Month: January 2018

Why the complicated plant names? Here’s why…

Posted on by andy.winfield
By Nicola ‘Froggie’ Rathbone

I studied Latin at Secondary school. Not because I wanted to but because I had to at the time. Bam bas bat bamus batis bant. For some reason this has stuck in my head, as has ego sum (I am ) and salve magistra (greetings teacher). I never thought it would be of use to me until I became a gardener. It has been of great help in learning and more about plants and I am going to try and explain why and how you too can discover more about plants. (more…)

Scent and spring promise

Posted on by andy.winfield
By Andy Winfield
The garden has taken a battering over the last few weeks with high winds and the heavy soil saturating rain has made gardening difficult. Despite it all there is interest with flower, colour and scent now and the promise of it in the next few weeks.

One of my favourites and a true signpost of January/February is the winter aconite (Eranthis 

Eranthus hymalis

hymalis); in a few weeks it will dot the borders with tiny butter yellow flowers. Growing naturally in deciduous woodland, this plant flowers before the leaves on trees shade out the forest floor and as the sun strengthens as it gets higher in the sky. (more…)