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True Blue
This little gem of a plant is Convolvulus sabatius, otherwise known as Blue Rock Bindweed. Unlike its invasive, white-flowered cousin it does not spread like wildfire and make itself generally...
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Other People’s Gardens No.2 – Goodnestone Park, Kent (Part 1)
Despite the showers, we set off after lunch for one of east Kent’s finest gardens. That could be read as faint praise, given east Kent has a complete dearth of good gardens open to the public....
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Other People’s Gardens No.2 – Goodnestone Park, Kent (Part 2)
One thing all this rain and cool weather has been good for is prolonging the flowering period of spring and early summer plants. Back in March my daffodils seemed to go on for weeks, when in other...
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Sensational Sissinghurst (Part 1 – Wall Flowers)
The gardens of Sissinghurst Castle in Kent must be amond the best known in England, if not the whole of Europe. They are the creation of two people, Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold...
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Summer scents
July is the month when our seaside garden is at its most fragrant. In a normal year we’ll spend many happy evenings outside, enjoying the scent of the regal lilies (Lilium regale) and star jasmine...
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The Joys of the Road
As we drove down to the coast this morning, I couldn’t help noticing just how green and lush the countryside looked compared to a normal July. Instead of taking on the golden highlights of midsummer,...
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Welcome to the Jungle
One thing this weather is good for is making things grow…..really fast. We arrived back home this morning and opened the gate to find a veritable jungle of dripping foliage and fragrant flowers. The...
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Summer’s Here!
Having so often mentioned the terrible, rain-soaked summer we’ve been having I feel it’s only reasonable to acknowledge that the sun is finally out. The weather has turned hot (and humid) just in time...
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A Moment of Drought
Some things are just not meant to be. I set off, already late, to visit Eltham Palace. Once the home of the Courtaulds this famous Art Deco house is now in the capable hands of English Heritage....
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Jobs for October and Early November
I always think good gardening calls for a certain type of ruthlessness. Never is that quality more needed than at this time of year when almost everything has become overblown and top heavy. It’s fine...
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Strange Fruit
After 3 weeks of part self, part snow-induced exile, I returned to the seaside last night during an icy gale that would’ve had an Inuit running for his furs. I expected to be welcomed by a few mushy...
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All Hail The Tromboncino!
I think it’s high time I got back to writing some shorter, spur-of-the-moment posts, so, here goes! You’ve all heard of courgettes aka zucchini, right? But how about tromboncino aka zucchetta? Perhaps...
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