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 […]
Travel
Birthday Bombki
Reading time 4 minutes
I celebrated The Frustrated Gardener’s second birthday yesterday in one of the farthest corners of Poland, near the city of Wroclaw. The countryside in […]
Wild Tresco
Reading time 8 minutes
Twenty eight miles from mainland Britain, the Isles of Scilly offer migrant birds first landfall on their arduous journeys across the Atlantic. The Isles […]
Bruges, Venice of the North
Reading time 5 minutes
Judging by the number of tourists visiting Bruges annually, reckoned at 2 million, this Flemish city needs little introduction. If you are looking for […]
Miraculous Mosses
Reading time 3 minutes
Along with ducks, umbrella salesmen and water companies, mosses are among the few things enjoying this frightful spell of wet weather. The rain brings […]
Bruges to the Sound of Bells
Reading time 1 minute
Winter exposes Bruges in all its architectural splendour. With fewer tourists under one’s feet and nature taking a back seat, the city’s fine medieval […]
Aeonium Envy
Reading time 2 minutes
I have loved a great many aeoniums, and lost a few too. Not to frost, which is is their main enemy in UK gardens, […]
The Very Best of 2013 – A Year In Pictures
Reading time 15 minutes
When I wrote my equivalent post this time last year, I thought 2012 was a momentous year, but reflecting on 2013 I find the last twelve […]
Going Dutch
Reading time 4 minutes
In an unusual turn of events, I am sitting still today even though there are more important things I should be doing. I am […]
Gathering Moss
Reading time 1 minute
I spent yesterday touring the garden centres of Holland, looking for Christmas inspiration. I found it in spades, from delicious Oliebollen (literally oil-balls, rather […]
A Golden Moment in La Ville-Lumière
Reading time 3 minutes
We all know about Paris in the spring – the lilacs, pleached limes and cafe society – but few people set out to explore […]
Good Enough to Eat
Reading time 1 minute
No trip to New York is complete without a browse around one of the world’s most appetising shops, Dean & DeLuca on Broadway. Here […]