We’ve been enjoying the sunshine this week, it’s almost impossible to resist the temptation to go outside and get gardening. There’s plenty to do at this time: cutting back of dead growth to allow the new green shoots to come through unhindered, moving plants to better locations (an unhappy Rugosa rose to a sunnier position), weeding (or in my case eating my weeds – if … Continue reading Springtime: Six on Saturday: 12 March 22
As I write this, we’re being well and truly battered by storm Eunice, which is making its presence felt in many a garden in the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands…coming off the English channel, the winds hit Flanders at 133km/hr (=82 miles/hr). Living here now, watching the big lime trees (Tilia x europaea) adjoining our house and garden sway this way and that, I’m … Continue reading It’s stormy! Six on Saturday: 19 Feb 2022
I’m back after a lovely trip to Spa last weekend, where, like Victorians of old, we took the waters. A genteel town nestled in a wooded valley in the Ardennes, with thermal baths housed in a beautiful building among the trees. Like a mix of Japanese forest bathing, and actual bathing; inspired. But onto more practical matters for this week’s Six on Saturday: 1 Houseplant … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 12 Feb 2022: too many children
I was once told that in winter it’s best to eat lots of comforting food and not look too closely at oneself in the mirror. It’s good advice, which I follow, and I am extending it to not expecting too much of the garden – of course it looks dreary, it’s the end of January and we are shrouded in foggy grey damp dullness: So … Continue reading Podcasts and paths: 29 Jan 2022: Six on Saturday
After a short break in the Ardennes last week for my birthday (snowy treks, a visit to a war museum, an unexpected detour to Luxembourg, but no parties, absolutely no parties, not even ‘work’ ones, not even the ones where you send someone out with a suitcase to get booze, not even one held during a national lockdown when nobody else is allowed a party! … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 15 Jan 2022: party time
Another year draws to an end, and new beginnings are afoot in the garden. I have to admit that I used up most of the pretty pictures for my post about the solstice earlier this week, so this is a less romantic post, but with a few Christmasy bits thrown in. It’s another gloomy old day, shrouded in fog, but indoors the decorations are quite … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 18 Dec 21
Gardens Illustrated recently published a post on Facebook detailing things to do in the garden in December, with the headline that December is ‘a busy, optimistic month’ for the gardener. The author of the article, Rosie Fyles, is the head gardener at Ham House, England, where things may indeed be busy and optimistic. I have to say, in all honesty, it’s very cold, wet and … Continue reading December thoughts: Six on Saturday (04 Dec 21)
I’m back for a Six on Saturday after a break last week when my cousin was over for a visit. Brrrrr, it’s getting chilly out there now. We’ve had a series of dull, drab, cold days, with just one lovely exception when the sun came out on Monday, and the forest beech trees were resplendent in copper and gold against a bright blue sky (above). … Continue reading Almost Over: Six on Saturday (27 Nov 21)
One of my favourite songs is California Dreaming, by the Mamas and the Papas. I find it comforting to sing along to as the days get shorter, darker, greyer: All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey…I went for a walk on a winter’s day….but winter’s not quite here yet, and the leaves are not yet all brown. In fact, they are red, … Continue reading California Dreaming (6 on Saturday)
It’s been a real mixed bag weather-wise this week, warm, cold, wet and windy, sunny and crisp – but as long as we see some blue skies every now and then, autumn isn’t at all bad. It’s a time of year when I look up at the trees more than down into the fading borders. As you can see from the boundary trees – lime, … Continue reading Six on Saturday: 23 Oct 2021: looking up
