Rock chicks of the mountains, a traditional stone trough gives alpines their perfect show stage. Aged with moss and lichen, stone can be hard to beat aesthetically but they are expensive. You can create an artificial stone trough cheaply by covering an old sink in a cement-based hypertufa mix. Here's how.
My gardening week - six on saturday - 24.03.18 This week I decided to start planning a woodland path, pruned a wayward climbing rose, admired an Anemone, potted up dahlia tuburs, learned about an inspirational alpine gardener and decided on utilities for my new greenhouse.
My gardening week - six on saturday - 17.03.18 This week I admired wild cherries, a beautiful paperbush plant and my evergreen ferns. I also planted out spent forced bulbs, spotted a ladybird and was pleased to see plastics reduction in action.
This week I have visited Kew gardens, which has shaped my thoughts since and made me dream big for my new greenhouse.
Coming in a variety of colours wider than Jackson Pollock's palette, there is a dahlia out there for everyone. Despite their opulence they are surprisingly easy to grow. This article shows you how to grow dahlias and some of my favourite colour combinations.
A week in the cold - Six on saturday. This week I have been admiring Cyclamen cuom, hellebores, flowering quince and the new leaf on my Monstera deliciosa, whilst tracking animals in the snow and planting my show bench sweet peas (again).
Snowdrops are simple tough plants yet delicately beautiful. A pure white snowdrop finds its perfect foil in the a green of a lawn. So often snowdrops are contained in flowerbeds or tucked away under hedges and trees, or the far reaches of a lawn. I wanted to bring them into the spotlight. Now, from late January, my car headlights pick out mini pricks of bright white as I come up the drive in the early evening. By day the snowdrops soften the edge of the lawn, the green sheet broken by a pretty white filigree.
A bewitching winter arrangement - This arrangement of witch hazel (hamemelis) with multi-headed scented daffodils is a perfect representation of the winter garden, in a glazed ceramic jug. It was used as a table decoration for a winter wedding. The arrangement gives a citrus splash of yellow and orange, the bright colours tempered with the greys and sage of both budded and lichen-coated twigs.
Twiggy plants provide interesting shapes for home decoration and make great additions to any garden. Compared to the bountiful spring and summer months my garden offers slimmer pickings for winter home decoration so I’m always looking plants to grow that provide impact when artfully displayed with indoor bulbs or shop-bought flowers. I really value two twiggy plants in particular - Twisted Willow and Hazel. They earn their keep as garden specimens in any sized garden and are versatile as home decoration.