The shady garden in summer and autumn… beginning an A-Z

  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…

The shady garden in summer and into 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…

P P P P Pick up a Pelargonium …..

RHS Wisley has put on a fantastic display of Pelargoniums in the Glasshouse - such colour and fragrance (the scent in the leaves in this instance). Clearly they can be bright and bold, frilled, starbursting and bi-coloured but there are stunning varieties with simply beautiful foliage (oak-leaved and variegated for example) as well as those…

Petersham Nurseries – Glorious flowers for a wedding and other beauties that caught my eye today (Agapanthus, Alliums, a Blackbird, Camassia, Corydalis, Cosmos, Euphorbia, Geum, Iris, a Viburnum called Watanabe)

A wedding being celebrated in the Nurseries today and my talented florist-colleagues Thomas Broom-Hughes and Flora Lawson have been busy creating these beautiful displays. Worthy of more than a few photographs I should say. The Cutting Garden provided an opportunity for a few 'captures' this evening too, as I left Petersham Nurseries. While the new…

Old Rose, Tea, Fruit, Musk, Myrrh – fragrance & unlocking the secrets of the rose

This article is by Robert Calkin, originally published in The Royal National Rose Society Historic Rose Journal Autumn 2013. If you are not a member of the Historic Rose Group, articles such as these are just one reason to join! All the photography is mine. The weather this afternoon is so foul, I've enjoyed the…

Wild Food Foraging with Claudio Bincoletto – a whole new world of incredible edibles – especially the bee pollen…

Claudio Bincoletto, chef, horticulturist and raconteur.. What Claudio brought with him from his own foraging trip... Omelette with hop shoots, garden nettle, calendula petals, campion.. and delicious! Satisfied customers...! We took a turn around the House Gardens to see what was edible there.. Rose petals for so many applications - candied, syrups, jams, ices, for…

Lady Waterlow, Maigold, Hansa, Dunwich Rose – an early start to the rose season at Kew

Lady Waterlow - proving to be an early-flowering variety here too (as it is at Petersham Nurseries) at Kew Gardens and with the distinctive loose form, pale colouring, streaked with darker stains. Just beautiful. Here it is climbing up the brick pillars supporting the long, gently curving wooden pergola in the Family Beds garden at…

Lady Waterlow – a perfect rose for a pillar, post or low fence…

A rather beautiful rose in bloom today - as it is in the gardens of Petersham House - but a chance here to study it up close. Large-flowered climber Origin -Nabonnand, 1903 Parentage - 'La France de '89' x 'Mme. Marie Lavalley' Color - Pink & white blend/gold stamens Foliage - Medium green Thorns -…