A note to myself to remind me that:– the Catalpa is in flower – I’ve never seen it flower before, so I’m interested to see what happens– after the deep cold of last winter, I only lost two Pittosporums and three tree ferns. Everything else I thought was dead has re-sprouted. Buddleias, Bay laurel, Arbutus […]

I love Tatton Show. It’s only a few miles away from home and set in a gorgeous natural amphitheatre of open parkland. It’s a spacious, creative, innovative and community minded show and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. But by some stroke of fate for the past four years the eight days that I’ve spent […]

June has slipped by in a blur of sunshine, never-ending watering and a near-continuous stream of garden visitors enjoying the glorious summer. The garden has never looked better and it’s been lovely to hear people’s positive comments and to see them getting such pleasure from being in it. We don’t do much sitting out in […]

A couple of answers to recent ident questions that cropped up when I’ve not been here: – the fluffy, low growing magenta flower in the canal bank is Phuopsis stylosa– the stiff, silvery leaved plant with the large blue daisy-like heads which has self-seeded by the polytunnel is Purple Salsify, or Tragopogon porrifolius Top of […]

I’m on the early train to London, heading for Chelsea Flower Show. Pleased to see the forecast is much cooler than yesterday’s 30C – must have been unbearable. Still, if the Queen can take it… My expectations of Chelsea are always low, and thus always exceeded. Something catches my eye or imagination, and the simple […]

We currently have the headline photo and article on the Telegraph’s gardening page. Click on the headline and scroll down for Bluebell Cottage Gardens. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening Thanks Joanna Updated update: We’re still on the Telegraph site, but we’ve moved to here:Link to article

The garden has temporarily slipped down my attention list as the country awaits Nick Clegg’s decision. I wouldn’t be in his shoes today. He’ll be damned by most of his own party (who may not back the move anyway given their triple lock controls on policy change) if he does the arithmetically rational thing and […]