Search Results for 'Botany'

I find that many people only think of planting bulbs when they see the bright yellow rows of daffodils in flower by our dual carriageways in spring, or when blown away by the magic of bluebells in flower in our local woodlands and so on, again in spring. Now is the time for planting such bulbs, not when they are actually flowering during the spring months of the year. Tiptoeing through the tulips is all well and good provided that they are planted in time during the autumn for February to April effect.

Buy flower bulbs as early in the season as possible as it is then that the best quality is available. Bulbs that remain in shops unsold for a while tend to get handled frequently by undecided customers and by young little hands. Reject bulbs of poor quality as these tend to produce poor quality plants. A good quality bulb has a firm neck, a clean firm surface with the base also firm, and is free from rot.

Maybe it’s because we’re so conscious now of the dark days of winter to come, or maybe it’s the intensity of the light at this time of year, but to me autumn always seems the most colourful season. There’s an intensity in the air, colours are more concentrated, the sunlight lower and more searching, and the scarcity of flowering plants make the flowers that are still around that much more welcome. It’s almost a last hurrah, a final act of defiance before the misty, dank, dripping days of November, the long nights and short days of December and the cold and gloom of January.

Well here we are again with another week’s gardening over and a busy week in prospect. I hope that you have been taking advantage of the intermittent spells of good weather because I feel that so much useful gardening work can be done in the autumn winter period. If you get it right at this time of year you can save yourself a lot of hardship in the spring.

The gardening year is moving along nicely and hopefully you have been keeping busy, gardening that is!

Since I spoke to you last week I hope that you have been busy gardening and enjoying all that the autumn/early winter has to offer in the garden. Remember that gardening should be hobby and not a chore.

There can be fewer more pleasant places to be on a crisp, bright autumn day than a beech wood. The sunlight seems to sparkle and fizz as it falls through the lightening canopy on to leaves the colour of burnished copper, which contrast perfectly with the tree trunks’ smooth, tactile grey bark. It’s almost the epitome of autumn. In spring, too, there’s hardly any tree, except perhaps the silver birch, that has such vibrant, sparkling, thoroughly spring-like leaves. Gilbert White, the eighteenth-century English clergyman and naturalist, described it in The Natural History of Selborne as ‘the most lovely of all forest trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy foliage, or graceful pendulous boughs’.

I think that the autumn colour this year has been particularly beautiful. Trees clothed in their autumn coats are so picturesque. Now that the beauty of autumn is fresh in your mind, plan ahead for next autumn.

Can’t get out of bed on these cold mornings? Fancy a reminder of tropical summer days to take your mind off the darkening evenings? Luckily, Herbal Essences have stepped in to save the day with their new Ocean Botanicals range.

Partying, shopping, and all the rush and excitement associated with Christmas is part of the festivities. However, constantly being on the go can take a toll on our health and for some people (some 20 per cent of us), it can trigger a cold sore outbreak.