The weather isn’t playing ball this year, it continues to be mainly cold, wet and windy. Yet seemingly in defiance, the transformation in the garden is picking up pace, and there’s a sense of anticipation despite the somewhat uninspiring conditions. It’s the same every year, the undisputed star of early spring in my garden is Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’, which spreads 7 metres or so … Continue reading The stars of early spring
Having recently emerged from a 48-hour post vaccine fuzz, I decided to try a bit of gorilla gardening today as it’s a public holiday in Belgium. Given our weather conditions in northern Europe this month, this meant making surreptitious raids to sow a quick lettuce crop or pop some gladioli bulbs into the border, before being forced to beat a hasty retreat by the superior … Continue reading A tale of two geraniums
It’s been raining, a lot, a deluge that just keeps on coming. Gardeners up and down the country have been complaining, somewhat bitterly, that growth is slow, seedlings are sulking, French beans aren’t germinating and slugs are thriving; but on the other hand, the plants themselves just go about their business: growing, flowering, preparing to reproduce. The plants in the ‘cool shades’ east-facing border seem … Continue reading Notes from a soggy garden
As the much anticipated tulips open up in our gardens, it’s a joyous moment, but also a curious one, as we see just how much the promised shade in the bulb catalogues or online suppliers matches the reality of what we see with our own eyes. I have found myself delighted with some of the new tulips I planted, and disappointed in others, which didn’t … Continue reading Just the right shade of red, Your Majesty?
