Sheffield Botanical Gardens
Reading time 8 minutes
Over the years I’ve gained mixed impressions of Sheffield. It was neighbouring Rotherham that I encountered first, so one might think the only way […]
Trees and Shrubs
Golden
Reading time 3 minutes
Like a juggernaut, spring is now on a roll. A few nights of cold weather may put the breaks on, but nothing can stop […]
Daily Flower Candy: Illicium simonsii
Reading time 2 minutes
Rare, fickle and recommended only for ‘expert’ gardeners, this is Illicium simonsii. It was not a shrub I was familiar with, but its butter-yellow […]
Sandling Park Open Day 2014
Reading time 3 minutes
Spring 2013 arrived fashionably late. This was convenient for us, as we’d been travelling in Bhutan during the prime time for camellias, rhododendrons and […]
Sea Air and Shopping
Reading time 3 minutes
Over the last two days I’ve experienced complete sensory overload. Yesterday’s highlight was the RHS London Plant and Design Show, where I was dazzled […]
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 […]
Daily Flower Candy: Sarcococca ruscifolia
Reading time 1 minute
Venturing out of the terrace doors this morning I am hit, full frontal, by the scent of Christmas Box, Sarcococca ruscifolia. The fragrance coming […]
Daily Flower Candy: Camellia ‘Cornish Spring’
Reading time 2 minutes
So often winter flowering shrubs are big on fragrance but lacking in flower power. The likes of Lonicera x purpusii, Viburnum x bodnantense and […]
Daily Flower Candy – Leptospermum scoparium ‘Coral Candy’
Reading time 4 minutes
What is marvellous about gardening is that one is always discovering new things. Last weekend I spotted this pretty Leptospermum, flowering its socks off […]
Bursting Forth on Boxing Day
Reading time 7 minutes
This Christmas our friends Travis and Beth at Trevoole sent us a copy of ‘Dear Friend and Gardener’, a collection of correspondence between distinguished […]
Daily Flower Candy – Mahonia x media ‘Charity’
Reading time 1 minute
As the lowest low-pressure system in 150 years approaches the UK across the Atlantic, there’s precious little chance of enjoying any natural sunshine. A […]
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 […]