," said the researcher. The study -- conducted in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany -- is believed to b…

Hey Ralph and Meg.....I found a thing in my vegetable garden soil that looks like a grub except it is yellow...all references I can find online says grubs are white...any clue what this is and if I need to get rid of it? I havent planted yet...its been raining for a month....I had a chance today to dig up and add soil, thats when I found this yellowy orangy grub thing.

Did i tell you guys about the Methuslua(im sure i spelled it wrong) tree the worlds oldest tree thousand of years old and still living ill try to find the wed site and share it with you all

Figured this would be under exotics... Wanted to share a pic of the first bloom of our hibiscus tree. It was given to us as a "dead" tree, but I had scraped a bit of bark and figured it would live on. Sure enough, there are about twenty blooms on the tree (believe closer to 15 now due to the resident kitty who tries to climb it frequently) and the first has chosen the first day of snow here to bloom. Absolutely beautiful!

Although there are only a minimal number of survivng records from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, fortunately for us, a few plant lists survived. The one listed below is a taken from The Fromond List of c.1525. The original title was "Herbys necessary for a gardyn'. This is by no means a complete list, with many of the early 16th century plants having been excluded here. All native plants have been listed in Italics. The purpose of these lists is to give us a general idea of what would have been used, what was available, and to what extent each plant was used. Also, for those wanting to recreate a Medieval garden, this would be a great place to start for plant se…

Sorry I haven't had more time online, but wanted to drop in a quick site for everyone to check out (into plants or not, I have a feeling this site is great!) P.S. I believe it may be in French and working toward getting the gist of it translated out and refigured. PDF files are harder for me some reason than just a cut and paste job. Enjoy....I sure drooled over the pics alone. Great site! The title should read Inspirational gardens of medieval priories....or something similiar. Medieval Priory Gardens and Plans Any thoughts?

Etymology: Middle English yarowe, from Old English gearwe. a widely naturalized strong-scented Eurasian composite herb (Achillea millefolium) with finely dissected leaves and small usually white corymbose flowers. Used to deaden topically and widely used as a tooth ache medicine for thousands of years. The root is used to numb an area before suturing a wound or before surgery and it will help to stem and coagulate the blood flow as well. For tooth ache find and clean the root, then scrape it with a blade or lightly mash it and place on the tooth or area of the pain. If you use too much you will drool everywhere as it deadens the whole side of your face. To use …