Potpourri Magazine

If you love gardening, our magazine will inspire you. It's a real magazine, not just a newsletter, and it's packed full of interesting articles written by professional gardening journalists. It's totally free and arrives once a month by email. Here is a selection of recent articles.

Exceptional trees - Savernake Forest's Big Belly Oak

Exceptional trees - Savernake Forest's Big Belly Oak
Located in Wiltshire’s Savernake Forest, The Big Belly Oak, a millennium-old giant, really is a living witness to English history.  This sessile oak, Quercus petraea, was named among 50 Great...
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The plants around us - bamboo

The plants around us - bamboo
From fishing rods, to cooking utensils, sunglasses to flooring, bamboo has a multitude of uses.  In recent years bamboo products have been appearing in shops offering a sustainable alternative to...
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Modern heroes of horticulture - Harriet Rycroft

Modern heroes of horticulture - Harriet Rycroft
Harriet Rycroft is best known for being the Queen of Pots.  Her position as head gardener at the Warwickshire based Whichford pottery gave her the chance to hone her skills...
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Gardeners' notes - what to do in October

Gardeners' notes - what to do in October
Sow sweet peas Sweet peas sown towards the end of October will be well developed by next spring and ready to plant out giving a nice early display.  We sow...
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Plant profile - Miscanthus

Plant profile - Miscanthus
Often known commonly as silver grass, the versatile Miscanthus is a tall grass that has been gracing our gardens for generations, evolving from a Victorian favourite to a modern landscape...
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Wildlife in the garden - spiders

Wildlife in the garden - spiders
With over 650 species of spider in the UK it’s surprising we don’t see a wider range of species when out and about in the garden.  Of course, autumn is...
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Plant folklore - blackberries

Plant folklore - blackberries
Brambles, or blackberries, call them what you will, are steeped in fascinating folklore.  One common tale warns against eating the fruit after Michaelmas Day, the feast of Saint Michael that...
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Modern heroes of horticulture - Advolly Richmond

Modern heroes of horticulture - Advolly Richmond
Advolly Richmond is a familiar face to viewers of Gardeners World.  A garden historian, her slots on the popular BBC show cover subjects ranging from lawns, to Japanese gardens, famous...
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Gardeners' notes - what to do in September

Gardeners' notes - what to do in September
Sow hardy annuals directly for spring colour Early autumn presents an ideal opportunity for gardeners to sow a wide range of hardy annuals directly into the garden soil.  This approach...
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The plants around us - teak

The plants around us - teak
Tectona grandis, commonly known as teak, is a prized tropical hardwood tree belonging to the Lamiaceae, the family that surprisingly also contains, mint, thyme, and dead-nettles.  Growing up to 40...
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Plant folklore - corn dollies

Plant folklore - corn dollies
An appropriate piece of folklore for September, corn dollies, ancient symbols of harvest and fertility date back to 7th century Flanders where they were believed to house the spirit of...
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Wildlife in the garden - the Comma butterfly

Wildlife in the garden - the Comma butterfly
Often unnoticed in gardens due to its clever use of camouflage, the Comma butterfly has become a familiar sight across England and Wales.  When at rest, the Comma becomes almost...
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Plant profile - Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'

Plant profile - Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'
Sunflowers are popular garden plants perhaps better known as annuals of exceptional stature.  Helianthus x laetiflorus ‘Lemon Queen’, to give it its full name, is a hardy perennial and reaches a...
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Exceptional trees - Britain's oldest wisteria

Exceptional trees - Britain's oldest wisteria
Not a tree but we couldn’t resist squeezing in a twining climber of truly arboreal proportions.  Britains oldest wisteria located in the borough of Chiswick, West London, grows against a...
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Plant profile - Helenium

Plant profile - Helenium
A stalwart of the Genus summer garden, Helenium are herbaceous perennial plants native to the Americas.  They love a sunny spot and thrive in a wide range of soils, seeming...
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Modern heroes of horticulture - Adrian Bloom

Modern heroes of horticulture - Adrian Bloom
Adrian Bloom has been gardening at the Bressingham gardens near Diss in Norfolk for over 50 years.  Alan Bloom, his father (1906-2005), was the founder of Bloom’s Nurseries, and began...
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Plant folklore - house leeks

Plant folklore - house leeks
Sempervivum, commonly known as houseleeks, have been a subject of fascination and superstition in English folklore for centuries.  These hardy succulents, with their rosette-shaped clusters of fleshy leaves, have been...
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Wildlife in the garden - swifts

Wildlife in the garden - swifts
Swifts (Apus apus) a Red-Listed species of ‘most concern and requiring urgent action’ are iconic summer visitors to the UK, arriving in May and departing by August.  Their incredible migration...
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Gardeners' notes - what to do in August

Gardeners' notes - what to do in August
Prune rambling roses Opinions vary on when rambling roses should be pruned.  Some like to start pruning immediately after flowering, some will prune now, and others will wait until more...
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Exceptional trees - record-breaking yew hedge

Exceptional trees - record-breaking yew hedge
Our local town of Cirencester in Gloucestershire was once the second largest Roman town in Britain after London - quite a record for what is now a relatively small market...
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The plants around us - chestnut and willow

The plants around us - chestnut and willow
The Sussex trug, an emblem of British craftsmanship, is a perfect example of sustainable local production.  Crafted from coppiced chestnut and willow offcuts from cricket bat manufacturing, these baskets make...
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