Encouraging those green fingers

 I have always had a thing about growing succulents and cacti. They're a bit like pets that don’t talk back - unlike Daisy, our fun-loving red and white setter (she's wild but always gentle).

Here she is, in the wild: 

 They're are always nice to look at, even without a flower. As desert plants, they hold a sense of holiday and adventure. I like to keep plants in my office, but those particular plants were struggling in the sometimes cool surrounds of the mill. One day, I decided to take them all home to my conservatory and figure out how to help them back from the brink.

I have to admit that my fingers are only a very light shade of green…but then I picked up this amazing book:

 

 

I've read it from cover to cover, more than once. You can buy it and read all about the authors on their website here. I can now confidently say, I'm a successful amateur gardener! They say a picture says a thousand words, so here's my conservatory…