The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
I could easily have predicted that greenhouse gardening would become an obsession second time around. I owned my first greenhouse (rather a grand description for an aluminium frame covered with stiff opaque plastic) at the age of fourteen and was only parted from life under polythene when I went to university. Growing under cover exposed […]
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Coming up with a Christmas list is one of those annual tasks that sounds fun and indulgent, but which I find perenially difficult. Throughout the year I have no shortage of bright ideas, especially post Chelsea and Hampton Court when I am convinced I need shiny new tools, glossy magazine subsriptions or the latest variety […]
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It’s been three months since we bought the house next door. The idea is to convert The Watch House and Polegate Cottage into one home, giving us a library, an additional bathroom and two more bedrooms for guests. We need to make a good job of it as we might never be able to afford […]
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A sun-soaked stroll along the beach between Broadstairs and Ramsgate, picking up chalk pebbles and gnarled flints, ultimately leads us back to The Italianate Glasshouse in King George VI park. Through the delicate structure the solitary panicle of canary yellow blossom belonging to Agave americana still lurches defiantly into the sky. A thick blanket of white cloud now obscures the heavens. […]
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Dear Santa, You may think I’m getting a bit old for this malarkey, but in my head I am still in my teens so I hope you’ll forgive me for writing this letter. It’s been a while, so I hope life is good and that you’ve had a restful summer. Like you, I am horribly busy at this time […]
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