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A little preview of R.H.S. Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2014

July 6, 2014 By Jill Anderson

Hampton Court, NSPCC garden

If you’re going to be one of the 130,00 visitors to The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year, I thought you’d like a little preview so you can plan your visit. The show-ground covers 34 acres, so you’ll need comfortable shoes. I love the back-drop of the Palace, and since there are places to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Gardening, Plants Tagged With: gardens, plants, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2014, vegetables

Friday Inspiration ~ a rather smart plant combination

August 30, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

The striking foliage of these two plants combined together make a dramatic picture. The bright green plant is a grass called Hakonechloe macra Alboaurea, it makes a nice edging to a path and fills in the lower level, reaching just 40cm tall. It likes a moist, but well drained soil and will grow in sun or part […]

Filed Under: Blog, Inspiration, Plants Tagged With: Black Elderflower, gardens, Hakonechloe macra Alboaurea, plants, Sambucus nigra Eva, shrub

RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2013 – A Preview

July 7, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show opens to the public on Tuesday 9th July, I had a look round today and as ever it promises to be a wonderful Show. This year there are three new zones: 1. GROW:  all about plants and includes The Floral Marquee, the nurseries are in the Plant Vilage area and […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Inspiration Tagged With: bees, gardens, grow your own, RHs Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2013

A peek into a private Gertrude Jekyll garden.

June 17, 2013 By Jill Anderson 2 Comments

I live in a part of Surrey that has a real association with the famous designer, Gertrude Jekyll (1843 – 1932). She spent most of her adult life around here and formed her association with the architect Edwin Lutyens here too. Her house, Munstead Wood, is just a mile up the road from ours. Jekyll […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Plants Tagged With: Alchemills mollis, Charterhouse School, Edwin Lutyens, garden design, gardens, Geranium psilostemon, Gertrude Jekyll, herbaceous border, valerian

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – inspiring gardens

May 28, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

After a busy few months culminating in a few weeks of hectic activity, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is over for this year. There were lots of inspiring gardens in all sorts of sizes, here in no particular order, are a few of them with ideas that you may like to use in your garden. Regular […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Plants, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: Chelsea Flower Show 2013, Echium pininana, gardens, plants, sustainability, Wilson McWilliam Studio

Friday inspiration – French garden style

April 19, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

  I took this picture on a visit to a garden in France called Orsan, it sums up a perfect image of style and symmetry, and although it’s carefully planned, it manages to look so effortless. I like the contrast of the rough stone with the neat clipped vines enclosed in a frame… I plan to use […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Inspiration Tagged With: French gardens, gardens, plants

The Cloudy Bay Discovery Garden at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show – week 6

April 10, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

  Time seems to be flying by and the Chelsea Flower Show is rapidly approaching, only six weeks to go, hard to believe it’s spring when there was snow on the ground outside my office window last week. I briefly mentioned in my first post, that Andrew Wilson (half of the Wilson McWilliam partnership designing the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design Tagged With: Andrew Wilson, Chelsea Flower Show 2013, chelsea flower show judging, garden design, gardens, Gavin McWilliam

Some helpful tips when you’re shopping for plants

March 11, 2013 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

It’s a well known fact that in spring most keen gardeners thoughts turn to buying plants. Easter weekend is one of the busiest ones of the whole year for garden centres, so if you’re tempted to go plant shopping, here’s some helpful information. I’ve written a lot about having a list of plants that will do well […]

Filed Under: Blog, Plants, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: beneficial insects, gardening classes, gardens, plants, sustainability

RHS Hampton Court 2012~ Show gardens & plants

July 2, 2012 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

The Show is all set up and ready for the opening tomorrow, but today it was the turn of the Press, invited guests and celebreties to have a look round. This is one of the ‘low cost high impact gardens’. Designed by Mike Harvey and built for a budget of £13,000. The chairs are made out […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Inspiration, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: Agapanthus, Eremurus, Eryngium, gardens, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

RHS Hampton Court 2012 ~ A preview of plants & gardens

July 1, 2012 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

The R.H.S. Hampton Court Palace Flower Show doesn’t open untill the 3-8 July, but I went along this morning for a little preview. The Showground is busy with exibitors putting the finishing touches to their show gardens, nurseries setting up in the Floral marquee and the judges scrutinising the gardens. Medal winners are announced tomorrow evening. This […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Inspiration, Plants Tagged With: gardens, graffiti, plants, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2012

5 tips to banish the hosepipe from your garden

April 10, 2012 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

I hope you’ve all had a lovely, long weekend, and although we’ve had lots of rain, I’ve been thinking about the recent hose-pipe ban. Wouldn’t life be a lot easier if we didn’t need to use hose-pipes in our gardens? I know how frustrating it can be to coax plants through hot, dry weather with […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Plants Tagged With: garden design, gardens, hose-pipe ban, Planting Design Essentials, plants, water butts

The International Garden Festival Chaumont sur Loire 2011

April 4, 2011 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

The International Garden Festival Chaumont sur Loire opens later this month and runs until the end of October. It’s a feast of creative endeavour, set in the grounds of a beautiful castle next to the river Loire in France, so if you’re visiting France this summer I recommend a visit.  There will be 24 gardens, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Garden Design, Inspiration Tagged With: garden design, garden festival Chaumont sur Loire, garden shows, gardens, inspiration

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Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
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The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
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One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
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