The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
I’m a little bit stuck at the moment. I don’t so much have writers’ block as writers’ constipation; that is, lots of posts backing up that are part written but not yet ready to publish. Like the unfortunate biological condition, I am finding the situation rather uncomfortable. The proverbial prune in this scenario would be […]
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Earlier this week I was invited by a work colleague whom I had never met to have a coffee and talk about my blog. I was flattered. We had a lively conversation and at the end of it I was glad to have met someone else with an interest in plants and gardening. My colleague […]
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In previous years I have managed to keep posting regularly through December, although the topic of my posts has steadily moved away from gardening towards Christmas, the second love of my life. This year I’ve found it harder to strike a balance between work, travel and home life, and the blog has suffered as a […]
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“If one is going to tell a story with plants, it may as well be an adventure story.” I love all the rooms in my ‘new’ house: the bedrooms for their modernity, the bathroom for its extravagantly patterned floor, the library for its beautifully painted panelling and the garden room for being […]
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I managed to spend a whole 20 hours in the UK between trips to the USA and Amsterdam. In that time I unpacked, repacked, did a live tutorial on how to dress a Christmas tree on Facebook and slept, very badly indeed. After another early start I now find myself fogbound at London City Airport; […]
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This week an Italian described their country to me as “Third World”. I may only be a visitor, but I could not agree less. Italy possesses almost everything I want out of life – good weather, delicious food, stylish clothes, amazing wine and a slower pace – although, alas, not good Internet access, in […]
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I’ve been feeling a little bit down in the dumps this week. I blame the headache-inducing, humid weather and lack of time to get out in the garden; not to mention the army of lily beetles, slugs and snails marching mercilessly on my precious lettuce, lilies and hostas. And then, whilst sitting in a scintillating meeting about something […]
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I began The Frustrated Gardener as an experiment. I wanted to challenge myself to keep up with technology, rekindle my deep-seated love of plants and create something beautiful and interesting for others to enjoy. Unintentionally it’s become a record of what I did when, and a means of connecting with hundreds of talented gardeners and plant lovers. Since 2012 I’ve […]
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It’s always nice to be noticed, and even nicer to be appreciated. Today I am walking tall and smiling like the Cheshire Cat as not one, not two, but three organisations have good things to say about The Frustrated Gardener. First off, my company magazine ‘The Gazette’ has written a lovely profile about me and my hobby and […]
Read MoreI have just endured a whole week in China. It was not the death-defying driving or the tawdry toilets that upset me, it wasn’t even the separation from my garden, but the complete lack of connection to the outside world – no BBC, no Facebook, no Twitter and worst of all no access to The […]
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