Whitehall Garden Centres Blog

Welcome to Whitehall Garden Centres Blog. We aim to provide you with hints, tips, information and advice on all aspects of gardening! It is a chance for you to ask us questions and to read our blog posts about what you should be doing in your garden each month.

Monday 2 March 2009

Planting tips for March

-Start to Mow your lawns
-Prune bush and shrub roses
-Plant climbers
-Plant early potaotes
-Reseed bare patches that have appeared on your lawn
-Put pumps in your ponds
-Move any evergreen shrubs that you wish
-Time to start planting summer flowering bulbs
-Sow sweet peas outdoors and plant young plants in the garden
-Start to protect your plants from slugs
-Cut down old growth left over from winter

Care of your Oncidium (Golden Shower Orchid)


Oncidiums originate from places in the Americas, right from Florida to Argentina. They are epiphytic, which means they grown on the bark of trees and have pseudobulbs producing lengthy flowering spikes. Their flowers are small and curiously shaped with the dominating lip well defined and decorative. The egg shaped flat pseudobulbs grow closely together and carry one or two star shaped pointed leaves. The slender flower stems stand erect with six to twelve flowers which generally appear in the autumn and can last into early spring!


When the flowers are finished, cut the stem down at its growing point in the leaves. Keep your Oncidium in a good light but protect from direct bright sunlight in the summer. During the winter never let the temperature drop below 12 degrees C. Humidity is essential for these plants, stand the pot on some gravel with water added but not allowing the water to rise above the gravel. This houseplant needs to be watered weekly in the summer and fortnightly in the winter. To maintain the plant, refresh the compost in the spring after flowering has finished. By doing all of these things your Orchid should remain healthy and lively.