I am now mostly recovered from our open garden and plant sale on Sunday. We had the most amazing day and raised £725 for the British Red Cross, which I’m thrilled about! I’m hugely grateful to everyone who came, all the kind people who donated plants, and my wonderful family, who baked and helped out on the day. It was… Read more →
Category: My Garden
Open Garden & Plant Sale On Sunday 12th June
I’ve taken the plunge this year and decided to open my garden to raise money for charity. All gardeners love a nose around other people’s gardens, don’t we? It’s on Sunday 12th June, 11am to 4.30pm, at 20 Le Strange Close (just off Christchurch Road), Norwich NR2 3PW. I’ve got my fingers crossed that the weather will be fine. We’ll be selling… 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 →
My Dahlias Have Arrived! :: Grow-Along
My dahlias have arrived. Yay! And the prize for funniest looking tuber goes to… (actually I can’t remember which one that was now). Well they certainly are strange, ugly things, and it’s hard to believe they will grow into something quite beautiful in a few months. Dahlias are tender plants and should not be planted out yet. If you have… Read more →
2016 My Year of the Dahlia
Every year I choose a new plant to have a go at growing. I felt quite overwhelmed when I first got into gardening. There are bloomin’ (forgive the pun) thousands of different plants out there! I wondered if I’d ever learn the common names of more than just a handful, let alone the Latin names and how to grow them. But… Read more →
Big Garden Birdwatch
We had a lovely time watching the birds in our garden when we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. The kids and I set up our birdwatching station in front of the french windows, where we had a great view of the garden. We had comfy cushions, binoculars and bird books, as well as the checklist… Read more →
There is no true beauty without decay
One of my very favourite films is Withnail and I. I’ve watched it countless times and often find myself quoting it in everyday situations: screeching “Get in the back of the van!” at my dawdling children; “We’re not from London,” when travelling anywhere in the country; “Fork it!” whenever it seems appropriate; and “I feel like a pig shat in… Read more →
Floral eye candy for a grey Monday
There are still lots of special things to see in my garden, even though we are nearing the end of autumn. On cloudy days, the few remaining flowers look so bright they seem to shout through the browns, greys and increasingly dull greens, and I just have to go out there and have a closer look. So I thought I… Read more →
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
The garden is looking quite gorgeous this week. The low autumn sunshine acts like a spotlight and the early morning dew is making the whole place shine. There are spider webs everywhere. The late flowers of roses, sedums, cyclamen, heleniums and asters are lovely. But as I walked around the garden this morning, it was the fruit and berries that… Read more →