THE MODERN MINT BLOG
After a wonderful weekend at Blenheim Palace Flower Show, where Darren of Modern Mint gave a number of garden talks alongside a few famous faces, we thought we would share some more information about what he spoke of in the talk.
The talk was called ‘Tips for Tomatoes’ and was based on research you can find in a new book by James Wong, who suggested watering your tomatoes with aspirin will increase the vitamin C content in the fruit.
Take a look at this excellent book…
Darren also talked about:
The best plants for bees (Helenium is the very best, if you are asking….)
Where you can recycle your plastic plant pots, as well as what they can be made into – Recycle your plant pots!
The strange things people say when their vegetables need a wash.
The gender divide in gardening, which is best summed up by the tools a female gardener will use compared to a male.
And finally, what he thinks is one of the major tenets for becoming a good gardener…
When in your garden, observe observe observe!
Thank you to everyone who came to Blenheim Palace Flower Show and made the talks such great fun. We hope you have a wonderful gardening season and do explore the Modern Mint website further for more ideas on Modern Gardening.
For example, you might like this…
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …
Waltham Place Topiary Workshop 2026
With the European Boxwood and Topiary Society, I run two workshops each year at Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens. The next topiary workshop there will be on Friday September 4th 2026. Details and how to book yet to be announced, but get in touch with them now to get on the waiting list, as last year we had double the amount of people wanting a place than we had space for. The Waltham Place website is here – topiary workshop 2026. See the teaching page for how else I can help you with the topiary in your garden …
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …