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In this opening episode of season 4, we wander down the intertwining hedgerow paths of May Morris’s 1893 Arcadia wallpaper design, featuring a passage from her book Decorative Needlework beautifully read for us by Milli Proust.
That sense of wild, magical, yet familiar garden space leads us directly into the work of this episode’s guest: French illustrator Margot Réverdy.
Read moreSpring is well and truly here, and so is garden designer and writer Jack Wallington, who joins me for the last episode of this mini series of the podcast celebrating the ideas behind his book, Wild About Weeds.
Read moreWinter’s not yet done with us, but there's always something to do in the garden. Delving back into Jack Wallington's Wild About Weeds to find out how to manage these rebel plants. And thinking about how the picture perfect garden fits
Read moreAutumn is settling in and, if we’re honest, we start to spend less time actively gardening. More time for the soil to grow what it really wants, more time for us to start dreaming next year’s garden into being…
Read moreWe salute summer as it reaches its peak and, just as quickly, begins to pass the baton on to the next season, and enjoy a reading from the introduction to Jack’s book, from which the episode title’s been shamelessly pinched
Read moreChef, grower, teacher, herbologist – it’s always hard to categorise my guests on the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast and Maya Thomas is no exception. Suffice to say that a love of plants or people – and usually both – infuses everything she does, and so where better to focus our conversation for this episode than on the subject of herbs…
Read moreLove it or hate it (and why would you hate it?), the RHS Chelsea Flower Show offers a fantastic platform for charities to promote their work. In this episode, I’m joined by Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, whose Gardens for Good Causes initiative brings together designers, landscapers and charitable organisations, creating headline-grabbing show gardens with the power to bring change where it’s most needed.
Read moreThere’s an intricacy and generosity of spirit to the work of floral artist and broadcaster Hazel Gardiner that betrays her love of story telling, as well as hinting at her ability not just to absorb energy from the creatives she works along side, but to amplify that vibrancy and share it back around. In this episode she joins me to talk about her varied career path, the roots of her artistic approach and, of course, her garden
Read moreTo celebrate the publication of my first book, To Stand and Stare: how to garden while doing next to nothing, I’m having the tables turned on me. For this episode, I find myself on the other side of the mic as friend of the podcast Alice Vincent drops by to interview me about how the book came about, how it relates to my wider work, and why a title that’s very much not a ‘how to garden’ manual still manages to have so many ‘how to...’ sections in it.
Read moreI’m so delighted to have florist and grower Milli Proust on the podcast for the last episode of 2022. Her book From Seed to Bloom was one of the highlights of the year for me, as it has been for many others, and the images of her floral arrangements and beautiful growing space in West Sussex continue to provide a gorgeous backdrop to pleasant reveries. We discuss her emphasis upon the seasons and the land, on story and theatre, and the impact that becoming a mother has had on her work. And laugh, a lot.
Read moreSusanna Grant’s mission seems to be to make gardening easy for people; particularly people who live in the city, where space is at a premium and buildings huddle together to crowd out the light. From behind an unassuming garden gate in Hackney, her courtyard store Linda glows, filled with the kind of lush, green growth that thrives in these conditions. We talk of shade and weeds, community gardens and cake, perennial window boxes and sending worms through the post.
Read moreI catch myself in the ridiculous position of wishing time away, urging my garden to catch up…
Read moreIn the world of the houseplant enthusiast, a bicolour leaf seems to be far more greatly prized than such a thing would be in the parallel realm of the outdoor gardener…
Read moreSpurges generally don’t get to come into the house, but over Christmas, we welcome in the poinsettia, or Cuetlaxochitl to the Aztecs…
Read moreI love a Christmas mystery as much as the next person, but today’s has less to do with a body in the library and footsteps in the snow than it does the identity of one particular begonia…
Read moreChristmas is wonderful, of course it is, but when the frenzy is done and the motorway miles have been reeled in, a kind of peace descends until the new year…
Read moreThe camellias bask in the pale golden light of the morning sun, dew beginning to gather along the surface of each leaf…
Read moreAs the years passed, I began to feel a bit sorry for the tree on Christmas day…
Read moreMild winters make the birds less eager to strip every twig and branch of their convenient energy snacks…
Read moreI’ve been holding out for a frosty end to the year though, other than the dusting we received yesterday, it looks as though I’ll be disappointed…
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