Indoor Lettuce (video)

How to Grow Lettuce Indoors-Wacky Salad Lady

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3Ru97xqvc

(embedding disabled)

I was going to post on growing lettuce indoors when I came across these two videos. In my experience kids love seeing salad plants grown on a windowsill and then served up. They seem to enjoy it, unlike my Father who was served his pet Rabbit by his Father in the war and has never forgotten it! This second video is also a good introduction to growing plants hydroponically - a fascinating subject in itself.

Aerogarden timelapse

I know this is an advert as such, but it only lasts a few seconds and fascinates me every time I watch it.

Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward

http://www.fownc.org/newsletters/no53.shtml

Perhaps not the inventer but publiciser of the Wardian case, one of the most important inventions that revolutionised indoor (and outdoor) gardening. This is the newsletter of the West Norwood Cemetery where he is buried and has a long piece about him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardian_case

Ferns at the Enid Haupt Conservatory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_A._Haupt_Glass_Garden

Time for Pelargoniums in your containers (article)

The moment has come to plant up your summer pots. Tulips are going over and the frosts - for most of us - have passed, so we can safely put out any of the tender perennials and annuals that excel in containers.

My theme for this year is strong, rich Venetian colours - burgundy, mahogany, burnt orange and purple, set against deep green and silver. I want the flowers and leaves to be as rich in texture as in colour, with a soft woolliness to the foliage to back up the velvet of the blooms.

Sarah Raven

in the Sunday Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/main.jhtml?xml=/gardening/2008/05/16/garden-pelargonium116.xml

Rooftop Veggies

http://rooftopgardens.ca/en

--- free guide .pdf ---

http://rooftopgardens.ca/en/node/1159#attachments

(click on the attachment upper left and download)

Dieffenbachia 'Sterling'

I'm sure I have one of these though to be honest I wasn't sure what it was, as it is very unlike my other Diff's. It has huge leaves and is growing away quite happily in my window sill. It seems to like a lot of water (the leaves are soft) and a bright light. Other than that and a misting it doesn't seem to demand much.

This hybrid Dieffenbachia `Sterling' was developed by the tropical foliage plant breeding program at the Mid-Florida Research and Education Center.

http://www.mercerbotanicals.com/products/Details/Sterling/11.html