The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
Rosemoor, the most south-westerly RHS garden, is my favourite of all the RHS gardens. Opened officially in 1990, the society’s secluded Devon outpost is located in a lush valley outside Great Torrington. Rosemoor is set like a polished gem in a vast woodland clearing. Its verdant grounds are fed by clear springs which have been […]
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Tuesday in Derbyshire dawned grey and dank. I had only packed my Man from Del Monte outfit, so arrived at Chatsworth looking a trifle too tropical for the tepid conditions. I was not about to carry a Fedora around all day, so on my head it stayed. Perhaps I’m imagining it, but I am […]
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Liz Patterson, Show Manager for the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, will have been glued to the weather forecast for the last fourteen days. Last year’s inaugural show, in the magnificent park surrounding the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, was hampered by spiteful weather and lengthy traffic delays. Press Day was a total […]
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Orchids are extraordinary flowers. They display remarkable diversity in colour, size and form. Some are scented, some are designed to entrap insects and few, like vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), produce edible seed pods. Among the 28,000 currently known and accepted orchid species, many are cultivated and inevitably there are still new species to be found in […]
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One event in my calendar heralds the approach of spring like no other: the RHS London Early Spring Plant Fair. Throughout the first, frozen days of February I have been yearning for Westminster’s Horticultural Halls to throw open their doors and let me feast my eyes on delicate blooms and breath in the sweet scent […]
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Back in April I ordered a clutch of new clematis for my garden, all from Thorncroft Nursery. They were destined to cover a shabby stretch of fence leading from the street to my new back door. The plants arrived in good health and were stashed in the greenhouse until I was ready to […]
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I’m very aware that I am not opening my Hampton Court coverage with classically beautiful gardens. In my quest to offer the fullest overview possible, I rarely get around to detailing my favourites, which was certainly the case last year. So this year, instead of starting with a lengthy perambulation around the showground, which […]
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I can scarcely believe it’s over a week since that fateful press day at Chatsworth Flower Show where we all got drenched and muddy in the name of flora. I was able to hand back the coat I borrowed, but still haven’t tackled my boots, which may never be the same again: the Derbyshire […]
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What is it about the appeal of quarry-inspired gardens this year? Is because as a nation we seem determined to dig ourselves into the deepest hole possible? Is it because we feel stuck between a rock and hard place? Or have we suddenly discovered our inner Stone Age selves? Whatever it is, a second […]
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I’ve been to a lot of flower shows and admired a lot of outstanding show stands, so it takes a lot for an exhibitor to really knock my socks off. But nothing could divert my attention away from BlueBell Nursery’s staggering display of unusual trees and shrubs at the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show today. […]
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