Organic pest control

Remembrance of An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter (2018)

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 Remembrance of An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter (2018)

  An impossibly bright day, just like today, but taking us back two years to 2018 and a late spring coming back after the Beast from the East chilled (froze) the country over several weeks. Too bright for really good photography but a pleasure to remember. Enjoy. Well this time I'll let the pictures do…

Continue reading ➞ Remembrance of An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter (2018)

Planting for Honey Bees and other pollinators ….

Categories Acid-loving plants, Architectural Plants, Bee Friendly Plants, Climbing plants, colour, container gardening, Cottage Garden, David Austin roses, Dry Garden, evergreen perennial, Evergreen shrubs, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, herbaceous, Kitchen Garden, Mediterranean Garden, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Rhododendron & Azalea, Seasonal colour, Shrubs, Spring Garden, Summer garden, Trees for smaller gardens, Vegetables, White Garden, Winter Garden, Wisteria3 Comments on Planting for Honey Bees and other pollinators ….

Bee Mindful/Planting for honeybees and beneficial pollinators These are some of my notes for a day-long workshop taking place at Petersham Nurseries today, focusing as we have all month on the honeybee, bee-keeping, planting for bees, honey tasting and fermenting and styling with fresh flowers. And lunch, let's not forget that important little bit, and…

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My own private oasis – lots of green, a little pink summery loveliness, bamboo, bananas, charity shop finds and lots that love the shade ….

Categories colour, Composting, cookery, Evergreen shrubs, General comment, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Plants for a shady garden?, Shrubs, Summer garden, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on My own private oasis – lots of green, a little pink summery loveliness, bamboo, bananas, charity shop finds and lots that love the shade ….

This is a small private garden, no more than 24' wide and a little longer, well possible maybe twice as long, with a mature Horse Chestnut tree, from a neighbouring garden, that shades at least half of it. It was the reason we bought this house, such a beautiful sight in full flower and broke up…

Continue reading ➞ My own private oasis – lots of green, a little pink summery loveliness, bamboo, bananas, charity shop finds and lots that love the shade ….

Cottage Gardens

Categories Architectural Plants, Bedding, Bulbs, Clematis, Climbing plants, colour, Composting, container gardening, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dahlias, dark foliage plants, David Austin roses, Dry Garden, evergreen perennial, Evergreen shrubs, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, Great Dixter, Hellebore, herbaceous, Hydrangea, Iris, Kitchen Garden, late summer border, Mottisfont Abbey, National Trust Gardens, nerines, Open to the public, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, plants for roses, Propagation, RHS WIsley, Roses, Seasonal colour, Seeds, Shrubs, soft fruit, Spring Garden, Summer garden, Trees for smaller gardens, Vegetables, Wild Food/Foraging, Wildlife gardeningLeave a Comment on Cottage Gardens

Phyllis Bide – the perfect rambling rose for a cottage garden – informal flowers in a muddle of apricot and cream – and not a monster either, like Kiftsgate or Wedding Day… The Story cover photo is from the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden at RHS Chelsea this year. Proof if it were needed of the…

Continue reading ➞ Cottage Gardens

Petersham Open Garden 2018 – all the pictures!

Categories Art in the landscape, Bedding, Bulbs, Camellias, Climbing plants, container gardening, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dry Garden, evergreen perennial, Evergreen shrubs, Exotic, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Grasses, herbaceous, Hydrangea, Iris, Japanese Maples (Acers), Kitchen Garden, macropetala, Magnolia, my projects, Open to the public, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Rhododendron & Azalea, Roses, Seasonal colour, shade, Shrubs, soft fruit, Summer garden, Trees for smaller gardens, Tropical, Vegetables, White Garden, Wild Food/Foraging, Wildlife gardening, Wisteria, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on Petersham Open Garden 2018 – all the pictures!

Ten gardens, ten private passions, ten stories - all on show for Petersham Open Gardens, an event every two years where private gardens showcase their beauty and skills (and skulls in some gardens), for charitable purposes. And given the footfall today, the charity-benefitting coffers will be full to overflowing. Congratulations folk, one and all. I…

Continue reading ➞ Petersham Open Garden 2018 – all the pictures!

More from Petersham House Open Gardens …

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Bulbs, Cutting Garden, David Austin roses, Evergreen shrubs, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Grasses, Hellebore, herbaceous, Kitchen Garden, Lawn Care, Magnolia, Open to the public, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Roses, Seasonal colour, shade, Shrubs, Spring Garden, Summer garden, Trees for smaller gardens, White Garden, Wildlife gardening, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on More from Petersham House Open Gardens …

A play with the camera first thing this morning, before the crowds, with a few at the end of the day, with the longer shadows. A cycle in along the river this morning and again on the way home, quite delightful. Hundreds of visitors for the gardens, four hundred? five hundred?, enjoying the double borders…

Continue reading ➞ More from Petersham House Open Gardens …

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

Autumn Magic – Dahlias

Categories Cutting Garden, Dahlias, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Seasonal colourLeave a Comment on Autumn Magic – Dahlias

Dahlias have rather been enjoying these warm, wet weeks and have continued to perform extravagantly in the Cutting Garden at Petersham Nurseries. A rich soil and the care and attention of Rosie Bines and her team have obviously been key - plus they have been regularly harvested so that new blooms just keep coming. Here…

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Plant tonics expertly explained and recommended – thank you ‘The Telegraph’ – with some home thoughts too …

Categories Composting, General comment, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Pest controlLeave a Comment on Plant tonics expertly explained and recommended – thank you ‘The Telegraph’ – with some home thoughts too …

Plant tonics expertly explained and recommended .... I'm very taken with this article on plant tonics that appeared in The Telegraph today - always the bastion of excellent gardening advice (regular readers to my blog will know this already and be converted as I am). Taken so much am I that here it is in…

Continue reading ➞ Plant tonics expertly explained and recommended – thank you ‘The Telegraph’ – with some home thoughts too …