Persistence and the new allotment

“Sometimes the only super power you need is persistence”, observes the alien visiting our planet and trying to make sense of our frail, violent, mortal species of middling intelligence in Matt Haig’s excellent book, The Humans. The alien makes a lot of astute observations about us, and am thrilled to prove this particular one true: after more than two years of waiting, chasing, hunting down … Continue reading Persistence and the new allotment

Six on Saturday: 25 Sep 2021: Wishes and Karma

I’m publishing two posts today – a rather excitable one on the new allotment I’ve got a share in – and this week’s Six on Saturday, as there’s still plenty to revel in as September draws to a close. 1 Salvia ‘Ember’s Wish’ was an impulse buy as I was killing some time last Saturday afternoon while my son did his theatre class. There’s a … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 25 Sep 2021: Wishes and Karma

Six on Saturday: 11 Sep 21: Keep it in the family

This week’s Six on Saturday comes from my favourite section of Belgium’s botanical garden at Meise, just north of Brussels. It’s called the Cronquist garden (after the American botanist, Arthur Cronquist) and houses an enthralling collection of herbaceous plants, arranged neatly by family in beds – Cronquist was apparently instrumental in developing a new classification system for plant families. The beds are set off by … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 11 Sep 21: Keep it in the family

Six on Saturday: 04 Sep 2021: mellowing

Who captured the feel of autumn better than John Keats, with his ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’? Well, we are not quite there yet, it’s a bit early for mist, and fruitfulness is a bit disappointing, as we’ve had very few apples and no grapes this year. But there is most definitely a mellowing of the light, which is to be welcomed, making the … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 04 Sep 2021: mellowing