You know when you think something was about five years ago, which means it was probably seven and then it turns out it is actually 11 years ago?  Well my dear reader I have been intending to visit Furzey Gardens for 11 years and I finally got the chance to do so. Way back in 2012 Chris Beardshaw designed an RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden for and with Furzey Gardens.  I liked the garden at the time but did not know the story behind the garden until a year later when I attended a talk Chris gave about building the garden.  It was a great talk and made me want to see the show gard ..read more

I recently wrote about my visit to Stockton Bury Gardens and I mentioned that one of the reasons for the visit was to have a tour of the gardens with Liz Knight, author of Buds and Blossoms. I have not paid for this book nor am I expected to review it.  My words and opinions are my own. This tour of the garden was not like any other garden tour I have been on, the purpose was to consider various ornamental plants as food that we might not usually consider to be food.  Here I have to make an immediate confesssion:  the thought of foraging does little to excite me; I might have ..read more

The RHS launched a new show this year, the RHS Urban Show: new venue, new concept - well, just mainly new.  Well of course I was going to go. It is billed as an 'immersive gardening experience' and I have to say it was just that.  The show is almost completely indoors, there is some outside loos and food stalls but otherwise the show is inside a huge old building almost next door to Manchester Piccadilly station.  This location made it very accessible by train for me so I a nice relaxing journey there. You enter via what is best described as a green tunnel and you do feel like ..read more

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