The leaves of stinking iris Iris foetidissima certainly have a characteristic smell…
Read moreDay 344: focus
Winter strips away distractions and, while the skies might seem more vast and the landscape more open…
Read moreDay 343: December grows on
Under the leaf litter, the growing goes on – unconcerned with Christmas and tax returns…
Read moreDay 342: ivy berries
December dashes on, and the berries are out on the ivy. You find them held just proud of the foliage…
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…
Read moreDay 340: fennel, still
Last one standing, tall stems of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) keep me company in the soggy December veg garden…
Read moreDay 339: the medlar
I’ve a bowl of medlars on the kitchen counter, the fruit of Mespilus germanica…
Read moreDay 338: holly berries
I think it might be a good year for holly berries. Not the best, but better than the last…
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…
Read moreDay 336: December colour
Winter now. We’ve been preparing to accept the colour bleeding gradually from the world outside…
Read moreDay 335: a bare root rose
There’s been big brown bag lurking about in the courtyard for far longer than I care to admit…
Read moreDay 334: a mossy step
While the wisdom of allowing moss to colonise your garden steps might be questionable…
Read moreDay 333: putting the gunnera to bed
Nobody forgets their first meeting with a gunnera (Gunnera manicata) in all its glory…
Read moreDay 332: Salvia x involucrata 'Hadspen'
Whilst waffling enthusiastically on about the Sabra spike sage that I’ve not yet written a post on Salvia x involucrata ‘Hadspen’…
Read moreDay 331: Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy'
Still on the subject of trees for small gardens, Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ deserves a place towards the top of the list…
Read moreDay 330: the fluffiness of asters
Of all the many reasons to grow asters, their fluffy button-ness rarely gets a mention…
Read moreDay 329: Malus ‘Adirondack’
Named for the mountain range, rather than the garden furniture style icons, Malus halliana ‘Adirondack’ …
Read moreDay 328: chocolate cosmos
Chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus) is still in flower in the borders…
Read moreDay 327: Sabra spike sage
The Sabra spike sage (Salvia confertiflora) is a whopper of a salvia hailing from Brazil…
Read moreDay 326: fire
The cold snap is moving in, and this gardener is in need of warming. Energetically raking up leaves creates a comfortable glow inside…
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