A rambling, rainy midsummer wander through the garden, and a trail for the next full episode.
Read moreDay 181: dog-friendly gardens
Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. This was certainly true of us yesterday, as we pitched up at the stunning Hever Castle gardens just before noon on the hottest day of the year…
Read moreDay 180: going over
Suddenly, with the longest day behind us, my gardening mind is filled with lists of plants ‘going over’ and requiring ‘cutting back’…
Read moreDay 179: not a bee
I have a childlike fascination with bumblebees. It’s the furriness – and the stripes and the continual bumping into flowers – what could be more endearing…
Read moreDay 178: sparkling stipa
Another charming giant (see yesterday’s post on Cephalaria gigantea) that , the golden oat grass (Stipa gigantea) manages to bring both texture and height to the garden…
Read moreDay 177: giant scabious
I’d dearly love to be able to write a detailed description of my giant scabious (Cephalaria gigantea) but, truth be told, it’s grown so tall I can’t reach the flowers…
Read moreDay 176: amelanchier berries
The rich red berries on the amelanchier always put me in mind of Christmas, even in the middle of June….
Read moreDay 175: Rosa glauca
Before we even approach the wonders of the plant family Rosaceae and its unexpected members, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate roses that don’t look typically, well...rosey…
Read moreDay 174: lesser stitchwort
We look up to the skies on a clear night, confident in the expectation of constellation upon constellation of glimmering stars…
Read moreDay 173: mock orange
The garden has been filled with scent these past few days. Almost as if waiting for the rain to be over, the mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius) was a little late into blossom this year…
Read moreDay 172: blue star fern
As much as I love ferns, looking after them indoors is something at which I don’t necessarily excel. I find them surprisingly high maintenance…
Read moreDay 171: opium poppy
The breadseed or opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) – a prodigious self seeder, invariably sticking itself in the most inappropriate positions…
Read moreDay 170: mexican fleabane
Winkling its way into the cracks between paving slabs or the space where the wall meets the ground, this tough little daisy is as unfussy as they come…
Read moreDay 169: lady's mantle
From delicate young foliage that will capture and display a drop of morning dew to its very best effect in late spring, there’s no ignoring lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), whether or not you consider it a weed…
Read moreDay 168: floral decrepitude
Long past the point at which most people would have consigned them to the green bin, the flowers on the mantelpiece continue to hold a fascination for me…
Read moreDay 167: Rose 'Lady of Shalott'
Arriving fashionably late, my ‘Lady of Shallot’ rose has graced the border with a bloom or two, just in time to catch the end of the wallflowers and some of the geums…
Read moreDay 166: stone
I’m trying to think how I might incorporate some stone into our garden, without it looking ridiculous…
Read moreDay 165: monstera
Our swiss cheese plant has moved back downstairs, though it’s yet to let us know whether or not this is a good thing…
Read moreDay 164: the pelargoniums go out
The pelargoniums have been languishing for far too long indoors and, just as the overnight mercury climbed to a level acceptable to their delicate sensibilities, the ridiculous pummelling rain arrived...
Read moreDay 163: Rose 'Gentle Hermione'
The rose ‘Gentle Hermione’ occupies a position on the spectrum somewhere just past ‘Gorgeous’, possibly even verging upon the territory of ‘Flouncy’…
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