Plant Portraits: Osmanthus fragrans (Guìhuā (桂花) or Sweet Olive)
Reading time 6 minutes
It is customary in Hong Kong for 5 star hotels to have a house fragrance, pumped into lobbies in heady clouds and sold at […]
Plants
Glorious Goodnestone, Part III: The Walled Garden
Reading time 5 minutes
The British love a walled garden: solid, enclosed and often romantic, they are private spaces where a lucky few get to garden and where […]
Daily Flower Candy: Fuller’s Teasel
Reading time 1 minute
Last weekend went by like a whirlwind – so much to catch up on whilst September flew away on the breeze. It was good […]
The Tranquil Taj
Reading time 1 minute
The Taj Mahal is thought to be the most photographed monument in the world. Anyone fortunate enough to pay a visit should resist the […]
The Gardens of Constantine, Cornwall
Reading time 10 minutes
The National Gardens Scheme (NGS) is a fantastic charity, started in 1927 and now orchestrating access to thousands of private and public UK gardens […]
Sleepless in Saigon
Reading time 1 minute
One week in and I’m at the stage when I can count the number of hours sleep I get each night on one hand. […]
A Sweet, Secluded Spot – RHS Harlow Carr
Reading time 8 minutes
Somehow the delights of Harrogate, an elegant spa town in the north of England, have consistently eluded me. So on my first visit in […]
Uncouth Cats and Kamikaze Kisses
Reading time 6 minutes
On Saturday we a had a visitation from the Assistant County Organiser for the Kent National Gardens Scheme. So naturally, what could go wrong […]
Daily Flower Candy: Fuchsia arborescens
Reading time 1 minute
It was one of those “let’s just buy it and see what happens” purchases, but so far Fuchsia arborescens has proved worth the investment. […]
Trevoole, et vous?
Reading time 7 minutes
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. I love this quote from Henry David Thoreau, American author, poet, […]
A Not So Red Hot Poker
Reading time 1 minute
This cool Kniphofia (red hot poker) is part of George Dillistone’s clever planting scheme at Castle Drogo in Devon. Planted amongst stronger yellow Heleniums […]
Wallington Hall, Cambo, Northumberland
Reading time 9 minutes
Northumberland is a wonderful, wild, unspoilt county in the north of England, once the frontier between rampaging Celts and civilised Romans. The region is […]