Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Another stroll down memory lane given that these gardens, like most across the country, are closed while Covid-19 runs amok. This time, almost exactly two years ago. Definitely no 'crowds upon crowds' now or any time soon. I promise to limit my re-posts, though with cherry blossom time really just around the corner, and…
A reprisals of a piece from June 2015 at Kew Gardens, as I am hosting a Shade-themed workshop today and have rescheduled several pieces to fill out the subject and which will form the basis of my updated notes. A talk on the beauty and possibilities of gardening in the shade - indeed on a…
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
The Shade Garden in Spring and Early Summer Right Plant / Right Place Here are my cobbled-together notes from a recent workshop on shade gardening, highlighting the planting possibilities for those folk who are lucky enough to have a shady spot in their garden. There is a wide, wide - wide - range of…
Continue reading ➞ Throwing some light on shade
I've a workshop at Petersham Nurseries for their ongoing program in the School of Garden Inspiration and I am tackling the shadier aspects of the garden - north-facing aspects, tall walls and boundaries, trees - and the dry, inhospitable places as well as the cool and damp. These areas ought to be a welcome distraction…
Continue reading ➞ Welcome Shade
Stylish winter containers with ideas and examples from Petersham Nurseries; colour, texture, fragrance contrast and harmony for outdoor planting combinations
Hawthorn, Bluebells, Azaleas and Rhododendrons, flowering Viburnums, a craft fair, tree-trunk sculpture, sunshine and fragrance. A fine start to a long-overdue visit to these gardens. Sunshine and a few scattered squalls, sometimes a bit over-bright for good photography, but glad to have made the effort to get out here today. The Craft Fair - huge -…
A few of my houseplants, dotted throughout the conservatory, kitchen, sitting room, bedrooms and bathrooms and all with their own particular requirements for sunshine, shade, indirect but bright light, humidity and watering regime. Plenty of room for more I think though .... Many of the pots are Burmese, though I should correctly say from Myanmar.…
Continue reading ➞ A few houseplants (Practise what you preach…)
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!
