There are several things in the garden that make me sneeze at this time of year, but helenium, or sneezeweed, isn’t one of them…
Read moreDay 189: lemon catnip
It’s taken me years to appreciate nepeta. Perhaps, as with our feline friends, catnip doesn’t quite get us all in the same way…
Read moreDay 188: cool water
Topiary and water features – two of the design elements that play into the narrative we gardeners like to spin ourselves that somehow we can contain nature and make her dance to our tune…
Read moreDay 187: give the devil his due
The first week of July, and it’s noticeably warmer in the garden – almost uncomfortably toasty. It’s not escaped my attention that its at precisely this time every year that Lucifer appears…
Read moreDay 186: pheasant berry
Some plants are real bruisers, but I wouldn’t be without them. Himalayan honeysuckle, or pheasant berry (Leycesteria formosa) is one…
Read moreDay 185: sowing again
Gaps are appearing. Holes in plantings where earlier perennials have flowered and are being cut back and annuals have done their thing…
Read moreDay 184: Hydrangea 'Annabelle'
By some crazy act of serendipity I’ve managed to get Hydrangea aborescens ‘Annabelle’ to grow through the deep red foliage of the Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’…
Read moreDay 183: melange
I’ve decided to christen this particular planting style as the “melange”, a word which all proud Europeans among us will instantly recognise as the French mot juste for a mixture…
Read moreDay 182: respect your elders
I like to spare a thought for the biennial and annual plants I’m pulling out. They’ve put on their floral show and now, presumably, are good for nothing but the compost…
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…
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