The title of this post should really be: That moment when you realise that all of your house plants in England are actually regular garden plants in tropical countries and really just want to romp away and become huge, exuberant specimens! But what would be far too long, and my WordPress blog interface would shout at me about ‘readability’ and ‘SEO’ and other such things I don’t… Read more →
Things To Do In A Weekend :: Upcycle An Old Ladder
I was lucky to acquire two, old, wooden ladders from a friend, last week, which I greedily snapped up without any particular plans in mind, but with the certainty that I could find a use for a ladder somewhere in my garden. A quick browse on Pinterest gave me lots of ideas, most of which wouldn’t work for me. The ladders have… Read more →
The Garden Awakes :: A (Mostly) Walled Garden In Norwich
Today was a glorious day to be a professional gardener. I was working in the (mostly) walled garden of a stunning, mid-19th century terraced house in Norwich. The garden backs on to the original coach house, which is shaded by an unusual white mulberry tree. This back area is where I had my tea break this morning, and where I watched the frogs getting busy in the… Read more →
Winter Cherry Blossom To Banish Your Blues
It’s February. Finally!! I don’t get on with January. It’s too grey, too cold, too dull, and too not-Christmas. But February is nearly spring. So I like it. One thing that has helped me get me through the particularly dreadful weather and cold/flu season that was January 2018, was the winter-flowering cherry tree in our front garden. I love this… Read more →
H is for House Plants :: A to Z of Gardening
I should start this post with a few disclaimers: All images of the interior of my house in this post have been ruthlessly ‘faked’ – i.e. I desperately tried to hide/disguise/camouflage all the toys, dust, biscuit crumbs, forgotten school newsletters, fruit yoyo Bear cards, dirty socks, etc, which, in reality, usually cover every available surface. Some of these plants are fairly… Read more →
September Plant Crush :: Abelia x grandiflora
I’m starting a new blog series about plant crushes. You know, those moments when you’re walking down the street, or leafing through a magazine, or watching something on TV, and you suddenly fall in love with a previously unknown or unnoticed plant. Everyone does that, right? Anyway… I’m calling that a plant crush. This month, my plant crush is a… Read more →
Bank Holiday Jam Day, and other ways to cope with a glut
This past bank holiday will forever hence forth be know as Jam Day in our house. Something powerful came over me that weekend, and I knew I just had to get my jam on. I spent hours that Monday, chopping, coring, stoning, peeling, boiling, simmering, pouring, and then cleaning up, copious quantities of fruit and veg harvested from our garden. In fact,… Read more →
Gardens In The Sky, London
One small part of the grand celebrations for my cousin’s wedding in London this weekend was a visit to the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street. It was a fantastic experience, and I highly recommend you visit if you can. The gardens are at the top of a ludicrously tall sky scraper located just around the corner from the Tower of… Read more →
A Potting Place
I’ve been quietly tinkering away on an important area of my garden. It’s the area where I do all of my seed sowing, prepare cuttings, prick out and pot on seedling, plant up pots and hanging baskets, nurse ailing plants, and store pots of spring bulbs and plants that I’m not ready to plant out. Every garden needs a potting place. It’s a behind-the-scenes area, where all… Read more →
How To Create A Wonderful Wildlife Garden
It seems that every day in my garden, this month, I meet a new little creature that has decided to come and live here. It brings me a ridiculous amount of joy to have a garden that is buzzing with life. I don’t think a green space can really be called a garden unless it’s full of life. The kids… Read more →