Grower’s digest - February 2019

Flower pot power

We are in the age of ‘smart’ technology and now even the humble houseplant can take advantage of technological advances.

The Parrot Pot, which uses a self-watering system with four built-in sensors to monitor light, temperature, soil moisture and fertiliser levels in real time around the clock, tends to your plants while you’re away on holiday or for the weekend.

Autonomous and wireless, The Parrot Pot runs on 4 AA batteries.

RRP €149, available from www.fnac.com .

Winging it

Few things are more pleasurable when sitting in or working in the garden than spotting butterflies flitting about.

There is plenty you can do to make your jardin more papillon-friendly – initially in early spring when they wake from hibernation – the main thing being to provide plenty of March and April flowering plants so they can feast on nectar.

Another idea is to install a Petit Pod eco-friendly butterfly house (below). Painted in duck-egg blue, its rear can be easily removed to allow twigs or straw to be added and for cleaning access.

Price €26.95, www.lejardinperdu.com

Insta-jardins

Social media app Instagram is a brilliant way to enjoy other people’s gardens in France, with everyone from chateau visitors to chambre d’hôtes owners posting seasonal snaps of their gardens (users can search using the hashtag #jardins).

This month’s selection features some shadowplay on the brickwork and garden at Bas Rhin’s (Alsace) vertiginous Mont St-Odile, as captured by user mylene.bau