Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was commissioned by Granville 2nd Lord Gower to carry out improvements at Trentham over 21 years from 1759 to 1780. He enlarged the existing lake which was then fed by the river [...]
Blazing October: And it’s not just about leaf colour; many shrubs and herbaceous plants continue giving of their best all through the month and on until nipped by the first wintery weather. Michaelmas daisies have [...]
Richness and colour for September: Michaelmas daisies (asters - see picture of Aster amellus 'Sonara' at Hauser and Wirth, Somerset) never fail to delight the eye and attract a variety of insects. The very word [...]
Looking up - Scramblers for summer: A plant that can scramble up through another and use it as a support can add another dimension of colour and scent to your garden. Honeysuckle is not [...]
Shady favourites: white and blue flowers to glow in low evening light. Shade in this case means protected from the sun during most of the day; under the canopy of large trees, or in the [...]
Buzz Buzz Buzz - listen to the sounds of bees working hard while you lie on the grass and stare at the sky. Try to provide flowers for bees all year round, also have a [...]
“..adorned like sweet May”: This is the time of year when foliage is at its freshest and most vivid. New grass lights the fields. In the garden unfolding leaves shine in the morning sun with [...]
Narcissus poeticus Scents in April: There may be the occasional warm day - it is possible. Warmth brings out the first scented flowers of the year, which are so welcome and so enjoyable, [...]
Cornus mas Flowers! Colour! Scent! Even though it’s freezing cold the days are getting longer and the landscape is no longer uniformly grey and brown. There are shrubs and bulbs doing their thing: [...]
Waterfall at Rode Hall, Cheshire Snowdrops have already made an appearance, OK early, but not ridiculously so. Last year on a cold clear day in February I went with Cheshire Gardens Trust to [...]
Pulmonaria rubra Mild: Due to the late arrival of winter there have been some unseasonal spring flowers appearing during December. Pulmonaria rubra is always early, but I’ve never seen it before Christmas, exchorda, [...]
Betula albosinensis Of all the Trees that are in the Wood: There is holly and ivy of course, and very lovely they are too. But now, with the leaves blown away, look up [...]
Honeysuckle berries, good for birds, toxic for people. Berries galore! Berries are the jewelled decorations of the garden in November. They also provide a feast for birds. Garden-worthy hedgerow natives include honeysuckle, sloes, [...]
Stipa tennuissima at the Oudolf garden in Humello Ornamental grasses really come into their own at this time of year. Their stems are set moving by the wind and catch the low light. [...]
September and October are the unsung heroes of the flowering season. So many of our favourite hardy plants come into flower now, sometimes for the second time. Hydrangeas, their colours gradually changing with great subtlety, [...]
Fruits of August: The earliest apples are crunchy, juice and sharp. They don’t keep for long, best to eat them straight from the tree. ‘Discovery’ is a favourite being the first and most reliable. Colour [...]
July is a proper summer month. There should be a high hot sun bringing out the scents of flowers and foliage. If it rains, that too brings out that unique smell of grass and leaves. [...]
Aquilegia 'Pink Barlow' June. lovely June. With a bit of warmth, which surely must be coming, June is the month of roses and clematis and early herbaceous such as aquilegias and geraniums plus [...]
Apple blossom A touch of frothy blossom to welcome in the month of May. Flowering is late here in the top half of the country, the year has been cold so far. Flowering [...]
Camelia x williamsii 'Donation' Spring Zing: Suddenly there is blossom, there are flowers, even before the leaves, in some cases, emphasising the flowers against a clear sky. When the leaves do come, they [...]
