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Opening Day
Do come at visit us at The Watch House today, 12-4, and the same again tomorrow. If you aren’t able, please enjoy this three minute video. Have a lovely weekend whatever you are up to.
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So Far, So Good!
Day two of our garden opening is always a more relaxed affair and I am thoroughly looking forward to it. On day one the rain absented itself, but the wind did not. At times yesterday it gusted so...
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The Morning After The Weekend Before
It did not take long to go to sleep last night. After a weekend of baking, talking, entertaining, watering, meeting, greeting, fetching and carrying we were both absolutely shattered. 180 lovely...
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Daily Flower Candy: Crithmum maritimum
Crithmum maritimum: rock samphire, sea fennel, sea asparagus, sea bean, sea pickle, crest marine “There is a cliff whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep… The crows and...
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Creating a Splash
At 8.30 this morning I had the pleasure of showing Margie, Helen and Sarah from our fantastic local gift shop around the garden at The Watch House. Being a retailer myself I appreciate that weekends...
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Daily Flower Candy: Cobaea scandens
The last time I wrote about Cobaea scandens was at Christmas and I make no apology for featuring it again so soon. Barring a few chilly days in February and March, this vigorous climber has not...
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Holiday Mode
Our “proper” holiday, by which I mean a holiday where I am looked after rather than being expected to look after others, has not come a moment too soon. I’ve had the busiest fortnight at work I can...
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Pretty in Pink: Podranea ricasoliana
Draped elegantly over the high walls surrounding Marrakech’s wealthier villas and riads is an elegant climber known variously as pink trumpet vine, Queen of Sheba, Port St. John’s creeper and Zimbabwe...
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Homecoming
Stepping out into the garden for the first time after a holiday is always an anxious moment. Will everything still be upright? Quite how busy will the snails have been whilst I have been living it up...
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Le Jardin Secret, Marrakech
To create a new garden and open it to the public in the space of three years would be a challenge for the most determined of garden designers, but to achieve it in the dry heat of Morocco, in the...
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A Case for Daydreaming
There is a great deal to recommend letting your mind wander aimlessly, and yet how often do we allow ourselves to daydream? At school in the 1980’s I was actively discouraged from daydreaming, not...
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Daily Flower Candy: Megaskepasma erythrochlamys
Megaskepasma erythrochlamys: Brazilian red cloak It must appear to those less familiar with the plant world that botanists sometimes take the mickey when it comes to naming plants. Why else would we...
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A Walk in the Park
They say “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. In order to avoid falling into the same trap as Jack, I endeavour to get out and about whenever time allows during my stay in China. So far this...
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A Sight for Sore Eyes
I’ve been back from China for 6 days and still the jet-lag drags on. At about 3pm every day my vision starts to blur and I begin to feel overwhelmingly tired. It’s because my body thinks it’s 11pm,...
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When Is Too Late to Plant Spring Bulbs?
. I am late with everything this year: late going on holiday, late preparing for Christmas and late planting my spring bulbs. As someone who prefers to be perennially prepared and eternally early, this...
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Little Miracle
With the exception of bringing a child into the world, there is nothing in life so rewarding as growing a plant from seed. The emergence of a single vulnerable seedling from a tough, dry husk is...
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An Olympian Task
As my plane to New York taxied down the runway this morning, I received a message alerting me to a missed call from the builder. So much for pre-empting all the questions he might have, I thought....
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A Feast for the Eyes: Terrain, USA & Oogenlust, The Netherlands
Among the many perks of my job is the opportunity to travel. In the last fortnight I have been to the USA, Germany and The Netherlands, during which time my feet have hardly touched the ground....
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Sing Hallelujah!
The builders have left the building – sing hallelujah, ring out the bells and fa la la la la!! We are finally free to inhabit our house without fear of tripping over the industrial cling film on the...
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Christmas Cheer
It’s been a very long time since I was last up at 6am on Christmas morning. With a three-year-old in the house it was inevitable that we’d be roused before dawn to see if Father Christmas had paid us...
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