Who features amongst your top famous Gardeners?  Percy Thrower‘   Geoff Hamilton or  Alan Titchmarsh are in the traditional mold along with Geoffrey Smith, Beth Chatto and perhaps Peter Seabrook although he is more a journalist as Alan Titchmarsh is a TV presenter. The modern off-cumdens like Diarmuid Gavin and Charlie Dimmock seem to be all [...]

Chinese lantern, Physalis franchetii, grows from seed and is a very short lived herbaceous perennial. It will grow two feet tall and bear small, white flowers followed by large, balloon-like papery husks in July and August. Growing Chinese Lanterns The Chinese lantern plant is valued for its inflated orange-red seed coverings or calyx which resemble [...]

Snowdrops for me signify the end of Winter rather than the coming of Spring. Tucked under this hedge row the snowdrop is left to multiply naturally by seed and by division. Tips for Snowdrops Transplant snowdrops as soon as they finish flowering and have visible leaves. This is when they are ‘in the green’ and [...]

My Rhododendrons hope the worst of the snow has now passed and that there will be nothing to break the young flowering shoots. The buds are swelling nicely and the rain and sun from last year should bring forth a good crop of  ‘blousy’ flowers. Housekeeping Tips With the ground still wet I have mulched [...]

True blue flowers are hard to find in many gardens although Purple, Lavender, Lilac, Mauve and Violet exist in many shades. Since there are no true blue Roses, Peonies, Dahlias, Daffodils or even Tulips these showy flowers are out. So if you find a good strong blue then stick to it and use it with [...]