Cheltenham College
January is the worst month for this blog. It’s too early for most early bulbs like aconites and iris reticulata (and you don’t tend to see them in the average … Read more
Veronica Peerless
Weekend inspiration: Garrya elliptica
I’ve never been much of a fan of Garrya elliptica, but this one caught my eye. The long, silvery catkins really caught the low winter sunlight, and the whole plant … Read more
The Chalice Well Garden
The last few days in the West Country have been cold but beautifully sunny and yesterday it felt almost spring-like. To blow some cobwebs away, we walked up Glastonbury Tor … Read more
Weekend inspiration: topiary
Olive Mason, of Dial Park garden, was beginning to think she had too many box balls in her garden. So inspired by some bolted leeks on her veg patch, she … Read more
Anisodontea ‘El Royo’
Now here’s a plant that I hadn’t seen before – Anisodontea ‘El Royo’, or Cape Mallow. Its hibiscus-like flowers persist throughout winter on this west-facing wall in Olive Mason’s garden, Dial Park – … Read more
Spider plants
I’m a big fan of spider plants in a window box. What other plant would trail as brilliantly as this? This pic reminds me of the wonderful window boxes I … Read more
My conservatory
There’s a clash of the seasons in my conservatory at the moment. Some paperwhite narcissi have flowered way earlier than I was expecting, and some pelargoniums (including the wonderfully named … Read more