Of all the architectural plants available alliums are for me the stars of the show. I love everything about them – their colour, shape, vertical nature and amazing seed heads. Whatever size garden you have there is an allium to suit as they can grow anywhere in height between 30cm -200cm. I think another key to their … Continue reading »
This weekend we harvested our broad beans from our Hitchin allotment. Thanks to the recent rain that had fallen the beans had swollen beautifully and we had a ‘bumper crop’ this year. Everyone took a turn at snapping the pods and removing the beans ready for me to put in the freezer. We tried growing … Continue reading »
An architectural giant in the garden and one that ticks a lot of boxes for me as a designer is this one – Sambucus nigra (black elder). In flower now and looking striking with it’s lacy black foliage it makes a real focal point in a sunny border. Sambucus Nigra (balck elder) Bred from our … Continue reading »
I stumbled across Angie Lewin’s work a couple of years ago. I was visiting the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge and bought a birthday card with one of her prints on from their gift shop. Ever since then I’ve been hooked! As a garden designer and someone who loves plants for their form, texture and structure … Continue reading »
Trying to find a climbing plant that grows well in shade is not always easy. Here’s one of my favourites, it’s called Akebia quinata or chocolate vine. It’s a really pretty climber with deep maroon flowers that appear in the spring and have a slightly spicy vanilla fragrance. It has attractive bright green leaves and … Continue reading »
Every year I watch the moss patches in my lawn grow larger and larger. This weekend I decided to do battle armed with my new tool (or toy) that I ordered recently from Amazon. My new Lawn Scarifier by Wolf It’s a manual scarifier made by the company Wolf. I’m rather a fan of the German … Continue reading »
For the last few years we have tried to grow broad beans on our allotment in Hitchin. Planting ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ in the autumn and allowing them to overwinter in the ground. However this only works if you have a mild winter. The snow of this year ruined many people’s crops (including our own) and it was … Continue reading »
Anything that flowers in the winter months should be celebrated especially if it’s pink! Plant Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ in your garden and it will reward you with colour on a cold, grey day. It’s a mediumto large sized deciduous shrub with attractive bronze foliage in autumn and exquisitely fragranced flowers fom November right through till March. … Continue reading »
Sowing seeds always requires a certain level of patience (something I must admit I’m not very good at!) But, always up for a challenge I thought I’d help a friend and sow these Bat Plant seeds (Tacca Chantrierei) for her. She was given them as a birthday present and passed them on to me knowing … Continue reading »
January is always grey and after the Christmas snow the garden looks at it’s most bleak and uninviting! But as usual the sight of a group of planted dogwood always lifts my spirits. Grown for their bright stems dogwood looks stunning planted in groups and will lift any garden border in the winter. Whether you … Continue reading »
