I have been meaning to write an update on the allotment for a little while now. While reading the previous chapter, I am wondering how on earth I am going to adequately convey everything that has happened at the plot. It has changed almost beyond…
April was a bittersweet month. Among many positives were the beautiful weather and being able to spend extra time in the garden with The Beau, Max and Millie. It is hard to conceive of going back to work as I did only six weeks ago,…
Who could have predicted that the Month of March would end as it did? Over the course of two weeks our daily routines changed in ways we never imagined possible and there is more of this to come for sure. We are living in a…
There’s not much that January is good for, apart from cosying-up by the fire, drinking the Christmas drinks cabinet dry and browsing seed catalogues. The minute New Year is over, hot off the press, brochures start to arrive at The Watch House by the sack-load.…
With its brightly-coloured, star-shaped bracts, the poinsettia is one of the most recognisable symbols of Christmas in the world. We find it in supermarkets, garden centres and florists, as well as emblazoned on Christmas cards and wrapping paper. At once cheap and cheerful, celebrated and…
There comes a moment every autumn when I leave home and return again under the cover of darkness. Since I have been living full time at The Watch House that moment has arrived earlier in the season. On Friday I experienced dawn in the garden…
My garden is so jam-packed with plants by early autumn that I can barely move around outside. Far from holding plants back, a spell of cooler, duller weather has encouraged exuberant growth and the appearance of lashings of fresh foliage. Flowers are in shorter…
As the heatwave drags on, my evenings are consumed by watering the garden. Already short, their length is reducing daily so that I am often found watering in the dark, a torch in one hand and a hose in the other. Normally there’s a glass…
I consider myself a progressive gardener, but some habits are hard to kick. Growing in containers is an enforced habit as I have no open ground to speak of, and, although I admire great sweeps of the same plant, the desire to replicate this…
When something you like grows well in your garden it makes sense to grow more of it. I count agapanthus, zantedeschia, trachelospermum and osteospermum amongst the plants that more than make themselves at home – they positively take possession. We all need carefree plants…
