... as we head into June, May is arriving. What should have been a show-stopping leap centre-stage, has been a slow, very late and frankly embarrassing shuffle in from the wings. Not much is flowering at the Priory therefore though there is plenty of new, green growth. Here in the rock border, ferns (which survived … Continue reading Slowly, slowly …
Rhodohypoxis Fervour
I have a silly number of rhodohypoxis but, in my defence, I was smitten when I first saw them. I was working at an alpine nursery and watched entranced as hundreds and hundreds of 6cm pots burst into flower; crammed full of red, pink and white flowers. They flower for weeks on end and are … Continue reading Rhodohypoxis Fervour
Rain Stops Play
The tulips started off valiantly enough; poor, naive, unsuspecting innocents. They couldn't have imagined their cruel, bitter fate. (How could they? They're tulips). In a rare sunny moment, I took a photo or two but not many; after all there were bound to be more ... ... balmy, sunny days on which to capture them … Continue reading Rain Stops Play
An Arum By Any Other Name
Were you to visit The Priory at this time of year, and were I to gently push your nose under bushes and hedges and into shady, damp corners you would certainly notice Arum maculatum. You might not know it by its Latin name but perhaps you call it Lords and Ladies. Or Cuckoo flower - … Continue reading An Arum By Any Other Name
Where’s Spring?
Early April was so hot and so sunny that I screened the south-side of the greenhouse with netting. The nine automatic wall and roof vents cool it a little but it still gets terrifically hot in there. Of course, as soon as I finished stapling the netting into place, the sun slid behind ... ... … Continue reading Where’s Spring?
Tending Trees Part 2
I don't know exactly how many trees I've planted during the past four years. Not counting a hundred and seventy beech-hedge saplings or five yew-hedge 'trees' or any of the 'shrubs' that will attain tree-like status (photinias and cotinus for example), I guess about forty. During the same period, we've felled perhaps a dozen dead … Continue reading Tending Trees Part 2
Tending Trees Part 1
When I took the job at the Priory, I (naively) didn't appreciate how much time and care the trees would require. Each year, I arrange for any sickly, dangerous or unwanted trees to be felled and for dead, rotten and restricted branches to be removed. If a smallish tree needs felling or a low branch … Continue reading Tending Trees Part 1
The Anxious Gardener 