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 […]
Friday Inspiration ~ a rather smart plant combination
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 […]
RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2013 – A Preview
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 […]
A peek into a private Gertrude Jekyll garden.
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 […]
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2013 – inspiring gardens
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 […]
Friday inspiration – French garden style
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 […]
The Cloudy Bay Discovery Garden at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show – week 6
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 […]
Some helpful tips when you’re shopping for plants
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 […]
RHS Hampton Court 2012~ Show gardens & plants
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 […]
RHS Hampton Court 2012 ~ A preview of plants & gardens
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 […]
5 tips to banish the hosepipe from your garden
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 […]
The International Garden Festival Chaumont sur Loire 2011
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, […]