(I've written about cutting the two meadows before but as it is such a big part of my working life at this time of year you might forgive me for revisiting the subject). Cutting the Priory meadow is a job that looms large from late-summer onwards. Cut it too soon and I lose late flowers … Continue reading Grass Cutting – Again
Photography
Almost Wordless Wednesday: House Martins
I'd forgotten about some house martin photos I took in July at the Barrowburn Tea Room in Harbottle, Northumberland. This seems as good a time to use them as any - before summer slips away completely along with the swifts, swallows and martins. I've seen plenty of martins here in Sussex recently on their way … Continue reading Almost Wordless Wednesday: House Martins
Gardening Dangers
My recent post, Aconitum Anxiety, led me to think on the possible hazards I face at work - as any report of a gardener's sudden death is apt to do. Not that I worry too much about danger and mortality but it did remind me that I wilfully ignore some gardening safety advice. There is … Continue reading Gardening Dangers
Wordless Wednesday: Miscanthus transmorrisonensis
... at play.
Aconitum Anxiety
I started growing aconitum after seeing it in a neighbour's border. I was nosing over the garden wall (a favourite past-time) and asked Mary about her tall plant with the striking flowers. She told me its common name, monkshood, and that she grew it as a substitute for delphiniums - which, after unrelenting slug slaughter, … Continue reading Aconitum Anxiety
Wordless Wednesday: Hornet
European hornet (Vespa crabro)
The Tropical Border – 4th Year
When I started the tropical border in 2012, it was hardly deserving of the name but a year later it looked more the part. And by 2014 many of the plants were enormous and the bed did have a whiff of tropicality about it. This year it has continued to mature and, on the whole, … Continue reading The Tropical Border – 4th Year
The Anxious Gardener 