HOUSEPLANTCARE NEW CHELSEA VEGSAVE£10

Plant yourspuds

and lookforward

to a tastycrop

. . . Thenpot themon into a

goodcompost

SHOWTIME

1 2 3 4

TIMELY TIPSHERE is a bargain vegetable collection burstingwith novelty treats:l Three packs of seed of decorative Chilli BasketOf Fire, the first hanging basket hot pepper.l Tumbling Tiger, the first strong-growing basketor patio-pot tomato, with great flavour.l Basil Aristotle, a globe-shaped windowsill variety.l Ten crowns of top-yielding Asparagus Mondeo.You can have it ALL for £10.96 including post

and packing, saving £10 on list prices.Make a cheque out to Thompson & Morgan (UK)

Ltd and send it with your name and address to:Sun Chelsea Veg, Thompson & Morgan, PO Box162, Ipswich, IP8 3BX. Offer open until April 14,2011, or while stocks last. Delivery early April.

APRIL 2-3: Cornwall SpringFlower Show, Boconnoc Estate,near Lostwithiel.APRIL 8-10: RHS Show, ButePark, Cardiff.APRIL 8-10: East Of EnglandGarden Show, Peterborough,Cambs.APRIL 14-17: Harrogate SpringFlower Show, Great YorkshireShowground.APRIL 15-17: Newark GardenShow, Newark CountyShowground, Winthorpe, Notts.

SPRINKLE fast growingradish seeds in rows withslower growing annualflowers and vegetables.When the radish comesthrough it shows whereslower germinators suchas larkspur and parsnipwill follow. By the time theydo, you will have pulledand eaten all the radish.n TREAT hardwoodgarden furniture occasion-ally with oil (eg RustinsTeak Oil) and they will lastmuch longer.

The newshoots

soon growin the

light. Waituntil they

are aninch

long . . .

GROWINGGERBERASISCHILD’SPLAY

NAME: Shrimp Plant(Beloperone guttata).LIKES: Temperaturesof 18-21˚C but keepcooler (10-15˚C) inwinter. Prune inspring for newgrowth. Mist leavesoccasionally andliquid feed every fourto six weeks. Keepdrier in winter.DISLIKES: Deepshade, overwateringin winter, draughts.

GERBERA – so popular as anindoor cut flower and pot plant –is now making a move outdoors.

This year there is the large-flowered, tall-stemmed gerbera Landscape to grow ingarden patio pots from May to November.

Even more adaptable is gerbera Garvineain 18 colours to grow outdoors in well-drained borders. While Landscape pro-duced 30 beautiful blooms in one pot inmy garden last summer, the Garvineas willproduce more than double this number.Landscape will flower longer and producemore if taken into a conservatory or frost-free greenhouse for the winter.

Garvineas can be grown in pots but arebetter planted in the soil with otherflowers. This gerbera is very happy grow-ing in garden soil and given an averagewinter will survive outdoors to produce aneven bigger show the following year.

Ten schools in Greenwich, south eastLondon — two comprehensives and eightprimaries — took delivery of young plugplants of both types three years ago. Hun-dreds are now growing on classroom win-dow sills, in reception areas and school

greenhouses. The aim is to have plants inflower for our Schools Grow-Your-OwnCut Flower exhibit at Chelsea FlowerShow in eight weeks.

I was interested to see Kidbrooke Sec-ondary Gardening Club, below, have giveneach of their Garvineas nicknames. WillGerbera Tommy Walsh be big and power-ful while Gerbera Charlie Dimmock spar-kles with pert, pretty flowers, we wonder?

Pupils from Charlton Manor Primaryhave already used their two Garvinea vari-eties — deep pink Pam and lemon Fleurie— in painting classes and letters of thanksto Florist, the nursery supplier.

MoistureThe schools have potted them in six to

seven-inch (two to three-litre) pots of Mir-acle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. Whileall gerberas require a free-draining mix,they also require a steady supply of mois-ture through the summer to yield the great-est number of flowers. It was pleasing tosee how quickly the scholars aged from sixto 17 learned how to pot up, water andcare for their plants.

After a quick demo, Kidbrooke teen-agers were arranging cut flowers likewell-practised flower arrangers.

n NEW potatoes are so easy to grow – ifyou start now with an early variety you

will have a delicious crop by July.Coax them into growth by placing them inthe light and wait until the shoots are about3cm (1in) long before you plant them.To give them a really good start, plant thetubers in a 13cm-15cm (5in-6in) pot of multi-purpose, peat-based compost.After a few weeks the new shoots will beabout 20cm (8in) high – perfect for transfer-ring to a potato growing bag or pot.Keep them well watered then just watchthem grow.

Old eggcartonsmakeideal

holdersfor seedpotatoes

JOIN our schools and produce yourown gerbera for cut flowers with thisspecial offer.

!Hardy Gerbera Forever Daisies(Garvinea), five plants, one each of

red Rachel, cream Santana, light pinkPiroska, deep pink Pam and yellowSun for £14.99 (saves £1 on list prices).

$Patio Gerbera Landscape, fiveplants, one each of Mount Rush-

more red, Arcadia white, Yellowstone,Pacific Rim pink and Rocky Mountainorange for £16.99 (saves £2).

%The two collections above, tenplants, for £24.90 (saves £9).

To order, make your cheque out to

TMYP Ltd and send it with your nameand address to: Sun Gerberas, DeptSU348, PO Box 99, Sudbury, Suffolk,CO10 2SN. To place a credit cardorder, telephone 0844 5736013, quot-ing SU348, or you can order online atplantoffers.com/SU348. Plants will bedelivered in May 2011.

WHERE can I get spareparts for a very oldlawnmower?

Mrs D BARNESKing’s Lynn, Norfolk

It can be difficult to getreplacement parts for oldermachines, especially if youdon’t know of a localsupplier.The best place to look for

help would be the BritishLawnmower Museum inSouthport, Lancs.You can contact curator

Brian Radam by phoning01704 501336.HOW can I kill suckersgrowing from the stump ofan old lilac tree?

Mrs J JAMESWallasey, Wirral

Cut all of the shoots downto soil level and wait untilthey regrow to about 8in tall.Spray this new growth

with Tough Weeds &Brushwood Killer Sprayfrom Doff or SBK from Vitax.Several applications maybe needed to kill off all thesuckers.WHAT can I use instead ofmoss to line hangingbaskets?

R MUNROEDudley, West Mids

Try using a bit of an oldT-shirt or woollen jumper, orcut a circle of plastic froman old compost bag (blackside out) and make somedrainage holes in the base.These linings should last

you all season.HOW can I stop catsfouling in my borders?

H CONNWelton, Lincs

There are several animalrepellents available.Doff recently launched

Super Cat Repellent (basedon garlic oil) and Vitax haveScent Off Pellets.Alternatively, chopped

raw onions or Olbas Oil (onan old, dry tea bag) placedon the soil in areas the catsfrequent may also help.WHERE can I buyCheshunt Compound?

Mrs A MILWOODNew Romney, Kent

This copper-basedfungicide used to be sold togardeners but has beenwithdrawn.The alternative product to

control fungal rots onseedlings is DiseaseControl For Fruit AndVegetables, from Bayer,and this is still sold ingarden centres.