Amateur Gardening – 20 July 2019

20 JULY 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 55

SHARE YOUR STORIES TIPS AND PHOTOSand you will receive

a fantastic pair of Town & Country’s Master Gardener gloves — the

UK’s best-selling gardening glove and a perfect companion to help

you in the garden. State small, medium or large with your letter.

a fantastic pair of Town & Country’s Master Gardener gloves —the

UK’s best-selling gardening glove and a perfect companion to helpUK’s best-selling gardening glove and a perfect companion to help

Thanks to AG’s

devoted readers

THANKS for the invite
to write to AG. I have
waited for the postman
to deliver the magazine
on a Saturday for the
past 23 years. I love
the whole mag, but my
favourite has to be the
new plants available,
then the crossword and wordsearch
competition, which I always enter but
have never won! Don’t make too many
changes – I love it the way it is!
Sandra Lewis, Stevenage, Herts

Gertrude in rude health

AFTER my miserable attempt at

persuading some ladybirds onto

our rose to sort out a terrible aphid

infestation, I turned to SB Plant

Invigorator spray as a bee-friendly

alternative. You have to spray every

week, as it only kills those it touches,

and there are always some that

Photo

of the

week

‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is highly scented

BOTH the bees and I love this foxglove

with up-facing bells, which appears to

have self-seeded or brought in on the

shredded bark it’s growing in. Nature

is always wonderful.

Sarah Langley, Lowestoft, Suffolk

Up pops a foxglove

Gertrude in rude health

The roses are

fl ourishing after

the natural spray

“Here is Dad’s ceanothus giving

a glorious display,” says Susan

MY father must beat the lady of 88 who’s

been reading AG the longest. He turned

100 on 21 June and has always been an

avid reader. His garden is mostly grass

and shrubs now, but there is a section in

which he plants the free seeds for some

colour. During the war years, he had an

allotment but it got blown away in a

bomb blast. Over the last 30 years,

he has used part of the garden for veg

but due to age had to give up digging a

couple of years ago. He still walks up the

garden every day to see what’s growing.

Susan Grant, Rochford

I’M not the youngest or the oldest

gardener, but I could be among the

longest. I started gardening at 1,000ft

(305m) above sea level in my dad’s

greenhouse when six years old (65

years ago) and caught the bug. I write

to thank you as an avid fan for 30 years,

and particularly love the ‘free’ seeds,

which, over the years, have introduced

me to some interesting new varieties.

Last year, I grew more than 3,000

annuals from seed. I may not have

been around since 1884 but, after

transplanting all those seedlings last

year, I felt as though I had been...

Brian Donohoe, Irvine

I’VE been reading AG for at least 30

years. As a fledgling gardener, my mum

used to save me her copies and give me

seeds. She was a brilliant gardener and

all our families have fond memories of

her garden. She passed away 11 years

ago, but by then I had become an avid

reader and took over her subscription

for myself.

I love the free seeds, of which I

have many. Bob Flowerdew and Toby

Buckland always make me smile, as well

as giving good advice, and I love other

readers’ letters and pictures. In fact,

there’s nothing that I don’t like! 

Keep up the good work, and thank

you all for so many happy hours reading

and gardening.

Barbara Badland,

Pudsey, Leeds

manage to hide out of the way

• but I think it has worked.
  Our ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ rose is now
  a picture, and the smell is even better!
  It is planted on the front wall, but the
  heady scent reaches you before you
  even get close. Amazing!
  Robert Hinchcliffe, North Lincs

Bells that face

upwards!

bomb blast. Over the last 30 years,

he has used part of the garden for veg