Category: November

Winter is impossible to ignore and we can’t fight it. So why not embrace it and plant something that’ll look good and cheer us up, just when we need colour and fragrance. It is surprising how many plants are looking great right now and here are just a few of the plants that are making…

We have ‘enjoyed’ an exceptionally mild autumn and I have been slow in protecting some of my tender plants. A few were lifted and prepared for winter a while ago but the mild weather in recent weeks has made me complacent. There were dahlias in flower, though looking tatty, and it can be confusing to…

Hedges have a multitude of uses in the garden. They can define boundaries, offer protection to other plants and divide the garden into sections. They take a lot longer to achieve an effect than a fence or a wall but they are much cheaper and you don’t need brick-laying skills! They do need maintenance –…

We have been blessed with a mild autumn and I have been enjoying the display from the latest autumn flowers. Salvias, alstroemerias and the chrysanthemums have been blooming as though winter was never going to arrive but a series of hard frosts has brought me back to reality with a bump. At this time of…

Of all the insects that we find in our gardens, ladybirds, after bees, must be the most highly regarded. Although their colouration is designed to warn birds that they are not a tasty snack, we are always glad to see them. While I shake or brush off any other insect that uses me as a…

The days may be short and chilly but we can still dream about summer. And we can plan too. We are in the middle of the busy autumn planting season and this is the perfect time to plant trees and shrubs. There are many advantages to autumn planting: The soil is still relatively warm and…

When I started gardening, ornamental grasses were rarely considered as ingredients in our borders. The exceptions that spring to mind are blue Festuca glauca, which makes neat hummocks of spiky foliage and variegated Phalaris arundinacea, sometimes called gardeners’ garters. The fescue was always admired but the phalaris was always treated with suspicion. It is gorgeous…

There is a delicious irony in the way that most gardeners love to feed wild birds and then curse them in summer when they polish off all the red currants and peck holes in every one of the strawberries. I am guilty as charged and have planted my fruit bushes in the garden and intend…

It is not often that a completely new houseplant appears for us to try but last year I was tempted by something I had never seen before, called Murdannia ‘Bright Star’. When I was in charge of buying houseplants at Nags Hall, several decades ago I often let my heart rule my head and bought…

Spring seems a long way off right now and soon our attention will be consumed by other (festive) thoughts, though things will be different this year. We need to focus on good thoughts and nothing lifts the spirits quite like spring bulbs. Most of these should be planted by now, though I confess I still…