On days when I am not working, I like to get up early and have a little quiet wander around the garden. The dogs come with me, and we have a good sniff around. I thought you might like to come with me this morning. I tend to go around clockwise. I was listening to…
Bridging the Gap with Biennials
I have extended my cutting patch this year, adding two new raised beds. I got a little bit overexcited by my new space and went on a spending spree with the marvellous Chiltern Seeds (whose catalogue of pure flower porn inspired a whole post of its own, Flowergasm!) You might have thought that two varieties each of…
Six on Saturday: bits of fluff
At this time each year, our garden is visited by fluff. Hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of bits of fluff. It is from dandelion clocks. They all set sail across the fields and alight on our garden. We are a popular destination. It can look like there has been a frost or a…
Contentment vs. happiness
My daughters are at an age when there are lots of comparisons. Clothes, make-up, phones, grades, ‘likes’… Acquiring such things can bring happiness. But does it bring contentment? Happiness is a short burst, and generally comes from something external. Someone praises your work. You get 300 followers on social media. You click ‘buy’ on your…
Lilacs and Cuckoos
The garden is starting to flaunt it. So before I get carried away with early summer floriferation (yes, I may have made that word up), I thought I would just write a little post about lilac. And cuckoos. We inherited four lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) in our garden, so I have had to guess at the varieties. By…
Darling Buds
In the gap between the end of the tulips and the start of the poppies and the peonies, we can bathe in the lush growth of May. In February there was bare earth, just the odd clump of snowdrops. The growth in March was ankle-high, with crocuses and primroses. April, knee-high, with the tulips. In…
Six on Saturday: Vintage Silk
As you may have noticed, I have a thing for bright and deeply saturated colour. But I have other weaknesses too. Back in autumn I was seduced by a certain supplier of tulip bulbs and gave into temptation. I decided to try some sun-faded tones: vintage silk alongside my usual velvet and satin. I selected…
Peach Fuzz
Sssshhhh… I have to say that very quietly because even the words p-e-a-c-h f-u-z-z give my daughter the icks. This is another installment in my bud fest. If you want to catch up, here are the previous exciting episodes: Early Birds, The Dawn Chorus and Bursting Buds, The Ugly Duckling Becomes a Beautiful Swan and Cauliflorescence! We have a good…
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 These are the last tulip pics I will post for this year. I almost promise. I had to admire this wonderful red-with-a-hint-of cerise-and-crimson lily-flowered tulip. I couldn’t find a…
In a vase on Monday: EMERGENCY RESCUE!
I wasn’t planning to post this morning, as I don’t want to fatigue my readers. However the foul weather (swirling winds, torrential rain) meant I had to perform an emergency rescue on my tulips. These poor things were in danger of getting their necks broken. So was I. The rescue situation explains why some blooms…
Aging 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…
