The reason that I love Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival so much is that I think it encourages a lot of people to get into the garden. Chelsea Flower Show is amazing, aspirational, inspirational etc etc, but I am always left feeling a bit over-awed. By contrast, when I come away from this show, I… Read More »
Travels in Suffolk
We live near the Cambridgeshire border, so Suffolk is not far away, but for some reason, I’ve only been a couple of times, and never for a holiday. When my parents said they would love to go away, we decided it would be an ideal destination. My father loves birdwatching, we all enjoy walking and… Read More »
The first weekend in June
A slow, sunny weekend, as I was still recovering from an eye injury and a virus. We went to a garden centre to check out some parasols, but they were so enormous, they would fill the entire space. We came home and ordered a smaller one online. I was in the mood for summer food, so… Read More »
Garden garden garden
The garden is bursting out all over. My Morrisons £5 plum tree is growing almost in front of my eyes, the blue fescue grasses and little orange geums are filling out the raised beds, just as I’d planned, and I’ve grown my first rose (and it has flowered!). It is hard to believe that when… Read More »
My retreat
My plans fell through on Sunday, but that meant an unexpected day on my own in the garden. At the moment, I can’t think of anything nicer. In the pale sunshine, I finished painting my fences in Urban Slate, and gave a piece of trellis a coat of Cuprinol Dusky Gem. I attached it to… Read More »
Back outside!
We moved in to our new house at the end of June 2018, so last year there was no time to do much to the garden in the growing season. It became a bit of a dumping ground for boxes which would not fit into the house. We did build a pretty little shed, but… Read More »





