A retrospective calendar at this stage, of course, but after a look back over photographs I had taken in the garden over the last year I selected one from each month:
A Flower Calendar.
Standing at the Gate
Janus, that ancient Roman god, was two-faced! He was a god of beginnings and endings, of looking to the future and to the past, a god of gates and doorways, of passage and transition and he gave his name to this month, January. Perhaps, to call Janus two-faced (insincere and deceitful) is not being fair … Continue reading Standing at the Gate
Just being Miserable!
I'm good at it; very good at it, I'm told - at being miserable, that is! I put it down to practice and, as you have heard, practice makes perfect so, yes, I am perfectly miserable! The flu came on the 20th of December and, though the dramatic misery has passed, it now lingers with … Continue reading Just being Miserable!
The Scentual Garden – A Review.
Fragrance lost its importance in our gardens. We drifted away from an appreciation of scent; became more visual in our judgement and selection and nowadays rarely include scent in a description of a plant. We have fallen out of the practice of appreciating one of the central and important aspects of our gardens, the fragrance … Continue reading The Scentual Garden – A Review.
Extra Pages in the Calendar.
A member of one of Facebook's many gardening forums posted a selection of photographs this morning, one for each month of the year - a calendar of sorts. It struck me as a good and interesting exercise, certainly something which would while away some time on a dragging day of constant rain. I had done … Continue reading Extra Pages in the Calendar.
Olivier Filippi – Bringing the Mediterranean into your Garden.
This is a remarkable book, a book of extraordinary depth and of marvellous inspiration. Olivier and Clara Filippi have run a nursery, specialising in Mediterranean plants, in the south of France for over thirty years. They have travelled the world to study the plants of dry-climate regions and have made an in-depth examination of … Continue reading Olivier Filippi – Bringing the Mediterranean into your Garden.
Winter Gardening.
E. A. Bowles saw the possibilities of all seasons and winter was not without its interest: “So, if only the owner of a garden will plant enough plants of the most different types and habits procurable, there ought to be never a day in which he cannot find some pleasure in watching growth or decay, structure … Continue reading Winter Gardening.
