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.

Modern heroes of horticulture - Roz Chandler

Modern heroes of horticulture - Roz Chandler
Roz Chandler didn’t grow up knowing she would become a flower farmer.  In fact, when she first moved to a five-acre smallholding near Milton Keynes in 2007, it was livestock,...
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Garden gadgets - leaf grabbers

Garden gadgets - leaf grabbers
These have got to be one of the most useful and yet inexpensive bits of kit for the gardener at this time of year, when raking is a weekly, if...
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Greener gardening - install a water butt

Greener gardening - install a water butt
The weather may be turning, but think back to just a few weeks ago when repeated heatwaves left our gardens wilting.  Hosepipe bans are becoming a frequent occurrence in many...
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Wildlife in the garden - hedgehogs

Wildlife in the garden - hedgehogs
The Irish word for hedgehog is ‘gainneog’, which means ‘ugly little thing’. Surprising, as these little spiky mammals are usually considered a very cute garden visitor! Hedgehogs are a gardener’s...
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Plant of the month - Rudbeckia

Plant of the month - Rudbeckia
Is it late summer, or early autumn?  This between-season time can throw all kinds of weather at us.  Whether the sun is shining or not, there are still plenty of...
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Body, soul and soil - harvest happiness

Body, soul and soil - harvest happiness
You’ve been working hard on your plot all year - sowing seeds, tending to young plants, protecting them from frost, wind, pests and disease, keeping them watered and making sure...
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Gardeners' notes - what to do in October.

Gardeners' notes - what to do in October.
Sow broad beans Broad beans are not only tasty and easy to grow, but they’re hardy and capable of withstanding colder temperatures. Sow them in autumn for an early crop...
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Plant folklore - oak

Plant folklore - oak
It’s not surprising that a native tree that has held such an important role in the British countryside has a wealth of folklore surrounding it. Oak trees have been considered...
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On the plot - autumn harvests

On the plot - autumn harvests
Pea shoots A great way to add a new flavour to your salads and to add that little touch of restaurant quality - try pea shoots.  They’re an easy addition...
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Modern heroes of horticulture - Katy Watson

Modern heroes of horticulture - Katy Watson
Has there ever been such a dramatic pivot in the search for a new career?  Just a few years ago, Katy Watson was performing solo to audiences of 2,000, her...
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Gardeners' notes - what to do in September.

Gardeners' notes - what to do in September.
Order bulbs There are several ways to purchase bulbs and I suspect like most gardeners we’ve done them all over the years. These are the options.  1. Take advice from...
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Plant profile - Aeonium

Plant profile - Aeonium
Aeoniums are an incredibly popular genus of succulent plants that are most often used in potted displays and brought inside during the colder months to keep them frost free.  Gardeners...
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Wildlife in the garden - moths

Wildlife in the garden - moths
There are over 2,500 species of moth in the UK.  Compare that to butterflies with 60 species and you can see the important role moths play in the ecology of...
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Gardening explained - thermogenesis

Gardening explained - thermogenesis
When you first hear of thermogenesis in plants, you think “Surely not!  How can a plant warm itself up?”  Well, the news is in, they can, and it’s happening in...
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Wildlife in the garden - collared doves

Wildlife in the garden - collared doves
We love collared doves. They’re often around the garden grazing under the bird feeders and the margins of the surrounding fields.  Barely known in the UK prior to the 1950s,...
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Modern heroes of horticulture - Adam Kirtland

Modern heroes of horticulture - Adam Kirtland
Adam Kirtland is a gardener who has surged onto the gardening scene in recent years with his informative, relatable, and often incredibly witty Instagram account that offers advice from making...
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Gardeners' notes - what to do in August

Gardeners' notes - what to do in August
Propagate clematis Many clematis will have flowered by now and you may have spotted a particularly good performer in your own or a friend’s garden.  Now is a good time...
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Plant folklore - elder

Plant folklore - elder
We have a number of elder trees dotted around the edges of the Genus garden and we have discovered that in earlier times elder trees were frequently planted near homes...
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On the plot - new plantings

On the plot - new plantings
Onion from seed - try Cipolla borretana  Most of us are used to growing onions from ‘sets’ -  ready grown baby onions.  Growing from seed though is very easy and...
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Plant Profile - Ficus carica

Plant Profile - Ficus carica
Figs make wonderful garden plants with green, deeply lobed leaves, and of course the potential to provide sweet golf ball sized fruit.  These figs are the edible fruit of Ficus...
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Gardening explained - etiolation

Gardening explained - etiolation
Anyone who frequents social media will have seen examples of etiolation, especially in the first few months of the year.  Ever keen to get started, new gardeners will often sow...
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