The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
Spring is arriving in slow motion at The Watch House. I’ve been watching a single bud of Narcissus ‘Golden Ducat’ striving to open for ten days, willing it to reveal the acid-yellow petals tightly furled within. My clematis have been held in suspended animation since early February, their tender shoots primed and raring to go. […]
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I’ve been out of town this weekend, enjoying the delights of Surrey’s innumerable hostelries in the company of my university friends. It’s the 19th year on the trot we’ve held a spring reunion. The occasion took place on Good Friday until we grew up and family commitments started to take precedence. Now we are […]
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Tulips are a special passion of mine. They are inexpensive, easy to grow, endlessly colourful and, most importantly, good to look at. I am not the first to be enamoured of the tulip’s elegant, silken blooms and I certainly won’t be the last. Their appeal was first recognised by the Turks in about 1,000 AD […]
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When I set out to post daily on the subject of daffodils, little did I know how distracting this week’s almost perfect gardening weather would be. The opportunity to spend two unbroken days outside rarely comes along and I have gardened from dawn to dusk. In the course of the last 48 hours, planting bulbs and rejuvenating […]
Read MoreI am used to grim weather on my birthday, but today’s meteorological maelstrom has been especially miserable. Yet out in the Atlantic on the Isles of Scilly delicate, highly-scented narcissi have been blooming since November. They begin with the multi-headed Tazettas, including these cheerful Narcissus ‘Soleil d’Or’ which I sent to my sister on the […]
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On Saturday we a had a visitation from the Assistant County Organiser for the Kent National Gardens Scheme. So naturally, what could go wrong promptly went wrong. Eager to impress I was up at the crack of dawn to prepare for our inspection. The weather was a dream – sunny and breezy with the morning […]
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The far south east corner of Kent is frequently overlooked, regarded by many as nothing more than the down-at-heel gateway to the delights of France and continental Europe. Yet behind the white cliffs of Dover lies rolling countryside dotted with sturdy Saxon churches, pretty weather-boarded villages and the romantically crumbling former defences of the realm. […]
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The heady fragrance of hyacinths, immaculate Narcissus, incredible alpines and bustling biddies with notepads in hand, it can only be one event in the horticultural calendar – The Great London Plant Fair. Highlights in 2013 include the Alpine Garden Society competition and the early daffodil and hyacinth competitions. It may have been cold outside, but […]
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Those of you who have been following The Frustrated Gardener for a while will recall that I wrote about Goodnestone Park shortly after starting out on my blogging adventure. Down here in East Kent there’s a shortage of good gardens to visit, so when we feel the need to get out, it’s often here that […]
Read MoreThe Latin name for daffodil is thought to have been inspired by Narcissus, a figure in Greek mythology said to have fallen in love with his reflection in a pool of water. The nodding flower head of the daffodil is said to represent Narcissus bending down and gazing at his own image.
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