Cut Flowers

"Growing your own flowers for cutting is all about bringing the outside into your home, reconnecting with a sense of seasonality and nature. Flowers are food for the soul, and it's time to rediscover the beauty of blooms grown in tune with the season." Growing your own cut flowers brings the pleasure of creating beauty …

Where did that Spreng from?

A little background story to a plant can add interest and the lead often comes from the botanical name. Sometimes the names are simply descriptive: Geranium sanguineum, Bloody Cranesbill, because of the red colour of the foliage in autumn and some say because of the magenta flowers. Caltha palustris, Marsh marigold, because it grows in …

Shade

This Is a book of encouragement, of positivity, of giving it a go! Read it and realise it doesn’t take an expert gardener to create something of beauty, something which brings enjoyment, a garden that will enhance our lives and our environment. Almost to prove the point, the author tackles what most gardeners would consider …

Come for a Walk with me!

"I'm off for a walk around the garden with the camera" is a regular call back to the Head Gardener as I go out the kitchen door. It is something I do almost every day and you might well wonder what I find to photograph that's different to the previous day but I have noticed …

Charles Frederick Ball

There has been a flurry of books in the post this past week and a small stack is waiting on my attention. In fairness to the publishers and authors who kindly forward books to me I read and review them in the sequence of their arrival. Of course, curiosity demands a quick flick through the …

Pondering Imagination

Much of our gardening activities are routine, unexciting and undemanding on our intellect. This can leave the mind empty and relaxed, an opportunity for the mind to wander to stray thoughts, to  mull over those peculiar ideas which come along every now and then or to give deeper thought to things which have been ricocheting …

Gardening for Gorillas

It is time for those of us who complain about our garden pests, slugs and snails, greenfly, blackfly and aphids in general, vine weevils, leatherjackets, rabbits, foxes and badgers, even pigeons and pheasants to put things into some perspective and a reading of Stephen Butler's book, Gardening for Gorillas, will go some way towards bringing …

A Case of Gardener’s Back!

It has been a disappointment that I haven't been able to attribute my present condition to some dramatic event; to be able to relate my downward spiral from a treetop where I had been lopping branches or the slip of a ladder as I ridge tile on the roof in a storm. No, it was …

Borde Hill

Four generations of the Stephenson Clarke family have created one of the great gardens of England. The plant-collecting enthusiasm of the garden’s founder continued in following generations with wonderful design and modern planting ensuring the best of gardens, one full of the exceptionally good plants organised and displayed in a perfectly pleasing setting.   Colonel …

The Plant Fair

My goodness, the crowds were unbelievable at the Plant Fair at Fota Gardens yesteday. We arrived in plenty of time and there was already a queue a hundred metres long, all patiently awaiting the “Go!” of the eleven o’clock start, many with their large bags or boxes or trolleys to hand ready for their intended …