This week we had frost in the Chilterns. The days have been balmy and sunny but the clear nights, which revealed the big harvest moon, brought temperatures right down. The frost was only visible on my car windscreen and insufficient to blacken my dahlias which continue to bloom away. The [...]
Dahlias are beautiful flowers to bring into the home, adding a touch of late summer or autumnal opulence with minimal effort on your part. Here I share four stunning but simple techniques using dahlias and describe how to grow them in any sized garden.
This week I drove a family member to an appointment in Rutland and was delighted as it gave me the opportunity to spend a day at Barnsdale Garden. You could call it a horticultural pilgrimage as I was a big fan of Geoff Hamilton's Gardeners World in the late eighties and [...]
It's Dahlia a-go-go in my garden at the moment and these blowsy beauties are providing sought after late summer colour. I've not featured six of one type of plant in previous Six on Saturdays, but with my garden overflowing with dahlias, this is the week. I'm growing almost twenty types [...]
Having a lovely cup of tea in my favourite mug whilst walking the garden is the best thing about returning from holiday. For some reason though I am always slightly nervous about what I will find in the garden. It's only when you go away for a bit, even a [...]
This week I visited Kew Gardens, where I saw many of the plants I'm collecting in my greenhouse, growing in the majestic splendour of the the newly restored Temperate House as well as the Palm and Waterlily Houses. So my Six on Saturday is a tale of two greenhouse collections [...]
Last night we finally had some rain and just stepping out into the garden this morning made me feel happy as the air felt fresh. A keen breeze was blowing the trees, a cool one, in stark contrast to the "hairdryer on low setting" breeze we've had for over a [...]
These beautiful flowers in pastel shades work well together and unplanned happen to be blooming at the same time in my garden. Here I tell you what they are and show you how simple it is to arrange them in a vase with no fuss or equipment. I also describe [...]
If you're looking for a shot of cool blue in a high summer garden - plant Echinops. It's largely trouble free and bees of all sorts can't get enough of it. Commonly known as the Globe Thistle, Echinops has steely grey slightly spiky divided stems - but it is the [...]
