I’ve had several people asking me recently about this blog, and why I’ve not been posting to it. Am I OK? Have I, perhaps, moved? Decided to concrete over the garden in fury? Cover it in decking, maybe? Tempting though the latter might be at times like this, when I have to collect all the hay…
Farewell to the cedar
Once upon a time I had two Western Red Cedars in the garden. One was about 1.5 metres from the side of the house and was showing clear signs of wanting to be in the house, so that had to come down, which it did in 2012. That was OK, because I had another. Until…
Giving in to horticultural temptation
I have the willpower of a maggot. It is known. So when I found myself over by the Yorkshire coast for a family wedding, it was only natural that I should also, mystically, find myself over by an amazing nursery. Sigh. And it is a truth universally acknowledged that an addicted gardener in possession of…
Impossible roses
Apparently, you can’t grow roses ’round here’. I know this is true, because the person who informed me that I had too many old-fashioned flowers and who also knows that ‘orange has no place in a garden’, told me. Roses just will not grow, you see. Fortunately, the garden didn’t hear her. This is the…
Admirable aquilegias
Yes, they’re ‘old-fashioned flowers’ – see last rant, sorry, post – and yes, I have got a lot of them, but I do love aquilegias (aka columbines) and this seems to be a spectacularly good year for them. I have hundreds. And it’s just as well I love them because, apart from some Black Barlows,…
On old-fashioned flowers and daft statements
Not that long ago I was told that I shouldn’t have ‘too many old-fashioned flowers’ in my garden. I edged away from the person who told me that – they had also informed me that ‘orange has no place in a garden’ some time earlier – before making a bid for freedom, but it got…
Strewth, it’s spring
One minute it’s freezing, the heating is clicking on and vests are needed; the next it’s ridiculously hot; the one after that, it’s back to vest-and-heating territory. The garden is as confused as I am, and one result has been that the kale went from barely growing to bolting over a weekend. But everything else…
Time passes!
and before you know it, and without it being deliberate, it’s almost a whole year since my last post. And the post before that was an apology-lament about not blogging. Well. I am back. Really. No, I am. And so is the garden, but then that never stopped doing the changing thing. and now, thank…
Meadow watch, end of June
I cannot believe how much the meadow changes in one quick month. Mind you, it’s been an insane month in terms of weather. Insane. The temperature has varied from over 30 degrees one morning, to under half of that the next. The nights were either impossibly hot or you needed a blanket. The garden wasn’t…
Still growing – and still here!
Oh dear, so much time has passed since I promised myself I would blog more frequently and get back on track. All I’ve managed to do is feel guilty that I wasn’t doing either. So while I am still stupidly busy I’ve decided to do some brief posts, and maybe the occasional meadow watch thing,…
Beangenie 