Ode to Joy
Reading time 6 minutes
A very dear friend of mine passed away this week. Her name was Joy. When we first met she referred to me as […]
Latest Posts
The Final Countdown
Reading time 7 minutes
Twelve days to go and preparation for this year’s garden opening feels like one of those bad dreams where, try as one may, one […]
Opening Pains
Reading time 5 minutes
Had we opened our seaside garden on the usual weekend, this is the scene that would have greeted our visitors. Not bad, even […]
Midnight Blooms
Reading time 3 minutes
I have a new torch and I don’t mind admitting I am rather taken with it. The last one was indestructible but about […]
Keep Your Summer Garden Looking Lush for Longer
Reading time 11 minutes
As mid summer turns into late summer, it’s all too easy to let your garden go to seed, literally. As a child I […]
Daily Flower Candy: Clematis ‘Inspiration’
Reading time 3 minutes
In recent years both gardeners and florists have become better acquainted with non-twining, ‘herbaceous’ clematis. They make excellent border plants, especially in situations […]
Plan B
Reading time 6 minutes
I have a problem. With the garden next door out of action and no immediate prospect of gaining it back, I have grown […]
Daily Flower Candy: Clematis “Étoile Violette” AGM
Reading time 3 minutes
The only plant of any value that came with the purchase of Polegate Cottage was a clematis. Squeezed into an impossibly tight gap […]
Il Giardino di Boboli, Florence
Reading time 18 minutes
The Medici of Florence were not only one of the richest families in Europe for a time, but also phenomenal garden makers. They […]
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Reading time 2 minutes
This week an Italian described their country to me as “Third World”. I may only be a visitor, but I could not agree […]
Dazzling Disas
Reading time 4 minutes
Being a man of the world, it takes quite a lot to impress me. Yet Dave Parkinson’s display of South African disa orchids […]
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2016: Show Gardens – Part I
Reading time 13 minutes
I am not a negative individual by nature, but I had misgivings about this year’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Some of the […]