Month: April 2016

E is for Epimedium (or Horny Goat Weed) :: A to Z of Gardens

Bishop’s hat, barrenwort, fairy wings, rowdy lamb herb, randy beef grass, horny goat weed… These are all common names for epimedium. I can easily understand why epimedium might commonly be called fairy wings or bishop’s hat (or mitre) when you see the shape of the flowers. And bishop’s hat is an eminently suitable name, given that they tend to flower… Read more →

April: What To Do Now

For me early spring has been all about bold blues, yellows and acid greens. It’s a colour combination I love to see after the monochromes of winter. In our front garden, primroses and grape hyacinths (muscari) are self-seeding happily in one border (see photo above), while on the other side of the path, dog violets and a creeping sedum, whose… Read more →

How To Build A Bug Hotel

It was a gorgeous day today and there was nowhere I’d rather have been than in my garden. Well, truthfully, I’d rather have been relaxing on a beach lounger, listening to the lapping waves of the Indian Ocean, but that wasn’t an option. I sat in the sun and watched the bees that were busily collecting nectar from the pulmonaria… Read more →

Up The Garage Wall (Part 2)

Late last summer, I was puzzling over the problem of how to disguise or distract from the ugly garage wall the runs down the left hand side of our garden. I came up with a few ideas in this post, and received lots of helpful feedback and suggestions. In the end, I decided that the best solution would be to… Read more →