Newsletter
On a cold, wet day in November it's hard to remember quite why I want an outdoor life. But wrapped up properly and encased in waterproofs even a squally day has its moments. I was at Dunham Massey today, gathering leaves in the now quiet garden, closed to
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Some trees have a fleeting week of glory, only to fade into anonymity for the rest of the year. The rowans deliver all year round for me, starting with tresses of white flowers in April/May. Delicate, shapely leaf cover takes over until August when the berries start to colour
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The wind and rain lifted today for just long enough to let me sweep up piles of leaves and pull up a few finished annuals. This is the first year for many that I've taken the leaves to the council recycling rather than filling the leafmould bin with
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I've never been in the least bit interested in tender houseplants. Why bother with all that intensive mollycoddling and nurturing when so many beautiful plants grow outside here quite happily? But having seen in Oz what fabulous plants can be grown if the temperature stays above 5-10C I&
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Yesterday we were in Sydney, Australia in warm spring sunshine, admiring the Jacaranda trees decked out in their pretty purple spring flowers. Today we're back home, watching gale force winds strip the last of the autumn leaves. We've been away for three weeks in Cairns, Brisbane
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It may be mid October but we're still getting daytime temperatures in the high teens and overnight lows close to 10C. The autumn performers are having a fine time, making the most of the late warmth and sunshine. I think today I'll say little and let
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I've been clearing out the polytunnel, cutting down the finished tomato and squash vines and preparing it to overwinter some young plants. Since we expect to move before spring, this should be the last time I grow tomatoes in this trusty 10 year old polytunnel. We've
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I'm back at Reaseheath every Thursday for the RHS Advanced Certificate. Although we're going back over ground we covered for the L2 (General), there's quite a bit more detail and the big extra so far is the plant ident. We need to be able
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I planted this border 10 years ago and it still works a treat each spring and autumn, delivering a rich band of colour around this corner of the garden well into November. It's a mixture of Spirea 'Limelight', Sedum spectabile, Fuchsia Mrs Popple, Potentilla 'Elizabeth
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After losing the fish through my own stupidity, it was reasuring to see some success stories amongst the plants. The cyclamen seeds I sowed three weeks ago have germinated, their little heart shaped leaves unfolding gingerly in the treacherously mild September air. My mother gave me some cerinthe seedlings three
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Two weeks ago I turned off the pond pump as the water had dropped 6" overnight. I didn't think it would be a problem as I know of several ponds with plenty of fish and no pump running at all. And there are loads of oxygenating plants.
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A new flush of colour has appeared in the past few days. Some are autumn specialists such as the cyclamen and hardy fuchsia. Others have come back for another show. I'm especially pleased with Primula vialli which I thought only flowered in spring, and Echinacea 'Art'