This has been a rough old autumn. Not because of the weather, but because of the political climate. Never have I been more affected by news stories (see Direct Action). The personal has most definitely been political. So where do I seek refuge? You guessed it! There is nothing like a spot of digging to…
Category: Bulbs
Planting bulbs in your garden or in pots will guarantee surprises through the seasons. There is nothing quite so therapeutic as we go into winter as planting spring bulbs. Here are some of my favourites…
Infatuation
It is easy to think that the garden has done what it is going to do this summer. We can only deadhead spent blooms and keep things watered, and continue to keep things going into autumn. And then it does this! Which very quickly become this: And then they do this! And you just can’t…
Sissinghurst blows hot and cold
We had an impromptu Sissinghurst skip on Sunday, children, grandparents and all, so I thought I would share a few pics of what’s going on. Tulips I love this wonderful red-with-a-hint-of cerise-and-crimson lily-flowered tulip. I couldn’t find a label for the variety. It’s too pinkish for ‘Red Shine’ I think, so I’m opting for ‘Pieter…
Ageing Beauties
I am infinitely more at ease with the way I look in my forties compared with my teens, twenties or thirties. I have heard women complain that they feel invisible as they age, but maybe I felt too visible when I was younger. Or visible for the wrong reasons. I was judged on what I…
Six Softies on Saturday
Inspired by all the other Six on Saturday posts which feature the dreamy tulip ‘Angelique’, I thought I would add a few soft and creamy ones of my own. Six on Saturday is where The Propagator invites garden bloggers from around the world to share six things going on in our garden right now. 1. Tulips ‘Jazz’…
A Profusion of Pots at Perch Hill
I went for total indulgence in the hot spell last week. I reasoned that it was too hot for serious gardening, so I may as well visit other gardens and bask in the tulip displays. So on Friday it was Great Dixter and on Saturday I took the family to Sarah Raven’s Open Garden at Perch Hill….
Good morning, my fine feathered friends!
The title is an homage to one of my favourite children’s books, Quentin Blake’s Cockatoos. Each morning Professor Dupont, a dapper chap, jumps out of bed, takes a shower, cleans his teeth, gets dressed, ties his tie, adjusts his spectacles and goes downstairs. He goes into his conservatory and there are all his cockatoos. He throws wide…
A Perfect Day at Great Dixter
I’ve always felt that in any one year, there is one perfect ice-cream. Usually near the start of summer, or even late spring, often the first really warm day. You find the ice-cream van at just the right time, and its Mr Whippy is just the right consistency, and the 99 flake is just the…
Opening to the Sun!
Something magical happened on Saturday: the sun came out! And stayed out! You could hear gardeners around the country stampeding to their back doors to get their wellies on! But once I’d had a little potter around, a bit of weeding here and there, I decided I just had to sit in the sun. Here,…
Unripe Tulips
These last few days have been like the big climb on a rollercoaster, where it goes really really slowly, slower, slower…almost stops…you can see the whole theme park below you… You know any second now, it’s all going to happen, and your breath is going to be taken away, and you will feel the most…
Peeling back the layers at Great Dixter
On Saturday it was the Great Dixter plant sale. I have never visited Dixter so early in the season, generally visiting for the tulips in late spring, and again in the summer, for the dahlias and annuals. Great Dixter (in East Sussex but near the border with Kent) was the home of the late Christopher…
