Last week, on a rare dry day, I made my very first visit to Kew Gardens in London. It is almost ridiculous that I have never visited before but living where I do it involves at least 6 hours on trains so you can understand why I have talked myself out of a visit time…
Category: 2015
End of Year View 2015
I thought I would do an End of Year View post instead of an End of Month post so I could see how areas had changed through the year. Starting with the view up the steps to the shed I am pleased with how the border along the steps has filled out. At the start…
That Was the Year That Way – 2015
Another tradition here at the PatientGardener blog is a round up of the year. It is always interesting to look back and remind yourself of places you have been and things you have seen or it seems, as is the case this year, places you haven’t been. I was surprised that I really haven’t been…
Boxing Day Flower Count 2015
My Boxing Day Flower Count is becoming a real tradition now as this is the fifth year I have done it. It is simply a case of going round the garden and counting how many plants are in flower. Of course when you start thinking about it in detail, as no doubt some people will,…
Malvern Hills Challenge 5 & 6 – Pinnacle and Jubilee Hills
I keep wondering if I have forgotten something important for Christmas as I seem to have lots of wonderful luxurious free time this week. After surviving the annual brussel sprout scrum in the supermarket it struck me that there was a beautiful blue sky and the view of the hills from my kitchen window was…
A timely reminder
I read last night and into the early hours and wept. It’s rare for a book to hold me in this way. Despite its title, Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening is not a gardening book although the education of a gardener is the premise for the story. Nor is it about the author’s battle…
Unseasonably spring-like
Weeding in the garden today, listening to a big fat bee buzzing around the Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’, and feeling the sun on my back you could be forgiven for thinking it was Spring. This assumption was reinforced by the flowering of snowdrops, hellebores and primulas with even the Daphne putting in a show. However it…
Foliage Follow Up December 2014 – Variegation
If you were to ask me if I liked variegated foliage I wouldn’t immediately say yes but then again I wouldn’t immediately say no either. It’s not something I have a firm opinion on and I don’t really understand why some people say such things as ‘I don’t like yellow flowers in my garden’ as…
GBBD December 2015
The mild Autumn is certainly causing some surprising combinations in the garden this December. There are a number of flowers which seem to have been in flower for months and it is almost as though they have been frozen in time like Sleeping Beauty. Here we have Gladiolus callianthus which are putting on an excellent…
Festive Stitching
I am rather pleased with myself for having finished my Christmas sewing projects before Christmas. I did think I was being somewhat optimistic at one point especially when I got distracted for a few weeks with knitting a poncho. I wasn’t too ambitious but I wanted something festive and simple which I could occupy my…
