Gardenamateur

LATEST ARTICLES ( 259 )

• Times a' Changing

  

  Should we ever misplace all our calendars, gardeners would always have a very good idea of what day it is simply by looking at what's happening out in their... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Spanish Beauty

  

  There's so much I love about Spain, especially its food and its people, but I have never really had Spain featuring strongly on my car-loving radar. Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2013 MOTO

• Hello Walls

  

  Until I tried bromeliads I never really had all that much success with wall pots. They're terrible things to grow plants in, as far as I'm concerned, but... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Toothy Grins

  

  I love watching plants go through the build-up to flowering. Some send up stalks plump with promising fat buds that advertise their coming delights to patrollin... Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Nine Days Later

  

  I had thought it was only a week since I planted the sprouted supermarket garlic, but I tell a little lie – that was nine days ago, not a mere week of seven. An... Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Right Neighbourly

  

  A knock at the door late this morning, and the beaming, lovely smile of my neighbour Katerina shines through the gauze on the screen door. She has a plate in he... Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2013 HOME

• Good News for Bees

  

  This morning's radio news had something I have been waiting to hear for along time now, and it's good news for bees. The European Union has voted to impose a... Read more

  Posted on 29 April 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Garlic Day

  

  I wasn't even planning to grow garlic this year, but I've just planted some garlic this morning. And it felt good. It felt like I was breaking the law, in... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Seedy Pots

  

  When we did the makeover of our garden in early spring last year, one of the things I wanted to do was reduce the number of things growing in pots here. I had... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• A Good Year for Frangipani

  

  Our problem child has blossomed into a talented teenager this year. Though it has been a part of our garden for several years now, our frangipani tree has... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Just a Bit Ratty

  

  I can thank Kenneth Grahame's wonderful children's book 'Wind in the Willows' for starting me out early on in life with a relatively fond view of rats, because... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Fading to Brown

  

  Anyone who has grown the fussier Australian native plants knows how it goes. One week it's apparently healthy and green, defying the experts who said it'd... Read more

  Posted on 05 April 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Meet the B Team

  

  Some people ask "when is it a good time to repot succulents?' and, if today is anything to go by, the answer might be "when you feel guilty". Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• You've Got Too Much Time on Your Hands!

  

  Of all the comments made about my little hobby of doing diecast dioramas, the dumbest one that I hear quite often is: "You've got too much time on your... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2013 MOTO

• Country Revival

  

  I might be a city boy born and raised, and a long-term denizen of the inner-city if the truth be told, but the occasional weekend of country-style fresh air,... Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Learning to Love Radishes

  

  And the winner, ladies and gentlemen, of the seed-sowing race, planted on Sunday morn and announced this Wednesday morning, is... the radish seeds of... Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Getting My Act Together

  

  Sowing seeds is so much more fun than just banging in a seedling (but I do admit to being a seedling planter fairly regularly, when I commit one of the three... Read more

  Posted on 18 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Saturday Rounds

  

  I love a good Saturday, and today has scrubbed up pretty well for fun. In fact, if I was allowed to choose a favourite day of the week, Saturdays would just... Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Autumn Joy

  

  I'm never sure whether its plants' in-built thermometers which tell them autumn's cooler days are arriving, or whether it's their in-built light meters which... Read more

  Posted on 09 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME

• Tangy Weather

  

  One of the good things about gardening in backyards is that the rest of the street can't witness the strange things you sometimes get up to: like gardening in... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2013 GARDENING, HOME