Day 31: winter heliotrope

Okay – not the most attractive of flowers, I’ll admit. But, oh – the fragrance!

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Day 30: Phlomis russeliana

Few plants beat Phlomis russeliana for architectural interest, a spectacle through spring and summer…

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Day 29: rose hips

I wonder if you’re a Big Picture person or whether, like me, you tend to get lost in the details…

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Day 28: Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'

Winter-flowering plants are rightly held in high esteem – those with scent even more so…

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The Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 1 Episode 6

Looking at the garden in January, it’s easy to feel you really should dive out there and get stuck in, but there’s a lot to be said for taking a considered approach. In this episode I talk to British sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon about how she’s borrowing techniques from her artwork to create intimate spaces in her garden, and just how much time she spends standing about and staring at nothing much.

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Day 27: wood avens

The best way to see wood avens (Geum urbanum) is in large colonies illuminated by dappled light beneath a woodland canopy…

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Day 26: umbrella plant

It’s easy to take a reliable plant for granted, and I think I’ve been guilty of this with the umbrella tree, Schefflera arboricola…

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Day 25: heralding spring at Chelsea Physic Garden

A marker at the beginning of the gardening year, tomorrow Chelsea Physic Garden throws open its doors to mark the transition of one season to the next…

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Day 23: ligularia

There’s much to be said for plants that go to seed with style…

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Day 21: witch hazel

Upon the list of winter-flowering shrubs that stimulate schnoz, witch hazel (Hamamelis sp.) ranks high…

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Day 20: lords and ladies

Who could be unmoved by the wonderful marbled green and cream leaves of Arum italicum subsp. italicum ‘Marmoratum’…

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Day 19: hellebore

Hellebores aren’t the cheapest of plants to buy – but I can’t imagine being without them…

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Three wonderful weeders from Burgon & Ball

If you’ve still a little Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, then let me help you spend a very few pennies on some shiny new gardening tools. You can tell yourself it’s a noble deed in the cause of tidying the garden, and if Marie Kondo comes round to complain about more stuff, we can lock her in the shed.

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Day 18: string of hearts

The string-of-hearts or sweetheart vine (Ceropegia woodii) is a perfect houseplant for those who might be a little forgetful…

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Day 17: beech

All credit to the beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) for giving us blocks of soft, coppery brown throughout winter…

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Day 16: borlotti beans

The beautiful borlotti bean, its white pods and beans splashed liberally with vermillion…

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Day 15: berberis

Loathed by gardeners for its evil thorns that will penetrate the thickest of gloves…

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