Cow Vetch
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 …
Small Tree – Snowy Mespilus or Juneberry (amelanchier Lamarckii)
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)
How to Make trellis Panels
Three examples of sturdy, long-lasting, DIY trellis panels TRADITIONALLY, trellis is any open framework used to partition areas of a garden or support climbing plants. In principle trellis — which comes from the latin for “arbor” or “summer house” — …
Using Trellis Panels in Fences
Trellis Panels in the top section of this 2m fence improve the look, adding texture and visual interest. I used trellis panels to reduce the visual impact of the 2m fence that runs along one side of my garden. The …
Grape Hyacinth ‘Estha’
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 …
PasqueFlowers Looking Stunning this Easter
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 …
In the deep midwinter
Watery sunshine lights up the garden at the start of the new year. On this mild midwinter’s day I find a few errant blooms, bravely struggling on long after closing time: The last violet buds of agapanthus trumpet towards the …
Hallowed Souls
Dew-jewelled gossamer frames Hosta “Praying Hands” The spooks have been out over night. Hundreds of tiny garden denizens worked unseen through the night. As the morning mist lifted their work revealed: everything shrouded in Halloween webs. Let’s go and see …
Ivy-Leaf Cyclamen: a Hardy, Autumn Variety
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 …
Lily-turf (liriope muscari ‘Big Blue’)
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 …