The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
I usually draw my Chelsea coverage to a close at the same time the show ends, partly through fatigue, and partly because there are other subjects about which to write at this busy time of the year. The downside is that this deprives many gardens I enjoyed of description and praise. They do, of […]
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Such is my inability to pick a winner that none of my three favourite show gardens won a gold medal this year. This is why I am not a betting man. My own disappointment is irrelevant, but it must be difficult to reflect objectively on your endeavours when you’ve invested heart and soul in […]
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The Medici of Florence were not only one of the richest families in Europe for a time, but also phenomenal garden makers. They laid out the grounds of their multitudinous palaces and villas to demonstrate power and control, making extensive use of precious water, shading trees, citrus fruits and fragrant roses. The Medici gardens […]
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The problem with writing about The Chelsea Flower Show is that there’s so much to say and so little time to say it. And then there’s coming up with a new angle to share. The BBC’s coverage is so fulsome that one overhears almost every visitor to the show quoting little facts to one another […]
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Cornwall’s great gardens are, by and large, gardens that were created over 100 years ago and that have developed organically ever since. A handful have been rescued from the edge of oblivion in recent years but, with the obvious exception of The Eden Project, newly imagined gardens are a rarity. This is surprising given Cornwall’s exceptional climate and […]
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With both gardens almost locked-down for winter it’s time to start writing about some of the places that have not yet made it on to The Frustrated Gardener. These half-forgotten visits are like blogging hay – sweet, fragrant and reminiscent of a time when the earth was warm and the sun high in the heavens […]
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Of all this year’s Chelsea gardens, Roger Platt’s design for the main sponsor, M&G Investments, is easy to love. Some may describe it as timeless, others as slightly dated, but what it lacks in new ideas it makes up for in crowd pleasing features and planting. In some ways it displays all the lack of […]
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