The first frost has struck the Priory and the tropical bed wasn't happy. Dahlias were disheveled, discoloured and crumpled when I turned up for work (bright as a shiny new button) on Monday morning. I bundled all that dahlia top-growth off to the compost bins and wrapped up the banana (Musa basjoo) in hessian. This … Continue reading Away Awhile Again
Photography
Priory Picture Post # 15
Mahonia isn't the prettiest shrub in the land. Indeed, when I've speared my fingers for the umpteenth time on it's dead leaves, I tend to be even more dismissive of it's charms.An easy and effective way to prettify it, is to do as I do and nick an idea from someone else.At Great Dixter they … Continue reading Priory Picture Post # 15
Summer’s Almost Over …
... and there is a nip in the air. The trees, for the most part, are still green and holding onto their leaves. Swallows and martins show off and delight overhead; they haven't started queuing up on power lines yet, anxious to be away. But you can sniff something in the air. And it's not … Continue reading Summer’s Almost Over …
Priory Picture Post # 14
Tired, bedraggled, wet and past it's prime. But hey - that's enough about me. Here's Gaura lindheimeri.
Flowering Stones
Over the past week, I've been keeping a beady eye on one of my lithops. Very intently. Because ... ... it's been gearing up to flower. Each day I've willed it on, urged it on, cheered it on, until, huzza! It did the deed and threw itself open. Welcome, my little lovelies, welcome. It's been worth … Continue reading Flowering Stones
Wendy Wasp
On the west lawn at the Priory is a laburnum tree (L. anagyroides). I've never been a big fan of laburnum: a small tree usually growing in suburban front gardens which bursts into yellow bloom in Spring - and then fades away again for the rest of the year. But our laburnum grows out of … Continue reading Wendy Wasp
Grass Snake
I was strimming the banks of the east pond the other day and disturbed a young grass snake (Natrix natrix). Angrily, he reared up at me like a king cobra; would have been pretty damn scary too - if he'd been any bigger than six inches long. Fearless little chap. A little later I came … Continue reading Grass Snake
The Anxious Gardener 