The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
Who could have predicted that the Month of March would end as it did? Over the course of two weeks our daily routines changed in ways we never imagined possible and there is more of this to come for sure. We are living in a new reality, in the short term at least. We must […]
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Winter thus far has consisted of a handful of slightly chilly nights with a lot of benign, mild, wet weather in between. The garden is bursting with signs of spring, some of which I have captured to illustrate this post. Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ is already blooming, at least 2 months earlier than usual. Legions of […]
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Although the shortest day is firmly behind us, the bitter bulk of winter lies ahead. We’ve got off lightly here in Broadstairs. It has been wet and windy; cold at times, but not frosty, so far. My garden is small enough to be undemanding through the winter months, leaving me time to focus on […]
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I am not a cold person, temperature or temperament wise, but when the wind blows from the north, as it did this weekend, I want to be indoors, with a jumper on and a fire blazing. A penetrating wind blew down from the Arctic on Sunday morning, building to a crescendo by evening. Sitting in […]
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“It never rains, but it pours” is an English expression which means that when troubles come, they all come together. This week the phrase might have been applied literally to the deluge we experienced in East Kent. Dramatic thunder storms on Monday night were followed by almost 24 hours of persistent, but very welcome […]
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Day two of our garden opening is always a more relaxed affair and I am thoroughly looking forward to it. On day one the rain absented itself, but the wind did not. At times yesterday it gusted so hard that I got lost in a blizzard of white begonia flowers cascading from the shelves […]
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The problem with crocuses is that no sun + strong winds = flattened blooms that never progress beyond promising buds. Hailing from central Europe and Mediterranean regions, crocuses are bulbs for open spaces with good drainage. Soggy, shady positions render them leggy and liable to flopping over. 2014 has not been their year. So this […]
Read MoreNow you’re past the tongue-twister of a name, you can enjoy the waxy, claret-coloured flowers of this unusual shrub. I first discovered Sinocalycanthus raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’ at Felley Priory on a rainy day last year, but it’s since cropped up again and again, most recently on the Hillier Nurseries stand at Chelsea. Although hardy, it […]
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Last night, as we lay in bed, it was almost as if a BBC special effects man was standing outside the bedroom window chucking buckets of water at the window. The sea roared, the wind howled and the freezing rain came down in sheets. By this morning, arms tired, our imaginary tormentor had moved to […]
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