Oakleaf Hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) is my favorite hydrangea, and this one in my back garden seriously bowls me over in every season. But it’s more than a beauty pageant winner – the fragrance is fabulous and the blooms are buzzing with bees! Here’s one now! But check out the shape of the petals and compare … Read more
Readers of the Washington Post, including me, have followed Dana Milbank’s thoughtful, left-leaning political commentary for years. So what a surprise to read a recent column chastising himself – and really all of us – for growing nonnative plants. The title is “I’m no genius about genuses, but your garden is killing the Earth.” Not … Read more
Well, look who’s thrown his famous hat in the ring of the often-contentious discussion around pollinators and native plants. It’s Friend of Rant Allan Armitage, the author of Herbacious Perennial Plants, who has often contributed guest opinions here – actually, it’s been too long since we’ve hosted one. In a recent column for Greenhouse Grower, … Read more
Nandina ‘Burgundy Wine’ along the front of my house – in January. Other evergreens are Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’ and Carex ‘Ice Dance’. I recently welcomed visitors to my townhouse garden, happily at first, until I was asked – more than once – to defend the Nandinas shrubs I’d planted along the foundation. The visitors had heard … Read more
“You must visit my friend Mary; she’s a plantswoman.” I’m a fairly placid sort of chap really. I do what I do and I’m largely happy for the world around me to just happen. The word ‘plantsman’ or ‘plantswoman’, however, elicits a strong response from me; I’m never rude I hope, but if someone introduces … Read more
Smithsonian, you’ve done it again. I usually find the best articles about plants and gardening in publications that do not restrict themselves to gardening content. This one is from September, 2015 – but I hadn’t seen it and it was kind of mind-blowing. The title gives that much away: “The True Story of Kudzu, the … Read more
Who will replace Monty Don as presenter on Gardener’s World? Well, it’s likely that you don’t care much in America, but perhaps you should. It’s one of those ‘has to be diverse’ appointments. Monty Don Monty Don has announced that he will retire in the next couple of years and that his replacement must be … Read more
There are far too many garden words and expressions which annoy me. So I thought I’d give myself the pleasure of ranting about some of them. And I’ll start with one that crops up a lot at this time of year = Interest. This appears at this time of year under the guise of ‘winter … Read more
I was scratching around looking for something to write about and then this came to my attention. Well it’s not a bad question… Talk of divine inspiration; I was going to talk about snowdrops until I saw this. It even links to Anne’s recent post about irritating words in gardening. There has been a bit … Read more
A while ago Veddw Garden was declared one of the 100 best gardens in the UK. Even better, it was also one of the THREE best in Wales. Wow. A while ago, when lockdowns had ended, the National Gardens Scheme voted Hillcrest Garden the nation’s favourite Garden (I think Wales was the relevant nation.) – … Read more