The Danish horticultural journalist Nina Ewald is not neglecting her greenhouse. She has decorated it with a workstation and then filled it with plants. The Greenhouse Forum has asked her what she will put in her greenhouse this year.

 

Written by Nanna Stærmose 

Edited by Louise Curley 

Make the most of your greenhouse this season by filling it with bountiful crops and some pretty ornamentals.

Try a few different types of tomatoes this year, rather than ones you always grow. Tumbling cherry tomatoes are highly productive and don’t take up a lot of space.

Basil is the classic companion to tomatoes in salads and sauces, but don’t just opt for the traditional flavour and green leaves. Purple-leaved basil varieties add an unusual colour splash to a salad, and there are taste variations too. Lemon and lime basil varieties have a citrusy flavour and work well in recipes with fish.

A greenhouse wouldn’t be a greenhouse without some chilli plants, so find space for several different ones. Specialist chilli nurseries will sell plug plants in mid-spring, if you didn’t get around to sowing any seeds.

For something a bit different try cucamelons. These tiny melon-like fruit grow on climbing vines and can be added to salads or used as a garnish for a cocktail.

Start off dahlia tubers in large pots in the greenhouse where they’ll be protected from frost so that you can get an early crop of flowers once they’re planted out into the garden.

Take inspiration from gardens with large glasshouses, such as Parham House in Sussex and Wallington in Northumberland, which are filled with glorious collections of ornamental plants. Fuchsias, heliotrope, pelargoniums and begonias will thrive in the warmth of the greenhouse and provide flowers all summer long. You could even try some exotic climbers such as thunbergia and Cobaea scandens.

 

Nina Ewald is a Danish horticultural journalist, author and speaker.