OK, so I might be overdoing the whole plant acquisition thing: More bamboos, more rudbeckias, more grasses, more achilleas ..... The sheer number of plants stored around the greenhouse is a worrying reminder of how much planting I've got to get on with. Some are grown from seed, some from cuttings, some are divisions, some … Continue reading A Backlog of Plants
A Quick Catchup
I've been painting gloss work at home; door frames galore and literally mile upon mile of skirting - or so it seems. I've also grown increasingly annoyed, irritated and badmouthed at a new laptop. A new laptop that won't connect wirelessly to the net. I've tried so many 'IT solutions' but it still won't OBEY … Continue reading A Quick Catchup
Margaret’s Cows
The other day, I was enjoying a mug of Earl Grey in the greenhouse, doing a spot of watering and listening to some tip-top pop tunes on my headphones. Singing away to myself I didn't hear that I had company. It was only some movement, caught out of the corner of my eye, that made … Continue reading Margaret’s Cows
The Beech Hedging
Much of the west lawn is surrounded by an old, high beech hedge. Whoever planted it should really have planted hornbeam* as, like beech, a clipped hornbeam hedge holds its leaves over winter (this is called marcescense, which is a fine word by any standard) - though the dead leaves are muddier in colour than … Continue reading The Beech Hedging
Priory Picture Post # 11
When not working at the Priory, my commute to work is a drive through the South Downs National Park. It has to be one of the loveliest of drives, through woods and fields; past flint built farmhouses and cottages and a Saxon church in a nothing-happening village; under a great arc of sky with tantalising … Continue reading Priory Picture Post # 11
The Shape
On one of the Priory outbuildings is an ivy. May 2011 I've been thinking about shaping it into something. But I'm not sure what. A hand, a heart, a butterfly? A leaping, snarling Bengal Tiger? I'd hoped that as it grew it would become obvious what it ought to be. For awhile, last year … Continue reading The Shape
Greenhouse Update
I don't grow a great deal of veg at the Priory (given the size of the place) and I don't post much about it either. Courgette plants with sweetcorn behind There are so many really good veg blogs out there such as Karen's and Trevor's - that I tend to leave to them, and others, … Continue reading Greenhouse Update
The Anxious Gardener 