Snowdrops and icecrystals
Neither snowdrops or hellebores are frost sensitive, and they’re happy in climates colder than the coldest of ours in Australia. But that’s not to say that they’re unaffected by frost.
Humbled by the tropics
I’m totally thrown by tropical gardens, or at least by tropical plants. I can’t shake the conviction that, given a tropical climate, I wouldn’t have a clue how to use them effectively together.
Going sick at the Priory
In the last 20 years, there’s been something like six gardens that I’ve visited in which I’ve come close to losing the plot altogether – that have made me nearly sick with joy – have made me want to set up camp and never, ever leave.
The good graces of rosemary
Now don’t get me wrong. Rosemary is an incredible plant. It grows happily in the toughest, poorest conditions, flowers in the dead of winter and instead of giving off airs of one that’s surviving with gritted teeth, has the grace to wrap itself in the rich fragrance of nana-roast.
The forgivably destructive power of the oak
Very nearly ten years ago we bought a tree with a house attached. That’s not quite how it was advertised, but that’s how we chose to see it. It was the old oak that I really wanted, and the house was, well, manageable.
