Mediterranean Garden

A few hours at Kew Gardens – the newly re-opened Temperate House, Alliums on the Broadwalk, treetop walkway, the Hive, gorgeous Wisteria, a Rhododendron or three, and laburnum arches, waterlilies, the Davies Alpine House and Rock Garden, peonies galore, many remarkable trees, a Japanese landscape and the Pagoda … and much more-

Categories Acid-loving plants, Alpine, annuals, Architectural Plants, Exotic, Garden Design, General comment, herbaceous, Indoor gardening, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Rhododendron & Azalea, Roses, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, shade, Shrubs, Trees, Trees for smaller gardens, Tropical, Water gardening, Wildlife gardening, Wisteria, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on A few hours at Kew Gardens – the newly re-opened Temperate House, Alliums on the Broadwalk, treetop walkway, the Hive, gorgeous Wisteria, a Rhododendron or three, and laburnum arches, waterlilies, the Davies Alpine House and Rock Garden, peonies galore, many remarkable trees, a Japanese landscape and the Pagoda … and much more-

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a million. Kew Gardens today. Amazing, as ever -

Oranges and Lemons – a Mallorquines Odyssey

Categories Mediterranean Garden, Travel broadens the mind1 Comment on Oranges and Lemons – a Mallorquines Odyssey

A week away under a Mallorcan sun - on the north-west coast of this beautiful island  at Port de Soller. Not that we were lacking in sunshine at home - we left on the Bank Holiday Monday when temperatures in London were set to reach 27C, but the location, in a horseshoe bay beneath the…

Continue reading ➞ Oranges and Lemons – a Mallorquines Odyssey

An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter

Categories Architectural Plants, Bulbs, colour, conifers, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dry Garden, Exotic, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Great Dixter, herbaceous, Kitchen Garden, Magnolia, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Seasonal colour, shade, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Travel broadens the mind, Tropical, Vegetables, Wildlife gardening, Woodland Garden1 Comment on An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter

Well this time I'll let the pictures do the talking. And I nearly didn't call in this time around to Great Dixter and am so glad I did. I don't recall that I have visited in Spring before (it is a stupendous garden in late summer and autumn) and I did attend one of Fergus…

Continue reading ➞ An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter

A view from Kew – a blossomtastic Spring morning in these Royally Botanic Gardens

Categories Architectural Plants, Bulbs, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, General comment, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Rhododendron & Azalea, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, Shrubs, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Trees for smaller gardens, White Garden, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on A view from Kew – a blossomtastic Spring morning in these Royally Botanic Gardens

It certainly pays to make an early start, especially on such a bright and beautiful morning - and even more so when school holidays are upon us and Kew Gardens becomes a beautiful flower-filled playground and a great spot for a family picnic. For someone as bah-humbug as I about having unpopulated pictures - flowers…

Continue reading ➞ A view from Kew – a blossomtastic Spring morning in these Royally Botanic Gardens

Follow me as I tour the gardens at RHS Wisley – grasses and bananas, the Glasshouse (tropics and desert) and dry borders, fruit fields and a fragrant rose garden …

Categories Architectural Plants, Dahlias, dark foliage plants, David Austin roses, Dry Garden, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, General comment, Grasses, herbaceous, Hydrangea, Kitchen Garden, late summer border, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, plants for roses, RHS WIsley, Roses, Seasonal colour, Shrubs, soft fruit, Trees for smaller gardens, Tropical, Wild Food/Foraging, Woodland Garden2 Comments on Follow me as I tour the gardens at RHS Wisley – grasses and bananas, the Glasshouse (tropics and desert) and dry borders, fruit fields and a fragrant rose garden …

You've walked with me from the entrance at RHS Wisley through to the grass borders, across to the tropical border with towering bananas and cannas and past the dogwood collection (with willows and rubus) which are green green green at the moment but in winter are a forest of ruby, gold, scarlet, black and bone…

Continue reading ➞ Follow me as I tour the gardens at RHS Wisley – grasses and bananas, the Glasshouse (tropics and desert) and dry borders, fruit fields and a fragrant rose garden …

Lavender blue, dilly dilly – and white, pink, green, mauve, violet (more from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show & Downderry Nursery)

Categories Architectural Plants, Dry Garden, Fragrant plants, General comment, Mediterranean Garden, Summer gardenLeave a Comment on Lavender blue, dilly dilly – and white, pink, green, mauve, violet (more from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show & Downderry Nursery)

Downderry Nursery in Kent are magicians when it comes to Lavender - with a collection of over 400 varieties and a breeding program bringing new cultivars to market.  Their Gold medal exhibit at Chelsea was a huge wheel of colour and fragrance - and in my haste to capture as many individual varieties in detail,…

Continue reading ➞ Lavender blue, dilly dilly – and white, pink, green, mauve, violet (more from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show & Downderry Nursery)

My first visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (well, my first this year) – Witch Hazels aplenty, Alpine beauties – Magnolias! – and more… Welcome to Part 1

Categories Alpine, Architectural Plants, Dry Garden, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Snowdrops (Galanthus), Winter Garden, Woodland Garden5 Comments on My first visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (well, my first this year) – Witch Hazels aplenty, Alpine beauties – Magnolias! – and more… Welcome to Part 1

Hamamelis x intermedia Vesna Happily, Kew Gardens are a short distance from Teddington HQ (too) and as long as there is a parking space close to the Victoria Gate entrance, there is no excuse for me not to stop off and take a look inside. Sometimes this is just a short stop, perhaps less than…

Continue reading ➞ My first visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (well, my first this year) – Witch Hazels aplenty, Alpine beauties – Magnolias! – and more… Welcome to Part 1

Arabella Lennox Boyd – invention and boundless imagination in the gardens at Gresgarth Hall

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Autumn garden, Clematis, container gardening, Fragrant plants, Garden Design, General comment, Grasses, herbaceous, Kitchen Garden, late summer border, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Rhododendron & Azalea, Roses, Seasonal colour, Shrubs, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Summer garden, Travel broadens the mind, Trees, Water gardening, Winter Garden2 Comments on Arabella Lennox Boyd – invention and boundless imagination in the gardens at Gresgarth Hall

A chance remark and the right alignment of dates and here we are, wandering through these remarkable gardens created in the midst of a wooded valley, bisected by a tributary of the River Lune, a showcase for the imagination and talent of garden designer Arabella Lennox Boyd. Up North, in the village of Caton outside…

Continue reading ➞ Arabella Lennox Boyd – invention and boundless imagination in the gardens at Gresgarth Hall

Mayfield Lavender Farm

Categories Abstract Photography, Architectural Plants, Fragrant plants, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Summer gardenLeave a Comment on Mayfield Lavender Farm

Another visit to Mayfield Lavender near Banstead in Surrey - in fact I stayed so long taking pictures and sitting in among the rows of lavender that the nursery I actually went to visit closed for the day by the time I got there... tomorrow then. I bought some lemon and lavender marmalade, peach and…

Continue reading ➞ Mayfield Lavender Farm