Monthly Archives: September 2016

Today is traditionally the first day of autumn. Although it is sad to see  the end of another summer, there are some exciting flowers to be enjoyed at this time of the year. Autumn  flowering gentians have always been a … Continue reading →

This classic book of garden literature by Russell Page should be on every gardener’s bedside table. I re-read it every few years and always enjoy it. Russell Page was a garden designer and landscape artist and he was probably the … Continue reading →

This week I decided to fill my vase with little golden bells of Clematis tangutica and leave it at that.  I cut this clematis back each year, but  by the end of the summer it is sprawling everywhere. Still, it makes quite a … Continue reading →

Most of my foliage is looking very sorry for itself after such a hot, dry summer. Some of the leaves on the acers look quite crispy and my weeping Cericiphyllum japonicum ‘Pendula’ has shut up shop completely. I noticed a … Continue reading →

In the spring I mentioned that I had a new project in mind. A secret garden.  It has taken all summer to create it and it is still not finished. First of all I had to mark it out and then dig … Continue reading →

Six years ago, my lovely friend  from Martinique brought me a tiny bit of a succulent from her mother’s garden. I have nurtured it ever since in the greenhouse. One year it had tiny buds which dropped off. Then a … Continue reading →

Actually, they are not proper Hollyhocks; the correct name is  xAlcalthea suffrutescens ‘Park Allee’. But that isn’t a very zingy title.  One of its parents is a Hollyhock, Alcea rosea and the other is  Marsh Mallow, Althaea officinalis. They were bred … Continue reading →