Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
I had been preparing for a workshop covering the possibilities for gardening in a little - or a lot - of shade and put together the gallery last year to illustrate some of the contenders that anyone tackling such a proposition might entertain. A perennial question, this, what to plant, planting combination and health…
Continue reading ➞ The shady garden in summer and autumn… beginning an A-Z
I'm preparing for a workshop covering the possibilities for gardening in a little - or a lot - of shade and have begun to put together the gallery (above, but more to come) to illustrate some of the contenders that anyone tackling such a proposition might entertain. Damp shade and dry shade, dappled shade…
Continue reading ➞ The shady garden in summer and into autumn … beginning an A-Z
At Petersham Nurseries, we are planning our 15th Anniversary this month of May, celebrating the past decade and a half under the stewardship of the Boglione family and the development of the Nurseries and the expert team behind its horticultural reputation. We are choosing 15 favourites, roses of course, garden plants and houseplants, (for we…
Continue reading ➞ 15 Favourites – Garden Plants
Set by the banks of the crystal River Test, cutting through the chalk downland, sits Mottisfont Priory, dating to the 13th Century and with a colourful history right up to the 20th Century with Maud and Gilbert Russell bringing life again to the old house and the National Trust subsequently taking the House and Gardens…
A warm bright day and summer feels like it has arrived at Petersham Nurseries - well honestly it is June already. There are roses everywhere, big fat bright buds and blowsy blooms - and the scents! Old Rose and Spice (even a touch of Old Spice), vanilla and clove, fruit (citrus and peach, mango and…
I arrived at Petersham Nurseries 45 minutes earlier than necessary with a view to taking a few pictures - and I am a speedy photographer - so here is a little gallery of plants that are both conveniently for sale or at home in the Cutting Garden (a practical resource for so much of the…
A pilgrimage to these gardens, for which, so far as the roses are concerned, we have Graham Stuart Thomas to thank principally and for the last 40+ years, the National Trust for preserving and enhancing his original collection of Old Roses. Mottisfont holds the National Collection of Shrub Roses. I met Jonny Bass, the head…
Continue reading ➞ A return to Mottisfont Abbey; an Old Rose Pilgrimage
Creamy, gauzy, hazy combinations of pale foxgloves, astilbe and roses with hydrangea Annabelle - and Ammi majus with muted dahlias and corn marigolds - I'm channeling the spirit of the iconic TV adverts Flake today... go on, you can hum it....! The blue of nepeta below, a misty blue, with the same mellow feeling.
The rich red of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, against a tapestry of blackberry and plum tones from the Penstemons, dark leaves of one hydrangea and the cranberry flowers of Pink Annabelle. These might not all be bedfellows in your border, but the colour associations can still be made. Tess is one of David Austin's Fragrant…
Continue reading ➞ Roses, of course, and other floral delights for Thursday
The Teddington Gardener 