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Have you heard of ‘Cool Flowers’? If not then you definitely need to! These flowers are not just cool in every sense of the word – they’re a real game-changer for all flower lovers. But let’s start at the beginning.

The bite of bitter disappointment You’ve lovingly nurtured your cucumbers from seed, watered them daily, and looked forward to enjoying that first crisp home-grown fruit. But instead of tasting fresh and mild it’s bitter – yuck! If this has happened to you then you’re not alone. It’s something many home growers experience now and then.

Summer is just getting going – but this is precisely the time when you need to be thinking about winter. Because if you want to be harvesting your own crispy-fresh, home-grown veg when it’s cold outside then mid-June is when you can leap into action. While tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers are growing it’s the start of the key sowing period for many winter vegetables.

The longest day and shortest night mark the start of one of the most magical times in the year – the summer solstice, also known as midsummer. On Midsummer Eve nature shines in all its glory – full of life, light and a deep connection between heaven and earth. Our ancestors also celebrated this transition, connecting themselves with the forces of nature through fires, dancing and rituals. 

In old weather lore, and especially in continental Europe, mid-May brings a key annual landmark for gardeners known as the ‘Ice Saints’. This is the time, so it’s said, when you might see the last cold snap in spring – and after which even your tender plants can finally go outdoors. It’s when the long winter wait finally comes to an end! 

The Three Sisters is one of the best-known traditional companion planting techniques. It involves growing sweetcorn, beans and squashes together in the same area. Which may sound like there’s nothing much to it – but in fact this is a sophisticated growing system that evolved over many years using three crops that complement each other in functional ways. The sweetcorn grows tall, providing a climbing support for the beans. The beans fix nitrogen in the soil via symbiosis in their root system, providing extra nutrients. The squashes spread across the ground, shading the soil and helping to retain moisture. The result is a plant system that protects the soil, uses space efficiently, and yields several crops at once.