Garden Talk
I had an idea to go and volunteer labour in gardens of whimsy and interest to soak up history, horticultural skills and the genius loci. Doddington Place was my first choice. I was welcomed by the ... read more
“Have issue. You were so adamant that you wouldn’t go to Chelsea again. Discuss, please”. This text came through the day I was at this year’s Flower Show and looked like a an essay question. ... read more
Early in the month Tom Stuart Smith gave a lecture at Great Braxted in Essex and we gardening types were lured from our potting sheds. There was the usual charitable angle ... read more
I was looking for a place called the Charterhouse. Getting in, even finding it made me feel like a Minpin trying to crack a walnut. Lurking behind a big brick wall ... read more
The day before yesterday we were umbellifered out and spoilt to bits all in one sitting, so to speak. A ... read more
At the entrance to our garden there is a courtyard. In it a raised square flowerbed edged in green oak. The design reason was to cut ... read more
Nearly got run over photographing this but I just had to share this front garden. Ratings explained: * ... read more
There is a patch of ground in my garden that has definitely got the upper hand. It started as a sulking vegetable plot full of stones and rampant sun flowers. That ... read more
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Earlier this year ... read more
I do not ... read more
This week I ... read more
Bulbs are opportunists. Most come from the far Eastern end of the Mediterranean, from rocky scree where early snow melt gives ... read more
I have been having a love-in with Fountain grasses for quite a while. Pictured here is the one that I ... read more
How was it ... read more
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Musings in our house have turned to the magical quality of water, to where to put it in the garden and what the influences and inspiration might be. ... read more
This year walled garden curiosity has quietly gripped me. It started on the Isle of Mull in a squall, taking ... read more
I can never make my mind up whether it is best to thoroughly research a garden before visiting first-time round, clued ... read more
Visitors to the Edinburgh Festival and its cuckoo offspring, ... read more
These gardens have become a bit of a pilgrimage site. Particularly for those of us who live in the East. ... read more
By suspending all blogging activities for over a year, I have made some time to coax our garden into looking more ... read more
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Hours of the weekend have been spent drooling over plant catalogues and trawling websites for ferns, clematis, dahlias, green manure ... read more
are almost over. Without looking at the man in the suit on the telly, who seems to know so much ... read more
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Una ragnaia is a small wood for trapping birds - no doubt as a dinner-party delicacy. Craig Sheppard's magical garden ... read more
Seen here at Villa Cetinale, near Siena. The evergreen oak can be oppressive in its matt evergreen livery. In the hot ... read more
Fruit trees are magnificent and lovely even without the eating. Garden designers hunt around for architectural plants and most fruit trees ... read more
these are regularly held in the gardens of the more stately type of home. Fancy dress is pretty much compulsory but ... read more
Piet Oudolf is the maestro of perennial planting. Aged 71 but he is still working - both designing and teaching. He continues to innovate and bring in change - there ... read more
or could it be B for boasting. This is the Benacre nectarine - possibly the last one in the whole world. ... read more
Lemons north of Rome get wheeled out in May. ... read more
I know that tomorrow is going to be a mother of a day, so time to get ahead with my M.... ... read more
At home, we are pickaxing up areas of the garden. Grappling with unwanted curbstones, squinting at the winter ghosts of ground ... read more
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-bearded ones used en masse as ground cover as you can see them here in the garden of Villa Cetinale, Tuscany. The flowers are fleeting but the leaves are pretty ... read more
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In 1458 Piccolomini set about the construction of a small town but he was called to Rome to become Pius II and the job never got finished. Nethertheless Pienza is an ... read more
December weather lays bare the bones of the landscape and reminds keen gardeners of the delights of monochrome gardening. Knock out colour - except greens - and think texture, movement, ... read more
If you read a review of "Letters from IHF to to Stephen Bann" which appeared in December 4th’s London Review of Books, you will learn that he was agrophobic, foul-mouthed and ... read more
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At a Dahlia Show you will see the the bionic boob and tippety heels of this type of plant. Go and and wow at a Dolly Parton of a dahlia ... read more
(equally S is for Solenostemon scutellarioides) - plants that come from India and Thailand and get called the 'painted nettle'. You ... read more
This summer I visited a garden in England that was designed by the elusive Pascal Cribier. After an exchange of letters I was given permission to have a look but not ... read more
Garden guides can be brilliant or so annoying that you want to rattle your teeth and burst into tears. Brian, ... read more
I’m struggling a bit - my french doesn’t go beyond ordering a cuppa and Wiki translation is not helping. I’m ... read more
by Sheppard Craige's wife. At Il Bosco della Ragnaia. ... read more
Italy again - the copy below first appeared in IntoGardens, the on-line gardening app. It gives a quick overview of 10 gardens in Italy that I love. Five are very old ... read more
Sitting pretty by the Seine, in the 7th arrondissement, with terraces of Haussmann-order breathing down on the south side, there ... read more
Standing in a white-walled contemporary gallery, I am looking at pieces of rock strung as a necklace. Inspected through the ... read more
Or - Pattern of the DAY. I have spent hours this year winding my convolvulus up canes and snatching off the ... read more
If you were ever wondering what that is, read this and you will understand: It is too long since a post ... read more
It is that time of the year when trees become ever more attention grabbing. This is the hoary trunk of Morus alba, the white mulberry. ... read more
Ostraya carpinifolia. It was dancing in the wind at Cambridge Botanic: Shaking hop dangly earrings in the sunny breeze. ... read more
This is a story of how NOT to grow tomatoes. Growing in the greenhouse began so well. I am ... read more
This week I visited Piet Oudolf’s garden in Hummelo in the outreach zone of north eastern Netherlands and buried deep in ... read more
or should I say moats? In Suffolk, east of England, moats are ubiquitous . I have lost count of ... read more
An extreme example of very poor soil preparation. The wretched thing is coiled into a scream that stops it taking flight ... read more
Dahlias yo-yo in and out of fashion. Right now the spool is taut and this genus of perennials are spinning high. ... read more
I am having problems with my radicchio - or are they radicchi when they grow in a small flock like this? ... read more
Plants that would appear flat and bleached out in bright sun come forward and shine or have a luminous quality ... read more
When I asked Tim Milward of Plant Me Now how many lines of seeds they had in their catalogue he looked at me politely and I realised I was ... read more
Perhaps I am getting steadily more greedy. Time, on the other hand, could be galloping faster and faster like ... read more
I am running two workshops soon for any keen gardeners who live in Suffolk: HARMONIOUS PLANTING - on Monday 6th October 9.30 ... read more
My friend Frenchie of Moat Farm Flowers is big into cut flowers. She lives up here in Suffolk and is ... read more
Here is a a quick photo-study of Celsa - a castle and grounds near Siena, Italy. I visited earlier this year. If you want to do the same, check their ... read more
It is really a write-on from my post of August 7th about the serendipity of visiting two gardens back to back that are in wild contrast. I just love it when ... read more
A maze to get lost in. This one is at Glendurgan Garden in Cornwall. Oh, and I will have those tree ... read more
or even snazzy. Ophiopogon planiscapus 'nigrescens' looks great in paving gaps. Thrown into the limelight by the mullein skeletons. ... read more
The hurricane is here. It has knocked down the bean tipi, smitten the amaranthus which are flaying their beards all over ... read more
A couple of times a year, I put together a list of gardens and a bunch of us ... read more
- just look at this: I can't tell you were saw this or I will get my arms chewed off. ... read more
in the summer and you will return to rampaging jungle syndrome. I had just got it under control - the garden, ... read more
Or Oudolf does it again. Digitalis ferruginea and echinacea. There was a time, way back in the blurred mist of yesteryear, when the flower borders were losing it for colour and ... read more
Well why would you? Its quite simple - roses can be grown by taking cuttings but to graft a bud ... read more
[caption id="attachment_3404" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Rose de Rescht"][/caption] The best way to smell a rose? Cut the bloom and put it into ... read more
I just think enough customers have said "no yellow and definitely no orange" to spin my my mind. I have spent this week in Norfolk in a rose field and with ... read more
Here is a hoary handed son of the soil tilling - with rotavator - this large border 17 metres long by 4 metres wide. The photo was taken last September 2014. ... read more
- a grotto, for example. This is part of the massive one at the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. ... read more
I have been round a trial ground before and it is quite something to see good looking new plants that have endured the selective breeding process, survived the cull and made ... read more
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Well, one big part of my garden coaching is designing gardens. However a quantum shift has come over me and ... read more
I have been having a bit of a fight with germination. Left it too late for quite a few of the ... read more
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A Suffolk reclamation yard north of where we live and not too many miles from the sea. The owners specialise ... read more
A friend of mine invited me to go and look at her hedges, latent woodland and wildflower pastures. 14 years ... read more
Yesterday we drove up to Norfolk to a pug tea party in the grounds of Wood Hall, Hilgay. This ... read more
A real weakness for hedges plagues me. They arrest me when I am driving around. This is ... read more
For pure poetry just read this about Dichelostemma Ida-Maia: "Spectacular red, yellow and green coloured flowers, shaped like cigars, opening at ... read more
I saw a nearly life size baby Jesus with Joseph worshipping at the alter of christmas tree lights, the fluffiest ... read more
A banner for a recent lecture read: ”The Daffodil – The remarkable story of the world’s most popular flower”. ... read more
or seasonal mood swing? ... read more
Nerine Enchantress. ... read more
I keep a list in a grubby old note book of plants that are looking good together. I am stumped for the right word here, or phrase. It could be 'plant ... read more
I have been reading Anne Wareham's recent blog post "It must Go" and it ties in with thinking about garden criticism - rolling the idea round like a pebble in the ... read more
No, this is not a camel with 16 heads. It is a plane tree in St Jean Pied de Port. ... read more
Santo Domingo de la Calzado had a hard time of it. He applied to become a monk but two holy orders ... read more
Cross the Pyrenees from St Jean Pied de Port at this time of the year and you risk walking in cloud ... read more
I have been badgering Tony for the name of this sweet pea all summer and now, October in, he ... read more
It is Dahlia cactus Orfeo pictured here with Pennisetum setaceum Rubrum. This past May I got dahlia tubers from de Jagar Bulbs ... read more
Wordy at the Veddw, Anne Wareham's garden. ... read more
I have been very wordy of late and have run out of September's quota. October's has not yet arrived. In brief ... read more
My new volunteering role is Master Composter. So what is exactly is that? Master Composters are trained by Garden Organic and ... read more
I would, for choice, have peacocks on my walls - as they do at Rousham Park, Oxfordshire. ... read more
Jaw dropping, pulse-raising, spectacle-removing dahlia border at Rousham Park, Oxfordshire. ... read more
Most gardening books make me yawn. Soft focus, flowery pictures spinning fantasy – the veritable stuff to clutter a coffee table. “Planting: A New Perspective” by Piet Oudolf and Noel ... read more
No - this is not a marrow. It is wrinkled butternut squash AKA zucca rugosa grown from a packet from Franchi ... read more
Randoming is what I call going about the place collecting ideas and quirks for the garden - mine or for customers, ... read more
The seed sowing has thrown a barbarous squash bigger than my foot, expanding by eye-widening moment and remorselessly green. I share ... read more
Here in Suffolk we are getting a garden ready for a wedding this September. It may come behind the cake, the frock and the marquee but any keen gardener will ... read more
Transparency is a major quality in a perennial. There are plants that are of a certain stature, take the movement of ... read more
...why I love sunflowers. ... read more
My last garden visit was to Houghton Hall, Norfolk. It turned into a wordy splurge. Now we are in August and life is too hot and short. Instead I ... read more
In the blink of a few weeks the experimental green manure patch of Phacelia tanacetifolia has gone from this to this: ... read more
The wonder of Guisachan lies in the stone husk of a large house set in mature parkland. Mighty specimens of wellingtonia, beeches ... read more
Larger specimens of trees are tempting to buy for instant impact. But does the promise translate in more bang for ... read more
Glen Strathfarrar is in the Highlands of Scotland, 20 miles west of Inverness. The road into the glen is private - with ... read more
Five years ago this garden near the Wash won the Christies and Historic Houses Garden of the Year’s prize. I’d never heard of the award but it sounded promising and so, ... read more
This morning Phacelia tanacetifolia was furry blue blur in my garden. Pulling in the bees and the hover flies too. ... read more
Dianthus barbatus or Sweet Williams look fabulous right now and will continue to do so until the frosts get them. ... read more
On the south bank of the Thames and right next to Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s London digs, is a ... read more
Aieeeeeeeeeeee is this another example of global warming? ... read more
“The Education of a Gardener” by Russell Page is my favourite dipping-into gardening book. Despite being written fifty years ago and by ... read more
Those who blog a bit will be used to strange offers for host posts on their site: muscular pain, TV series ... read more
From the Arc de Triomphe it is less than 40 kilometers to Maule - a leafy village just beyond spitting distance ... read more
[caption id="attachment_2687" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Yew edging at David Austin Roses"][/caption] Box blight is becoming a scourge. I read a recent article in ... read more
“The best garden in Italy? Undoubtedly Ninfa” whispered the olive oil taster. Set out of the way in dusty ravine country about an ... read more
Long ago we had a cat and an attic in Peckham. Seed trays were lined up to bask in the light beaming down through the sky lights. The cat got up ... read more
This collage effect is a mole in the dull shade round the Mere below our castle. The boot (mine) is in ... read more
This weekend I went to Fibrex, the nursery for pelargoniums, ivies and ferns. The unlikely name comes from a long family history in nursery growing which started out as a rose ... read more
The wholesale catalogues from the bulb nurseries have already slapped through the letterbox. For 2013 I have taken a vow not to leave the ordering of tulips and narcissi etc till ... read more
If anyone can give me some sound advice on how to sow this way for a perfect even sward - please ... read more
It is always at the Chelsea Flower Show but it's easy to ignore it. [caption id="attachment_2615" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="kinetic piece David Watkinson"][/caption] The stalls ... read more
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This garden disqualifies itself from the ratings for having no hammock opportunities to speak of. It is here for the door and the would-be hollyhocks. Nil points.... read more
[caption id="attachment_2540" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="installation by Marc Quinn"][/caption] Goodness me, how calm this flower show seemed today. Restraint was the theme around the ... read more
The television camera is the eye of Sauron. Key hole surgery down the perianth of plants, peering behind cordoned-off places and practically staring up the nostrils of the horti-stablishment. So why ... read more
at the gardens of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli, outside Rome. This water-powered organ broke down in 1561. At last it ... read more
Master Composter is a scheme which exists to put out the word for making compost. This means wearing a badge, going ... read more
Going round these gardens is a breathless gallop. We were slotted into a strict timetable and managed so that we did ... read more
6 weeks worth of the wrong sort of rubbish removed from green waste bins. ... read more
Sizewell B across the weather and the coarse grass. ... read more
Are you finding it difficult getting a grip on a garden that is new to you and reverting to nature? One ... read more
painted ceiling, monastry on island of Lake Tana, Ethiopia ... read more
so befuddled by this that I am a day late. Out of kilter and nuclear wasted. ... read more
will soon burst into the stampede of wildebeest hooves. Whatever anyone makes of this flower show at the tippity-top of its genre ... read more
can take any shape or form as long as the subject - or subjects - are vaguely disquieting. The blobs below shriek for themselves. ... read more
[caption id="attachment_2432" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Papaver orientale 'Juliane' hot and sunny site"][/caption] There is a terrible drawback to gardening called impulse buying. I ... read more
The idea behind sowing into pots and the like, is to steal a march on the seasons. Since outside is Narnia, it is the only way to garden at all at ... read more
WHO?: JAMES HITCHMOUGH WHY? ... read more
I am up in my freezing cold attic, under self imposed lock down. Not allowed out till the mind, the fingers and the keyboard get going. Lurking round the cold pool ... read more
This is an eyeball view of Corylus avellana 'Contorta'. I visited two nurseries last week and at both it threatened ... read more
The 21st garden can be a shrinking violet of a patch. There is practically no room to swing a cat, but ... read more
Too long since the front gardens got scrutinised and now once more, the pull is topiary. I rate this garden *** as long as I can have the house too ... read more
So What ISISISIS A Garden? Aldeburgh town, in the Empty Quarter of Suffolk, and on threat of being sucked into the waters of ... read more
Can there be anywhere else like it for the squirt, drip and gush of water? Tritons clapped on the back ... read more
1. They create unreasonable expectation. 2. They are totally static and nature is not. 3. Planting plans have people drooling for the ultimate moment of peak perfection for that lovely flower only to ... read more
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In this place there are thousands of ancient oaks. Old and hoary and with trunks that look like agonised faces dissolving in ... read more
Yesterday was spent in Waterworld. Driving along levees beside which marched rows of willows ripe for the pollard. Past mills and dykes and marshes and boatyards. On the ordnance survey the ... read more
Eranthus hyemalis: I would not be so in love with this little plant if the weather had sulked less ... read more
So, a brief description of Pinterest from the demi-ignorant. An admission from the outset: the time I have been spending on Pinterest is wonder blunder. The feeling is like being on ... read more
Rethink your trip to the bottlebank: ... read more
TT is for Territorial Army, touch your toes and Terrified Tuesday. I have decided to keep a photo-diary of things that ... read more
The pollard, the stooling and the time of the coppice are nearly here. Cold February days are the viewing time for ... read more
The truth of it is no-go, slow stasis and paralysis and so I am going to post this opalescent image by Char ... read more
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Well you can brush them over your billiard table to raise the nap. Or point the finches in the right direction ... read more
Utterly spangled and bedangled I am by trying to get up to date with my techno-efficiency. It's January init? For once, a ... read more
A Black and White walk round my village today. I just love it that a in a stride about outside all bright shades have been erased and noise is muffled and bleached ... read more
This is part two of three posts on how to fit a desirable and covetable tree into your small garden. My ... read more
The landscapers are planting whips like anything right now. Whips are twigs to you and me. The cheapest ... read more
Modern gardens are small, smaller and diminuitive. Let’s start with the largest of the small; an imaginary plot ... read more
I want to tell you a little about Lil Tudor-Craig. She paints pictures that send shivers up the spine. Not in ... read more
Today the garden has gone monochrome and dispelled itself in grisly fog. So I have decided to cheer myself up with a colour blast before tramping down to the allotment. ... read more
Tiles from Rustem Pasha, a mosque in Istanbul ... read more
Stumble into a film set through an avenue of clipped sphinx. Tintin might be round the next corner or Jaws and 007 ... read more
Step through a hole in the hedge off a field of stubble and you’ve got the hallmark of Le Jardin ... read more
Monsieur Alexandre Thomas, paysagiste, has taken an idiosyncratic tack with his family garden. The sobriquet ‘nonconformist’ sticks and he revels in it. He has two of them, Les Jardins Agapanthe, mere ... read more
Today is the last time for the climb in the dark in Edinburgh. NVA's Speed of Light which is billed as ... read more
Allotment Week? I read the Patient Gardener's Weblog and realised that this had passed me by. Allotment ownership is a bit ... read more
For the East Angle travelling by train, Stratford is the gateway to the City and beyond. For years we have had to ... read more
All three of the perennials below are dominating the flowerbeds right now. Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' ... read more
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Stripping away and paring back the overgrowth in my own plot, I have been musing and pondering the while. On ... read more
Woven willow by Spencer Jenkins, greenwood artist. ... read more
To be a visitor at the glossy end of flower shows is akin to watching those cookery programs on the ... read more
I offer you 3 from the Hampton Court Flower Show, day one, earlier this week. I'd made ... read more
Rosa moyesii 'Geranium' is a brilliant rose for wild bits of the garden. It is splays out like a fountain ... read more
Do these plants get high on arias? The planting in the borders at Glyndebourne is in the exuberant category. Grounded ... read more
Bedfordshire? Never given it much thought beyond gritting my teeth over the drive to Luton airport. A prejudice I ... read more
Is the sensible wellington boot at an all time low or has it had a rebirth to dominate the fashion world? ... read more
Nigella damascena ' Miss Jekyll Alba'. A real jewel of an annual. Free seeding with filigree leaves and seed heads like pop eyes. ... read more
Woe betide failing to keep those plant names under control. In order to remember the name of that lovely purchase you can stick the label in along with the plant. ... read more
May shading into June is the best time for long country walks in the East of the country. The wildflowers ... read more
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Thousands of us stood and jostled in the grand rooms up the stair of the Royal Academy to see the ... read more
Yellow has pushed its busy way forward the past few weeks: throwing its hair around and dancing in the ... read more
...."the lawn started at the beach and ran towards sun-dials and brick walls and burning gardens - finally when it reached ... read more
This shepherd’s hut was found rotting in a spinney with young trees thrusting their way through its rib cage. ... read more
Forget the daffodils. The high-point of spring is the dancing buds and dazzle of early flowers on trees. Warm ... read more
Cucumber seedlings are sulking on an east facing window sill and waiiting to go down ... read more
but I know that these are the seeds of desire: ... read more
I am at the gardens of Beth Chatto, just out of the whist and twiffle of the seaside ozone and beyond ... read more
Santa’s Grotto or elves? A very good way to write off a garden centre or nursery, or so I used ... read more
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The temperature has dropped and the rain has bucketed down. The ground out there is very soggy. Winter conditions have at last come to the east of England. ... read more
Now what is that? I have not taken flight for Honeydukes or gone Munchkin in the head. To keep the rabbits off, ... read more
This is a follow-on from yesterday or the day before's post on my blog. It is not about buying ... read more
Salix 'Erythroflexuosa'. Willow seen in stark nudity by water. At its best in the low light of winter afternoon sun. ... read more
Plants by post seems like a fairly crazy idea. Especially when 18 large grasses were ordered up in 2 litre ... read more
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[caption id="attachment_1618" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="not quite fly agaric"][/caption] Serried timber trees, broad trunked with fly agaric mushrooms poking through dead ... read more
Banksy eat your heart out. Seen all over Arezzo ... read more
Take a look at this and this: Dem bones. ... read more
Almost but not quite. The image has been looming on the desktop and housewifery has hit the ... read more
Look up into the hoary upper reaches of Platanus orientalis var. insularis. A doughty specimen from Crete. Tall as a house ... read more
A Saturday stroll took us past St Pauls Cathedral and the tent village. It is looking permanent and not too uncomfortable. ... read more
The blasted trunk, hit by lightening, stands it's ground in the middle of a footpath. As a stately thing, ... read more
This morning the shipping news, poetic as ever, sailed us into the wicked stripping winds of winter. I wasn't encouraged ... read more
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The only drawback to this juicy green and practically white flower is the name. Schizostylis coccinea 'Pink Marge'. It has never ... read more
This is a blog post about pulling my socks up. I must have one of the worst websites around - a sort of Mickey-mouse-pasted-together affair. A friend looked at it a ... read more
[caption id="attachment_1477" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="porch planting at Great Dixter"][/caption] There are a few rules that you should keep returning to. ... read more
Detail of door in Lalibela ... read more
The top of the hill was an Iron Age fort. Stand there and look around. The beech woods slide down the ... read more
used to completely creep me out. Now I love a good graveyard. It's probably an age thing. Hidden away there are numinous and peaceful places that are worth ... read more
The leaves are off, or nearly, and I’m taking my mind back to David Austin and February. I went there ... read more
I rate this garden *** (largely due to snappily clipped yew) Ratings explained: * Call for a skip ** ... read more
Malus John Downie - the small crabapple with the cherriest of fruit. We are about to plant an ... read more
Thursday last week was one of those days when the sky had been hung up to dry without being wrung out. It rained and when it stopped, pregnant raindrops hung in ... read more
The flowerbeds at the wholesaler looked stunning at 8am yesterday morning. I could have spent hours wandering around in the tapestry ... read more
Tucked away in Suffolk behind rape fields and not far from ribbon development bungalows. The house takes its name not ... read more
Craggy Cornish wall. ... read more
[caption id="attachment_1372" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Chatsworth gardens as laid out in 1699"][/caption] The first gardens that archeology uncovers are those made by the ... read more
or even the world are to be found in the hills near Rome. For inspiration and ideas there are three gardens with which to cram a life-time of sketches and ideas. ... read more
WHO? Laetitia Maklouf WHY? For whimsical and charming garden writing ... read more
I know this as I have just fallen flat on my face over peonies. Lovely covetable peonies with their bally flowers, huge and fluffy and oh-so Sarah Bernhardt gorgeous. But with ... read more
of bother. I saw this fabulous plant in the Old English Garden in Battersea Park and fell for it immediately. It is incredibly low moundy, roundy and intense in greenness even ... read more
Yesterday I stood outside this house - it belongs to one of my customers and we are planning ... read more
There are many. It starts before stepping off Chelsea Bridge heading south. The burger van. Greasey smell and crumpled paper ... read more
Outside Buckingham Palace there are a pair of beds that flank the top of the Mall. This piece of land ... read more
Hmmmmmmmmm, those tidy little planted patches outside slick offices. An urban phenomenon. Downtown there are guys who are primping the ... read more
Aeonium schwarzkopf has wierd twisty stems and succulent slabs of leaves in polished black. The cauliflour inflorescences of acid yellow ... read more
In a new city, the beeline I make is to the Botanic Gardens. Once there the homing in is ... read more
Cross between a teddy bear and a bee. They move as packs through lavender bushes garnering nectar at high speed. ... read more
WHO? Antony Gormley WHY? For his exploration of the space that a body ... read more
Does it still exist? The WW bit I ... read more
The non glossy but very cool Garden Design Journal often has a thought provoking contribution from Tim Richardson. His latest, for September, will raise a show of hands from garden designers ... read more
Catalogue time is here again. All through the summer they have been thumping through the letter box. A dusty pile ... read more
Chestnut trunk covered with lichen beards in Tuscan wood. ... read more
To stand under a full grown specimen can provoke a desire to twist strings of fairy lights, hang lanterns and ... read more
“I cultivate 1 hectare of aromatic herbs and collect wild herbs too, I also have 2 hectares of woodland and 9 donkeys. ... read more
[caption id="attachment_1201" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="succulents date"][/caption] Aqui Terme. Town of roses and water. Show-off fountains and sparkling expanses of wet marble. Sulpherous ... read more
March has crept in overcast and hand-wringing in East Anglia. Late into the rose buying season, ... read more
The trouble with this garden is that you might never make it further than the car park. Swinging in from the flatlands ... read more
I remember her arrival vividly. Ticking the weeks off on my fingers, it’s possible to work out the date accurately: the ... read more
Once upon a time in the garden in winter, borders were put to bed, plants neatly clipped back to ground level ... read more
Geranium psiliostemon is shocking magenta with a black eye. The colour looks particularly good in a little bit of dappled ... read more
Flicking through a magazine, I came across pictures of a fish on a bicycle and a rubber palm tree and knew that ... read more
We did end up buying a carpet on the recent Syrian trip. Or it might be a rug or a ... read more
What most garden owners really need is the nerve to grapple with an unruly flower-bed and decide what to keep ... read more
WHO? Martha Schwartz WHY? Transforming urban ... read more
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Hebe rakaiensis is sturdy and a stalwart evergreen small shrub that can behave in the box ball ... read more
Damascene rose, damask fabric and as the guidebook would have it, Dimashq. The old town is an ellipse - bounded more or ... read more
Holiday Time and I am off to find this goat in Syria. Or the friends of this goat. ... read more
Just when you had had it with green, autumn brings on the other colours. Senescence or the ageing process in ... read more
There is a walk round here that I go on nearly every day. The landscape is pretty spacious and empty. We ... read more
Eighteenth century looking glass with embedded lenses. ... read more
Rudbeckia fulgida, from the Asteraceae family and a familiar sight in a prairie planting, is a plant that you can ... read more
I have never been to Avon Bulbs in person. Once a year in autumn, a parcel arrives with contents ... read more
Our vegetable harvest has been pretty much a complete flop. We have giant pale marrows. Watery and with skins like toenails. ... read more
Sanguisorba officinalis Arnhem is tall and see-through so that you can peer out from behind a clump as if looking through ... read more
Neither a slate platter of sushi or a weed salad. I had spent half a day in the vegetable plot. To get ... read more
I have been a little too terse with the best/worst front garden collection. A bit of explanation is required. In ... read more
The lovely phyllotaxy of the nettle. Leaves are arranged in opposite pairs to catch maximum sunlight. ... read more
WHO? Carol Klein WHY? ... read more
Rosa x odorata 'Viridiflora'. This rose would go well with either pistachio ice-cream or a dark red flowering clematis such as ... read more
Il Sacro Bosco is a wierd and perplexing garden set in a ravine below the town of Bomarzo in the Sabine ... read more
I rate this garden **** Starred listings explained: 1. Call for a skip/ 2. Concrete over it/ 3. Covet ... read more
We’d made a plan to go and look at some graves. A little eccentric perhaps. But in the spirit ... read more
The meadows below our house are sprouting field mushrooms. The formula is correct - cows and cowpats rotate with fairly marshy ... read more
Pelargonium Leslie William Burrows. Make no mistake, absolutely nothing to do with 'Naked Lunch'. ... read more
Mosaic floor of bedroom, Hadrian's Villa. ... read more
Whenever I go plant shopping, lingering time is built in. The notebook, pencil and camera tag along. There is nothing quite ... read more
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August is a time for frazzled lawns, thistledown parachutes and gaps in the flower-beds. In ... read more
Bare wattles, unplastered, on Sussex barn. Exposing the bones of a timber-framed building. ... read more
What is it with ... read more
For starters, a rat or mouse has been chomping on my oh so wierd squash zuccheta Serpente di Sicilia. ... read more
and I came home and looked it up in a book. It's name is Chicorium intybus otherwise known as chicory. It is ... read more
[caption id="attachment_731" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="trial fields at Thompson and Morgan"][/caption] I had a very strange day that started with marvelling ... read more
I am in love with hollyhocks. At the height of their magnificence right now, they appear to peer down at shorties ... read more
WHO? ANTONY GORMLEY WHY? Because his installation at White Cube, Mason's Yard was the coolest thing I saw last month. ... read more
Garden designers like to talk about hard and soft landscaping. These two divide roughly into stone ... read more
[caption id="attachment_690" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="on the pigs back"][/caption] As a self-confessed techno-phobe and luddite, I feel I am on the pig's ... read more
Stipa tenuissima with Knautia macedonica and pale cranesbill, possibly Geranium Mrs Kendall Clarke. Backlit by sun and ... read more
Designed in 1936, this is the gateway to the Spider Garden, Hoveton Hall, Norfolk. ... read more
TERRA BOTANICA. Never heard of it? Just opened, it’s France’s brand spanking new theme park. All about plants and ... read more
A weekend of the colour of high summer is over. Latitude Festival is packing itself up right now. ... read more
It's a fantasy, I know. Unseasonal and a leftover from May's Chelsea but ... read more
An abstraction of rusty bedsprings. ... read more
Indentured vegetables. ... read more
[caption id="attachment_619" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="in aid of Over active bladders"]... read more
The first world war turned bracken into a serious menace. The exodus of agricultural workers from the land and with that, ... read more
A snazzy cultivar of the black elder. Since I last looked it has aquired a ... read more
WHO? THIERRY HUAU WHY? This man is behind the rebuilding of Beirut. ... read more
[caption id="attachment_599" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Thames Barrier"][/caption] On a visit to the Louvre, I found it weird and rather fascinating to go ... read more
These elephants are made of fibre-glass, have been painted by artists and are to be auctioned by a charity, Elephant Family, ... read more
The question is: which is ... read more
It cannot be kept a secret: I have a thing about hedges perfectly clipped, very ... read more
At the last tree, the dog came off the lead. Imnediately she retrieved live to hand. A small thing ... read more
Camera has stolen a little of its soul. Trollius chinensis 'Golden Queen' is more orange ... read more
Can't think how the bucket got in the picture. An outward and visible sign of ... read more
Sputnik plant has come to live with us. Bought from a charming Frenchman who nurtures bonsai trees. Sputnik plant ... read more
I have just returned from a completely magical evening ... read more
This is Edinburgh. Overwhelmingly grey but lovely. Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. Adam, not the seagull. ... read more
This is a detail of the main door, St Maurice, Angers. ... read more
I am almost heading for the weird and wild lands with the genus Arisaema, known as Cobra lilies. They ... read more
[caption id="attachment_466" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="sky in St Ives"][/caption] The hill down to St Ives is thronged with genteel boarding houses, ... read more
The Suffolk Show yesterday. Hmmmmmmm - the washed and brushed side ... read more
This is Lychnis flos-cuculi 'Jenny', related to hedgerow Ragged Robin. Yes, I know it was all-over Chelsea ... read more
The trouble with some plants is they shyly make themselves impossible to photograph, and this one, Iris germanica Vigilante, ... read more
WHO? BETH CHATTO WHY? As Vidal Sassoon was to hairdos so Beth Chatto is to the garden. ... read more
an intimate look at the stem of the monkey puzzle. Why exactly was the monkey puzzled? ... read more
[caption id="attachment_399" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Exbury gardens"][/caption] On Sunday went to Exbury Gardens on the Beaulieu River, Hampshire. It was at its rhody ... read more
Hard at work on last minute preening before judging on Monday ... read more
[caption id="attachment_365" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="garden by Decembrini and Zanzi at Chelsea"][/caption] ... read more
Pennisetum massaicum Red Buttons looking seriously good on the Knoll stand at Chelsea Flower Show. Likes a sunny ... read more
Dine out on it? ... read more
Judging away yesterday in the mid-day swelter. ... read more
but the upside of not being in bed asleep is that I can ... read more
[caption id="attachment_329" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Cattleya Orchid and 3 Hummingbirds. 1871 oil on panel MJ Heade. c National Gallery of Art, Washington DC"]... read more
[caption id="attachment_341" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="15th century angel roof"]... read more
[caption id="attachment_349" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="early 14th century church roof"][/caption] Scissor-braced, seven-canted roof ... read more
Lovely ploughed field in Suffolk. ... read more
Oh no what has happened here? The ... read more
[caption id="attachment_286" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Paeonia delaveyi"][/caption] Paeonia delaveyi makes it into May's list for its tempestuous dark foliage. For this ... read more
Lovely peony with joke name Paeonia mlokosewitchii transcendental in Sunday's rain. Less yellow than usual. ... read more
Taking over along with white bluebulls, regal fern and our ladies bed straw. Superb ground cover at Sissinghurst ... read more
Loved the Bish who presided over a long confirmation service in a very plain Edwardian Church. We are ... read more
a detail of Fulani cloth - someone told me it was a bathmat for a tribal elder but that might ... read more
I've just been for an early morning stroll in the garden with bare cold feet. Peering into my ... read more
This is Omphalodes cappadocica 'Cherry Ingram'. Lucky her, I would love to have this sparkling blue patch of ... read more
[caption id="attachment_244" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="cottage garden planting"][/caption] and while I am thinking what to write about the fabulous garden that ... read more
The lovely leaves of Heuchera 'Chocolate Ruffles' . Try it with Alchemilla ... read more
This tree is - or was - my friend Panda's prize possession. The tree - a 300 year ... read more
So how do you liven up that austere area of gravel, low hedges and grass in front of ... read more
Our vegetable patch is 2 winter's old. We went for the 1.2 metre wide beds (a la Joy ... read more
WHO? Richard Mabey WHY? Because he has championed our native flora and fauna. He writes beauttifully and makes me feel ... read more
is the really yellow one. I stayed with friends on Thursday night and drove through Lavenham yesterday morning. ... read more
I met Lyn for the first time a week or two back. She was standing in ... read more
The cottage garden is just that - a bit of everything from vegetables, to dahlias through ponds and roses. It is an undesigned sort of place, but practical can be beautiful. ... read more
Part of the 13th century Cosmati pavement in San Crisogono, Trastevere, Rome ... read more
[caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Tulipa Antraciet"][/caption] Tulupa Antraciet, a double late flowering tulip, is in flower right now. ... read more
[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Tudor courtyard of Okenhill Hall, Suffolk"][/caption] about Okenhill Hall, near the castled town ... read more
WHO? Dan Pearson WHY? Because he is articulate, a top notch plantsman and good looking too. He walks quietly through the ... read more
Yesterday was balmy - sunlight and blossom and the unfurling of new leaves. I met my friend Georgina for ... read more
[caption id="attachment_99" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="patterned brickwork at Okenhill Hall"][/caption] A swatch of magnificent Tudor brickwork at Okenhill Hall - this is ... read more
DON'T do what I did and choose your flowers from the pictures in the catalogue. The colours will be totally wrong, ... read more
Has to be this trunk spotted in Botanic Gardens, Rome ... read more
Plug plants are just that - of a size to scramble to fill the bath plughole. Lots of nurseries offer them for sale - flip through the weekend gardening pages and ... read more
Am I alone in finding last week's radio rant about daffodils in the countryside just a little bit wierd? ... read more
What I have pictured here is a seriously naff daff which has arrived unbidden in our garden. We had, alas, ... read more
Beds, borders and pots are all very well but don’t overlook your walls – almost all houses look softer clothed in foliage and really ugly ones can hide behind the makeover ... read more
Did you know that if you put in a fence, you need to give your neighbours the best side to look at? To be sure of the entente cordiale with the ... read more
COUNTRY GARDEN I know a man who looks like God in the Sistine Chapel, bestowing life on Adam. Angus, bearded of course, is an absolute whizz at restoring old orchards. He will ... read more
COUNTRY GARDENER [caption id="attachment_14" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Beautifully pleached tree"][/caption] Let March invoke a paean to pleaching. This old word is defined as ... read more
Stoned and Rocked in Japanese Gardens 1000 rocks from the coast were chosen. Each one individually wrapped in silk for protection and taken to a Zen garden in Kyoto. This town, the former ... read more
