Hardy perennial geraniums are the quiet doers of the garden. They’re reliable, tough and incredibly useful at filling gaps, especially around the woody stems of shrubs like roses and smothering bare earth. Most cope with sun or dappled shade so...
Clematis are fabulous for clambering through roses, up fences, walls and over shrubs and pergolas. There’s one for every month - the more the merrier we say!
For spring, March flowering, shade tolerant C. armandii such as lovely pink- tinged...
Ferns provide elegant soft green foliage in shady areas of the garden. They’re wonderful when planted under trees with other shade-tolerant perennials such as white astrantia and which work best en masse creating a calm, woodland feel. Evergreen ferns look...
Euphorbias are fabulous foliage plants with many displaying brilliant lime green flowers in spring and summer. Here’s a rundown of a few of our favourites.
One of the biggest varieties is E. mellifera, a bold architectural evergreen plant with rusty...
My grandmother passed on her passion for plants and gardening. After leaving school, I started an apprenticeship at Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight where I grew up, followed by...
There’s something magical about the way cyclamen lie dormant in warm weather, appearing again when temperatures drop. Despite their dainty appearance, they bloom through frost and snow and, in the right location, will freely self-seed and carpet the ground.
Frustrated by the limitations of container gardening on our balcony, we wanted a garden, so some years ago we relocated from London to the Cotswolds. We got our big garden, but we also got a theatre full of wildlife.
The sight of billowing pink or white cherry blossom against a cloudless blue sky is a joy to behold. In fact, this vision gave such comfort during the first Covid lockdown that the National Trust is leading a project to create...
It’s a joy watching bees in the garden. Sadly, however, they’re on the decline due to systemic pesticides and loss of varied habitats, amongst other things. Bees are vital for pollinating so much of the food we eat including nuts,...
As crafty projects go, this is pretty relaxed as you don’t need any tools or particular material, just twigs, wood and old pots lying around the garden – in fact the kids can do most of the work while dad...
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