Robinson’s Gravetye Manor Garden has left a legacy of one of our most influential garden designers. It’s a garden that has been long on my bucket list! In May of this year we managed [...]

The winter garden at Anglesey Abbey had long been on my wish list to visit. I’d visited the excellent winter garden at Cambridge Botanic Garden many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I [...]

The Japanese Garden in Portland   The Japanese Garden in Portland is an exceptional garden by any standards! Over the New Year break I made my second visit to this exquisite garden. My first [...]

Isola Madre island garden is a partner garden with the British Royal Horticultural Society  [RHS]. Since I’ve been a member of the RHS for almost 50 years a visit to the Isola Madre [...]

The bambouseraie [bamboo] garden in southern France had always been on my bucket list. When this year we rented a house just 30 mins drive away, I knew this was a visit that I could tick off the [...]

Borde Hill Garden had been on my wish list for a very long time. It wasn’t until late April of this year that I finally got to visit! The gardens are located in West Sussex in the south [...]

Our Somerset garden is now just three years old. We moved to South Somerset in December 2018 and bought a property with virtually no garden at all! As we approach the end of another year I think [...]

Chelsea Flower Show 2021 differed hugely from the previous 108 shows. This was the very first time that the prestigious flower show had been held in autumn. All previous shows were held in spring [...]

Dyffryn Fernant Garden It’s not often that I visit a garden and am totally blown away by it.  This is generally because I already know of the garden or perhaps have visited it before.   Not so [...]

The Winter Gardens at the Hillier Arboretum are a relatively new addition to the garden. I had heard about this new feature in the Sir Harold Hillier Arboretum and it claimed to be the largest of [...]

February snowdrops have lifted our spirits during this Coronavirus pandemic! They offer the promise that spring is not too far away and that better times will soon be here. I had hoped to visit [...]

Plant ornamental grass with perennial partners to create a magical effect. One partner compliments the other so well! The rise in popularity of gardening with ornamental grass shows no sign of [...]

Sculpture by the Lakes is located near Dorchester in the beautiful county of Dorset. For several years I had been wanting to visit. Then the opportunity arose to go with Tintinhull Garden Club so [...]

Keukenhof Garden near Amsterdam puts on an astounding annual display of spring flowering bulbs. At the end of a cold and grey winter in Europe visitors flood to see this colour spectacle but [...]

Broadleigh Gardens is an impressive place! It specialises in growing and supplying superior garden bulbs and is situated just west of Taunton in Somerset. I visited the garden with the [...]

Magnolias at Kew Gardens can be seen over several weeks every spring but lucky for me I struck lucky and for once timed my visit to perfection. I’d planned to visit the magnolias at Kew [...]

I just had to see the snowdrops at Elworthy Cottage. I’d intended to go before but somehow had always ended up visiting the bigger places. These had huge carpets of ‘ordinary’ [...]

Foggy Bottom Garden adjoins the Dell Garden at Bressingham Gardens- a garden that I’ve recently written about. Whilst the Dell Garden is a mecca for hardy herbaceous perennial plant enthusiasts, [...]

The Dell Garden at Bressingham Gardens is a mecca for hardy herbaceous perennial plant enthusiasts. The Dell Garden was created by Alan Bloom during the nineteen sixties and seventies and is as [...]

The Garden House is not far from the city of Plymouth and in the far south west of England. This is a garden that was planted by Lionel Fortescue, extended by head gardener Keith Wiley and now [...]

Oudolf Field at Hauser and Wirth update A visit Bruton was overdue as I needed to have an Oudolf Field at Hauser and Wirth update! I had intended to visit during late summer when more perennials [...]

Birch trees are often called the “Lady of the Woods”. But don’t be misled by this tree’s name for it is a real toughie! During the break between Christmas celebrations and New Year I visited a [...]

Brazilian plants are some of the most exciting on the planet! Currently all eyes on that fantastic city Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Games being held there in 2016. I thought that I’d share [...]

Chelsea Physic Garden Snowdrop Days With time to spare before attending an event in the Palace of Westminster I made a long overdue visit to Chelsea Physic Garden. It’s right in the heart [...]

I’d heard great things about the gardens of the legendary Le Manoir aux Quat Saison; the two star Michelin restaurant of Raymond Blanc and a visit there last Saturday did not disappoint!   With [...]

I love to push the boundaries and grow exotic bedding plants! But what do I mean by exotic? I guess the term exotic covers most of the plants in our gardens but I’m referring to those that [...]

Hot chilies; I’d heard about a place that grows them in South Devon. I finally got to visit them! South Devon Chilli Farm had been on my visit ‘wish list’ for years. Passing the [...]

Roses, roses, roses! I shouldn’t have left it as long but somehow there is never enough time to visit all the gardens that you want to! My excuse is that there are just so many great [...]

Whatever you buy nowadays, it seems to be made in China doesn’t it? You would think that would be limited to manufactured goods wouldn’t you? And that the Chinese influence [...]