Nobody likes me for suggesting the lavender needs cutting back in August. It’s looking glorious right now…
Read moreDay 213: raspberry thief
Here in the southeasternmost corner of the UK, we’re all still waiting for the summer that’s yet to arrive with anything like conviction. Today, we tumble into August…
Read moreDay 212: hemp leaved hollyhock
Not really a hollyhock, but like a hollyhock, a mallow, with leaves distinctly reminiscent of the naughty wonder-plant…
Read moreDay 211: globe artichoke
A peachy violet fuzz has appeared overnight on the globe artichokes, letting me know that I’ve missed harvesting them for another year…
Read moreDay 210: globe thistle
Summer here would be incomplete without the lavender blue lollipops of the globe thistle, Echinops ritro, just coming into flower…
Read moreDay 209: Lucifer lately
The weather this year has been surpassing odd, but never more than in the way that it’s delayed the appearance of Lucifer, the tall crocosmia…
Read moreDay 208: summer growth
Everything is growing like it’s going out of fashion, that last push to bulk up before the light truly begins to fade…
Read moreDay 207: Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'
Thunder rumbling from a threatening sky and the first heavy drops of intent falling on me, I’m squatting in a border, entranced by the heleniums…
Read moreDay 206: wild teasel
I think I’d almost grow the teasel for its botanical name alone – there’s something very satisfying about intoning ‘Dipsacus fullonum!’, loudly, as if it were some kind of Potterish incantation…
Read moreDay 205: height and volume
Height and volume. It’s what everyone wants in a newly planted garden…
Read moreDay 204: turks cap lily
A couple of years I got confused by the lilies at Great Dixter…
Read moreDay 203: off the ledge
Gravity and physics took a toll on my study today. Throw in some slightly suspect DIY skills and a recent growth spurt…
Read moreDay 202: purple party in the herb patch
There’s a party going on in the herb bed, which is alive with pollinating insects and resplendent in shades of purple and lilac…
Read moreDay 201: an alligator in the shed
Not an ad, but an enthusiastic response to the oddest looking bit of gardening kit that came in genuinely handy at the weekend…
Read moreDay 200: Hydrangea 'Annabelle'
A day, if ever there were one, to make like a hydrangea and head for the shade…
Read moreDay 199: the big butterfly count
Summer has arrived in time for this year’s Big Butterfly Count in the UK, which began on Friday and runs until 8th August…
Read moreDay 198: purple toadflax
The notion of the uninvited guest carries with it an air of something annoying, even perhaps sinister; the character who turns up looking to subvert events to their own agenda…
Read moreDay 197: daylilies
I’m conflicted about daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.). With their bright colours and flamboyant display they should surely be the cause of a roiling passion within me and yet…
Read moreDay 196: Rodgersia pinnata
Here’s the confusing thing about rodgersia: I can never decide whether I’m growing it for the foliage, or the flowers…
Read moreDay 195: magical combinations
I was preparing one of my lovely coaching clients earlier in the week for what to expect in the second year of a newly planted garden…
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