Many of us feel a bit bereft over winter, when the garden is at its least ostentatious. But one advantage of this time of year is the opportunity to pay closer attention to details which we hardly notice when distracted by the glitz and glamour of flowers and fresh growth…
Read moreDay 50: leaf litter and future promise
A walk in the woods always brings inspiration for the garden – lessons in light and shade, meditations on mosses and lichens and the community of creatures on dead wood…
Read moreDay 49: winter honeysuckle
Not much of a looker, and kind of patchily bald in winter. But you plant winter honeysuckle for its scent, rather than its looks…
Read moreDay 48: lesser celandine
I’m always in two minds about lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria). Conflicted, you might say…
Read moreDay 47: Mahonia aquifolium
If the spines of its barberry cousin too evil for you to contemplate, or the structure or its nearer mahonia relative too rigid, perhaps the more relaxed attitude of Mahonia aquifolium might win you over…
Read moreDay 46: blue star fern
One of the easier ferns to grow as a houseplant, the Blue Star fern (Phlebodium pseudoaureum) places few demands upon the indoor gardener…
Read moreDay 45: Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'
I could not garden without hydrangeas – at any time of year – and moody Annabelle in particular…
Read moreDay 44: golden rod
I planted Solidago, or golden rod, as a quick fix to give me height and colour, and to prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid of yellow…
Read moreDay 43: greenhouse repairs
The wind howls through the gaps in the greenhouse, reminding me that the structure needs some attention…
Read moreDay 42: snowdrops
How do you like your snowdrops? It seems to me that everyone hankers for huge drifts, and there’s no denying the delight in watching your collection bulk up year upon year…
Read moreDay 41: spurge laurel
The second of our daphnes this week, spurge laurel Daphne laureola is notable for being neither spurge (the Euphorbia genus) nor laurel…
Read moreDay 40: moss
Moss has been seeing something of a resurgence in popularity with the growing interest in indoor gardening…
Read moreDay 39: houseplant company
Plants, like people, were not made to live their lives in total solitude…
Read moreDay 38: the venerable apple tree
I love how plants can become members of the family – whether it’s a long-lived aspidistra, or a venerable apple tree such as the one in the photo…
Read moreDay 37: Hylotelephium 'Matrona'
Everyone loves a dazzling floral display in summer, but those plants that can maintain interest through the colder seasons are greatly to be prized…
Read moreDay 36: frosted ironwork
There’s a moment just as the sun rises on a clear, cold winter’s morning, when the growing light still has the blue tinge of night about it…
Read moreDay 35: Daphne bholua 'Limpsfield'
I think William Morris would have approved of the evergreen, Daphne bholua ‘Limpsfield’, seeing as how it manages to be both useful and beautiful…
Read moreDay 34: speedwell
Whether or not your flowerbeds and borders currently boast a covering of snow, within the next week or so this little plant will be making a land grab…
Read moreDay 33: Melianthus major
If you’re a hopeless day-dreamer, you may find the overlapping patterns created by the sawtooth leaf margins of the honey bush, Melianthus major, sufficient to send you into a lengthy reverie…
Read moreDay 32: rex begonias
There are two kinds of houseplant murderers – those that kill with kindness, and those whose horticultural homicides arise from neglect…
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