An Englishman's Garden Adventures
While walking in the South Downs National Park this weekend I came across a meadow with several wild-flower species. None of them are uncommon, but it is lovely to see them thriving and provides a reminder of the long-lost splendour …
Hydrangea Annabell produces good cut flowers up to 30cm across People seem to have mixed feelings about hydrangeas. Before I started designing gardens I had a rather negative opinion of them myself, mainly because of the ubiquity of the blue …
The Roselily Series was developed by the De Looff brothers who began in 2001 with a chance double-flowered Oriental lily seedling. From there they embarked on a breeding programme which led to the development of a whole series of double-flowered, …
Travelling home along a narrow country lane near Colworth, West Sussex, I was suddenly struck by a large splash of purple-blue flowers growing on the bank at the side of a field. The UK has an impoverished wildflower selection compared …
Amelanchier lamarkii A perfect small garden tree with interest throughout the year The bed nearest our house is filled with woodland plants: clipped box, textured ferns, billowing Japanese forest grass, white foxgloves and irises. It is very close to the …
Read moreSmall Tree – Snowy Mespilus or Juneberry (amelanchier Lamarckii)
Latin: Muscari armeniacum ‘Estha’Season: April-May Height: 6in (15cm)Location: full/half sunSoil: any Certain varieties of garden plants just exude class, managing by some magic to transcend the merely ‘novel’ or ‘interesting’. This variety of grape hyacinth, ‘Estha’, is one such darling …
Pulsatilla vulgarisFlowering profusely on my green-roof at Easter this year The Pasqueflower — Latin name Pulsatilla vulgaris — is a rare wild flower of the UK being found now on just a few chalk and limestone grasslands. Known as the …
A friend of mine has just spent a small fortune filling a large border with the miniature bedding cyclamen that are in all the garden centres at this time of year. I agreed with her that they are great plants …
I have three clumps of lily turf in one of my woodland beds in my permaculture mini-woodland. They have been there for well over five years, but have only ever produced a few sparse flower spikes each year, despite the …
This is the white form of the Willow Gentian, Gentiana asclepiadea alba. It is a choice, slow growing and long-lived and reliable plant for shade or part shade. Its natural blue-flowered form is native to central and Eastern Europe, where …