I bought this camellia ten years ago specifically to grow in a pot in the Courtyard Garden.  I was looking for plants that would stand some shade and would add colour to this shady damp bit of concrete between the outside cludgy and the conservatory (a romantic description or what!). I would have told you that her name was Debbie, in my head that is what she is called but when I checked to make sure it turns out she most definitely is not.  So whoever she is, she is rather lovely. So there she is when she was new, looking happy enough in her pot.  She was happy, she did exactl ..read more

Regular readers may recall that a couple of years ago I reviewed a couple of products from Finches Friend - the 'Cleaner Window Feeder' and the 'Cleaner Feeder 1'; so when I was at the Garden Press Event a few weeks ago and saw their stand I went over to say hello.  They showed me their 'Cleaner Peanut Feeder' and asked me if I would like one to review.  Well of course I said yes. I have not paid for this feeder and I have not been paid to write this review.  My words and opinions are my own.   The feeder follows the same principles as the ones I have previously revie ..read more

 Suddenly it is blossom time, one moment the blossom was tight in bud, the glimpses of pink were tightly wound, but the days are longer and the sun is warmer now we are past the solstice and only a few days later the magic had been wrought. With an almost audible 'pumph' the blossom on Quince Major has started to open. and there is plenty of blossom on Quince Major which is a relief.  Regular readers will recall that in January this year I pruned both trees and Quince Major in particular was pruned quite hard.  Seeing a goodly amount of blossom on Mr Major was something I had ..read more

Dear readers,  I need your help.  Many years ago my grandfather Jack Levey on the board of Nottingham Forest and was chairman between 1975-1978.  My early family years revolved around Nottingham Forest as unsurprisingly Saturdays were all about the game.   photo credit not known In 1971 Gerit De Ruiter bred the Nottingham Forest Rose.   The above photo shows my grandfather 'admiring it' with Matt Gillies who was manager of Nottingham Forest 1969 - 1972 and someone else who I am afraid I do not know.  Ignore the mispelling of my grandfather's na ..read more

March has mainly been rainy, this Winter has largely been rainy and Spring is not looking very different.  Thankfully we have had a couple of dry days recently which means that the lawn has had a mow and there has been some weeding; but generally it has been rain stop play. Then, as the last days of March appear, so does the sun.  In the front garden the Magnolia is looking rather wonderful.  So far the scarcity of frost this year has been a bonus for it and long may this last. The Cypress trees in the Knot Garden could do with their tops taking off and now is the time of year ..read more

Dear Garden Well this year is turning out to be a doozy and a half isn't it?  So much going on and frankly not much of it so far is good.  'Things can only get better' as the song tells us, well the only direction is forwards and so that is what has to happen. My dear garden, you have been a bit distant in recent weeks, its not your fault, this is not a blaming moment but the sheer amount and regular occurance of rain over this Winter has made getting good gardening days really quite difficult.  We are now in Spring and I am being hopeful that the weather might give us both a b ..read more

I have been wanting to revisit RHS Bridgewater for some time.  I took advantage of the guided tours they ran before the garden actually fully opened to the public, the last one of which was my last day out before the lockdown in March 2020; and whilst I have been very keen to go and see it now it is properly open to the public the opportunity just had not arisen... and then the opportunity arose.  I was going up to Manchester to see a show with my daughter; we planned to visit Bridgewater on the way up and stop off at the pottery factory shops in Stoke on the way back.  This se ..read more

I have wanted to visit Shibden Hall for some time, I have known of Anne Lister and her coded diaries for quite a while.  When the TV series 'Gentleman Jack' was announced I knew I had to watch it and hoped I would not be disappointed.  As a great fan of the actor Suranne Jones and the writer Sally Wainwright I knew this was unlikely and of course I was not. Fast forward a year or three and I was going to Halifax for a sewing retreat.  Why I had forgotten Shibden was near Halifax is unclear, but as we drove past Shibden myself and my daughter shouted words to the effect 'bloody ..read more

"Would you like to spend a day in the Worcestershire countryside learning new skills such as dry stone walling, bricklaying and willow-weaving?" read the invite "Count me in!" was the swift reply. I already knew of the Task Academy as its founder Rupert Keys took part in my 'The Questions' series last year.  It was lovely to meet Rupert in real life.   Rupert has an impressive career history of over 30 years in landscaping.  He works with his wife: the garden designer Ruth Gwynn on projects and he also has built award winning show gardens, including the Newson He ..read more

I might have mentioned a few times that I am quite fond of snowdrops.  When I moved to this house there was one tiny clump in the front garden but other than that there was ne'er a bulb, not even daffodils.  It has been my mission ever since to spread snowdrops far and wide in the garden and particularly in the Wild Garden.   I usually buy around 200 snowdrops in the green, usually from a nursery called 'Naturescape' which is not far from where I live and also, quite frankly, the most reliable source of reasonably priced snowdrops I have found. I might still be a 'not qui ..read more