Garden Nations

Few plants bring as much colour into a grey December as an amaryllis. One plain-looking bulb, a pot and a bright windowsill, and a few weeks later you have giant trumpet flowers in red, white, pink or striped, just in time for Christmas. The best part: an amaryllis is one of the easiest bulbs to grow indoors. And if you treat it right after flowering, the same bulb can bloom again every winter for many years. Here is everything you need to know, from buying the bulb to getting it to flower a second time. Amaryllis or Hippeastrum? A Quick Name Check The bulb sold everywhere as "amaryllis" is botanically a Hippeastrum , a plant from the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America. The "true" Amaryllis ( Amaryllis belladonna ) is a South African plant that flowers in late summer. For your windowsill it makes no difference: the care below is for the Hippeastrum you find in every garden centre and supermarket in Europe from October on. When to...

Every November it's the same story: the trees let go, and the garden disappears under a thick layer of yellow, orange and brown. Many people rake everything into bags and send it away with the green waste. But fallen leaves are not rubbish. They are one of the best free resources your garden gets all year. With a little planning, they become rich leaf mould, protective mulch and a winter home for hedgehogs and insects. Here is what to do with them, and which leaves you really should remove. First Rule: Not Every Leaf Has to Go In nature, nobody rakes the forest floor. Leaves fall, protect the soil from frost, slowly break down and feed the next year's growth. You can copy this in your own garden. 🍂 Simple rule: remove leaves from places where they cause harm (lawn, paths, ponds, small evergreen plants) and leave them, or move them, to places where they help (flower beds, under shrubs and hedges, a quiet corner). Where Leaves Should Be Removed The lawn A thick...

Winter Garden · Roses How to Protect Roses in Winter A simple, step-by-step plan for rose beds, tree roses and pots in Germany and Northern Europe Roses are tougher than they look. Most varieties sold in German garden centres survive a normal Central European winter without much drama. What hurts them is not one cold night, but the combination of deep frost, bright winter sun, icy east wind and wet soil that freezes and thaws again and again. The good news: protecting your roses takes about an hour per bed, costs almost nothing, and the best time to do it is right now, between late October and the end of November. Here is exactly what to do, depending on the type of rose you grow. Why Roses Need Winter Protection Most of Germany lies in winter hardiness zones 6b to 8a. In a typical winter that means nights down to -15 °C, and in the east, the south and at altitude, sometimes -20 °C or colder. Modern garden roses are grafted: a noble variety sits on a hardy wild rootstoc...