After a hot, dry September the garden is tired. The meadow is spent; spring and summer wild flowers are over and have set seed. It will be mowed next week. But there is still some colour at the Priory - although any remaining flowers in the kidney beds have had scant help from me recently. … Continue reading September Days
Gardening
Wordless Wednesday
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), The Old Forge, yesterday.
The Tropical Border – 3rd Year
Mid September already? It seems just a few short weeks since I lugged a large Musa basjoo out of a greenhouse; since I stripped the straw protection off those I'd left outside. Only a little while since I wheeled out Colocasia esculenta and hefty red bananas (Ensete maurelii). Hardly any time at all since I … Continue reading The Tropical Border – 3rd Year
Win A Copy Of ‘The English Country House Garden’
It's been several months since I've held a book competition on The Anxious Gardener. How remiss of me. How selfish. And so to remedy that I'll be giving away two shiny, non-thumbed books in the next couple of weeks. Here's the first. 'The English Country House Garden' retails at twenty-five of your Earthling pounds and … Continue reading Win A Copy Of ‘The English Country House Garden’
Bear With Me
I haven't posted for a while.I've been busy with some non-blogging stuff ... and intently studying a wasp nest on the east lawn.Excavation continues and it's getting bigger. And bigger. As you might suppose, mowing operations have been diverted.I've been distracted too by the sheer number of butterflies on the new verbena beds.There is a … Continue reading Bear With Me
Verbena Bonariensis Beds
In April 2012, I added two new beds at The Priory. I cut the turf from either side of the path-to-nowhere and planted a mix of Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' and Verbena bonariensis. And it was OK but not a resounding success. Nonetheless, I stuck with it for another year hoping for a big 'wow' … Continue reading Verbena Bonariensis Beds
Follers Manor
When Geoff and Anne Shaw bought Follers Manor in 2006 it was a mess. The house was virtually uninhabitable and the grounds an eyesore: a jumble of tussock, weeds and builders' rubble with a large, long-abandoned tennis court as a central feature. Today with the house and gardens rejuvenated it is easier to understand why … Continue reading Follers Manor
The Anxious Gardener 