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 …
A Security Breach
Have you ever gone into a garden centre and asked for advice on 'rabbit proof plants?' Well, don't bother because here's the answer: there is no such thing. Behind the counter at the garden centre where I worked, we kept a folder. In the folder were information sheets: plants for shade, plants for sun, … Continue reading A Security Breach
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
A Bargain
A few months ago I was visiting a well known Swedish furniture store and spotted a sickly Ficus with half a dozen leaves and a dejected air. It was reduced by about twenty quid to a fiver. "Bargain," I thought and whisked it away home. We nurtured it back to health. It grew more … Continue reading A Bargain
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
The Anxious Gardener 