I have to ease myself in gently to daffodil season. I find many of them hard to love in spite of their unpretentious bonhomie, but I’m learning to appreciate an elongated trumpet here, a graceful, recurved petal there…
Read moreThe Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 1 Episode 8
Having a fascination with the relationship between gardens, words and language, I was delighted when garden designer and poet Sean Swallow agreed to appear on the podcast. In this episode we talk about his garden at Scatterford, his poetry, and the relationship between the two.
Read moreDay 74: rabbit attack
Gardeners and rabbits rarely coexist in harmony, and while there’s no denying their cuteness, they don’t half munch through your plants…
Read moreDay 73: paeony buds
All winter long I’ve been galumphing merrily across the borders, working from boards most of the time…
Read moreDay 72: wild primrose
There’s a lot of pizazz about the primula family…
Read moreDay 71: the mark of cane
In the borders, we’re enjoying the calm before the storm – old stems cut down, shabby leaves pulled away, all the remnants of last year’s garden carted off to the compost…
Read moreDay 70: lungwort
Pink, or blue. Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) can’t seem to make up its mind…
Read moreDay 69: ground ivy
The evergreen ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) is beginning to flex its muscles in beds, borders and lawns…
Read moreDay 68: Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii
For years I put up with an inferior euphorbia. Don’t ask me why. I’d meant to plant Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii …
Read moreDay 67: Begonia luxurians
Those who have a thing for plants will tell you, there are worse habits to have – it’s far easier on the pocket, for example, than a passion for vintage Porsches or posh handbags…
Read moreDay 66: nesting birds
Mrs Blackbird surveys my gardening activity from out of a dark, gold-rimmed eye…
Read moreDay 65: yew pollen
I happened to glance at my yew hedge the other day, only to see it surrounded by a golden haze, shifting in the breeze…
Read moreDay 64: lawn edging
There is nothing in the garden quite like edging, and edging a lawn in particular…
Read moreDay 63: purple-leaved plum
Everyone should all plant a cherry tree, for the joy of its flowers in spring, and its shade in the summer…
Read moreDay 62: perennial nettle
Forget the flowers – maybe the truest sign of spring’s arrival is that moment when the perennial nettles (Urtica dioica) begin to leaf up.
Read moreDay 61: chilli seedlings
I’m a little behind with my chilli seedlings, only just sowing them now. There’s just time – chillies like a long season, and I would have been better off starting them off on a window ledge in February…
Read moreDay 60: kentia palm
The change from winter to spring brings a tricky little step-change into the life of the houseplant collector..
Read moreDay 59: Verbena bonariensis
Verbena bonariensis is one of that category of plants that usefully give you height, without completely obscuring your view…
Read moreDay 58: Iris reticulata
The first proper flash of blue in the year, Iris reticulata has to be one of the highlights of February…
Read moreDay 57: cardoon corpses
have a weakness for cardoons (Cynara cardunculus). Every aspect of the things fills me with delight…
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