Thank heaven for creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata). Not really for any intrinsic value the plant possesses – it’s not particularly ornamental, though I do quite like the variety with the deep maroon foliage…
Read moreDay 349: the eagerness of self-seeders
That’s the thing about self-seeding plants – you can’t rely on them to self-seed themselves where you want them to. But they are pretty much guaranteed to settle themselves into precisely the wrong spot…
Read moreDay 348: cutting down
It’s as well I serviced my secateurs recently – they’ve been getting a good workout as my work gardening year draws to a close…
Read moreDay 347: marcescence. To fade without falling
Trees are pretty ruthless about getting rid of parts of themselves they no longer need – leaves jettisoned as soon as they have reached the end of their useful lives…
Read moreDay 346: mistletoe
There’s a magic about mistletoe (Viscum album), one that’s not entirely comfortable. A strangeness to a shrub that seems so alive at a time of year when much of the natural world is shutting down…
Read moreDay 345: stinking iris
The leaves of stinking iris Iris foetidissima certainly have a characteristic smell, though not one I’ve ever associated with roast beef…
Read moreDay 344: focus
Winter strips away distractions and, while the skies might seem more vast and the landscape more open in the absence of abundant leaf cover, I find myself drawn to the small details…
Read moreDay 343: December grows on
Under the leaf litter, the growing goes on, unconcerned with Christmas and tax returns, inclement weather and a lawn too muddy to make passage pleasant…
Read moreDay 342: ivy berries
December dashes on, and the berries are out on the ivy. You find them held just proud of the mature foliage, those glossier, deep green leaves with none of the lobing we associate with the juvenile form …
Read moreDay 341: nature unconcerned
A walk through the London streets in the run up to Christmas, yielding me perhaps the most unlovely garden detail, though one I can’t help but return to consistently…
Read moreDay 340: anchor plant
The anchor plant, or Colletia paradoxa, is such a garden oddity – a shrub that seems to bear more affinity with a dinosaur than a vegetable…
Read moreDay 339: acanthus standing
It’s time to tame the acanthus, or at least, its aerial parts – getting to grips with its roots is something of a fool’s errand. But now the leaves are looking decidedly tatty…
Read moreDay 338: holly berries
I think it might be a good year for holly berries. Not the best, but better than the last, when the shapely dark green leaves had to carry the whole winter show on their own…
Read moreDay 337: the venerable pear
I’m not entirely sure anyone knows the exact age of the espaliered pear tree in the Blue Garden at Great Dixter. Trained against one of the original walls of the medieval house…
Read moreDay 336: December colour
Winter now. We’ve been preparing to accept the colour bleeding gradually from the world outside for a season…
Read moreDay 335: winter hopes
If we’ve learnt by now the relative futility of dreaming of a White Christmas, we can at least hope for a frosty winter. And, as the meteorological calendar ticks over to that season…
Read moreDay 334: a mossy step
While the wisdom of allowing moss to colonise your garden steps might be questionable, there’s no denying its romantic appeal…
Read moreDay 333: putting the gunnera to bed
Nobody forgets their first meeting with a gunnera (Gunnera manicata) in all its glory. Some plants are just memorable…
Read moreDay 332: the trouble with spindle
I know we’ve already spoken of the spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus), but having found its empty (for the most part) ornate seed cases on the ground
Read moreDay 331: English oak
The oaks are finally turning. Ever the most tenacious of trees, the English oak (Quercus robur) should never be underestimated, not least in terms of its autumnal activity…
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