It's interesting to compare photos taken on the same date in consecutive years. Last year the Acer had shed its leaves, the orange dahlia had stopped flowering and the Amaryllis which this year have been finished a week or more, were still performing. Other differences, like the shrub that is no longer in front of…
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End of month view – August 2016
The lack of change between this view now and a month ago belies a definite change in the feel of things. A month ago the floral trajectory was up, now it is unmistakeably down. Around mid August it peaked, timing it badly for the end of month meme. It's now the season of taking stock…
Conifers
Conifers have become a somewhat tricky subject to talk about. As indifferent to the zeitgeist as I like to see myself, even I know that they've been deeply unfashionable for at least the last twenty years. You probably have to go back to the 1960's to see the start of what now looks like a…
Gastropods
My relationship with slugs and snails is a simple one; they vex me greatly so I kill them. I read somewhere, probably Twitter, that this year was going to be a bad one for slugs and snails because it had been such a mild winter. That is to say, it was going to be a…
A day in May
I see myself as the sort of gardener who is very interested in individual plants and rather less interested in the overall composition. That said, I am not indifferent to it and to group plants by their cultural requirements often leads to a visually harmonious effect. I don't have a large garden and in order…
Mid month muse
Years ago, there was an Astelia at RHS Rosemoor called 'Alpine Ruby'. It was very nice, I wanted one. At the time I worked on a nursery and looking for sources of supply, there was one, in Northern Ireland. There still is. Around the same time a new variety called 'Red Devil' was launched and…
garden ruminations 