Gardening Leave
Reading time 3 minutes
No, I haven’t quit my job or been given my marching orders, but I have taken a couple of days off to prepare the […]
Plants
First Nature
Reading time 2 minutes
It’s official, my little neice Martha is on the move. She’s a quick learner, like her uncle, and on the eve of being seven months […]
Daily Flower Candy: Dahlia ‘American Dawn’
Reading time 2 minutes
It’s no good, I tried to hold back, but I just had to share this ravishing new dahlia which has started to bloom at […]
Jungle Warfare
Reading time 6 minutes
At a certain point each year our seaside garden passes from a neat, orderly state into jungly bedlam. It becomes increasingly hard to move around without getting […]
Daily Flower Candy: Zantedeschia ‘Picasso’
Reading time 3 minutes
I have always rather shunned the colourful, smaller cousins of the Ethiopian lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica, mainly because of their artificial looks and regular, cellophane-wrapped […]
Hampton Court Flower Show 2014: Vestra Wealth’s Vista
Reading time 5 minutes
I had never heard of Vestra Wealth before this year’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and that’s for one very good reason – I […]
RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2014 – Show Garden Highlights
Reading time 13 minutes
Chelsea needs to watch her back. Her bigger, louder and brighter sister at Hampton Court Palace is slowly but surely stealing her crown. Chelsea […]
The Watch House Awaits….
Reading time 17 minutes
In just less than two weeks, we open our garden at The Watch House in Broadstairs for the National Gardens Scheme. It has not been […]
Old Bladbean Stud, Elham, Kent
Reading time 10 minutes
Joyful and life affirming is how I’d describe the garden at Old Bladbean Stud. Hidden among the labyrinthine lanes of South East Kent, owner […]
Daily Flower Candy: Lilium ‘Pink Flavour’
Reading time 2 minutes
I have a new favourite lily and it’s called ‘Pink Flavour’. The bulbs were an impulse, end of season purchase from Sarah Raven and […]
Amsterdam Open Gardens Weekend 2014
Reading time 13 minutes
We all know Amsterdam as a city arranged along tree-lined canals. Some are fronted with fine houses, others modest ones, but all share similar characteristics – […]
Hollyhocks from Holland
Reading time 1 minute
There are no front gardens in old Amsterdam. Instead, householders adorn their doorsteps with potted plants, or grow roses and ivy through gaps in […]