I think William Morris would have approved of the evergreen, Daphne bholua ‘Limpsfield’, seeing as how it manages to be both useful and beautiful…
Read moreDay 34: speedwell
Whether or not your flowerbeds and borders currently boast a covering of snow, within the next week or so this little plant will be making a land grab…
Read moreDay 33: Melianthus major
If you’re a hopeless day-dreamer, you may find the overlapping patterns created by the sawtooth leaf margins of the honey bush, Melianthus major, sufficient to send you into a lengthy reverie…
Read moreDay 32: rex begonias
There are two kinds of houseplant murderers – those that kill with kindness, and those whose horticultural homicides arise from neglect…
Read moreDay 31: winter heliotrope
Okay – not the most attractive of flowers, I’ll admit. But, oh – the fragrance!
Read moreDay 30: Phlomis russeliana
Few plants beat Phlomis russeliana for architectural interest, a spectacle through spring and summer…
Read moreDay 29: rose hips
I wonder if you’re a Big Picture person or whether, like me, you tend to get lost in the details…
Read moreDay 28: Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'
Winter-flowering plants are rightly held in high esteem – those with scent even more so…
Read moreThe Gardens, weeds & words podcast, Series 1 Episode 6
Looking at the garden in January, it’s easy to feel you really should dive out there and get stuck in, but there’s a lot to be said for taking a considered approach. In this episode I talk to British sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon about how she’s borrowing techniques from her artwork to create intimate spaces in her garden, and just how much time she spends standing about and staring at nothing much.
Read moreDay 27: wood avens
The best way to see wood avens (Geum urbanum) is in large colonies illuminated by dappled light beneath a woodland canopy…
Read moreDay 26: umbrella plant
It’s easy to take a reliable plant for granted, and I think I’ve been guilty of this with the umbrella tree, Schefflera arboricola…
Read moreDay 25: heralding spring at Chelsea Physic Garden
A marker at the beginning of the gardening year, tomorrow Chelsea Physic Garden throws open its doors to mark the transition of one season to the next…
Read moreDay 24: Cotoneaster horizontalis
Cotoneaster horizontalis is a conundrum…
Read moreDay 23: ligularia
There’s much to be said for plants that go to seed with style…
Read moreDay 22: periwinkle
No denying – Vinca can be a stinker…
Read moreDay 21: witch hazel
Upon the list of winter-flowering shrubs that stimulate schnoz, witch hazel (Hamamelis sp.) ranks high…
Read moreDay 20: lords and ladies
Who could be unmoved by the wonderful marbled green and cream leaves of Arum italicum subsp. italicum ‘Marmoratum’…
Read moreDay 19: hellebore
Hellebores aren’t the cheapest of plants to buy – but I can’t imagine being without them…
Read moreThree wonderful weeders from Burgon & Ball
If you’ve still a little Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, then let me help you spend a very few pennies on some shiny new gardening tools. You can tell yourself it’s a noble deed in the cause of tidying the garden, and if Marie Kondo comes round to complain about more stuff, we can lock her in the shed.
Read moreDay 18: string of hearts
The string-of-hearts or sweetheart vine (Ceropegia woodii) is a perfect houseplant for those who might be a little forgetful…
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