Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Water laps almost up to an expanse of high quality oak decking, but we hardly see it because our eyes travel between the flowers and the seating area. The plants in the foreground include a mix of lilac scabious and agastache, red achillea and the glaucous leaves of cerinthe major (honeywort). Continue reading “Raised By Rivers Garden Designed By Nicola Oakey”
I often share a series of images taken in a particular garden, but today, I’m leading you through a succession of green landscapes. You’d need a week to explore them all in real life, to say nothing of the seasons, but while we can only travel virtually, why not make the best of it? Continue reading “Life In Colour: A Green Journey”
I’m sharing a dozen garden paths we can imagine strolling up as (almost) a final hurrah for Becky’s January Squares.
They include angular paths and curved ones, wide and narrow paths, dominant ones and paths so unassuming we barely notice they’re there, in quite a range of materials, too. I’ll let the pictures do the talking: Continue reading “Up The Garden Path”
A border is a cultivated area of land set aside for growing decorative plants. Mixed borders combine different types of plants in one place: trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, grasses, bulbs and climbers on obelisks or against a wall. Anything you like to grow can be included – if you want to accessorise it with a birdhouse or seat or some form of artwork, so much the better!
Because there isn’t a fixed recipe, mixed borders are versatile and popular. You may well be one of millions of gardeners worldwide who are tending one. Continue reading “What is a Mixed Border?”
Update: although the week is over, you can catch up with the highlights of Virtual Chelsea online.
As The RHS Chelsea Flower Show had to be cancelled this year, Virtual Chelsea is the Royal Horticulture Societies’ morale boosting invitation to every gardener to immerse themselves in gardening online instead.
So, to ‘visit’ the Chelsea Flower Show in 2020, you don’t need a ticket, your most comfy shoes, to book a hotel or fly to England, and you won’t need to jostle with the crowds for the best view. RHS experts have curated a wide variety of special gardening features to share online during the week when the Chelsea Flower Show would normally be taking place.
If you love gardening, you’ll love Virtual Chelsea, whether your garden is massive, small or just few houseplants indoors or on a windowsill. We can look forward to demonstrations from the potting bench, to insights from award winning designers and celebrity florists, to virtual tours of private gardens and leading nurseries, and to spending time with plants people who specialise in many of our favourite plants. Horticulture experts will host daily lunchtime Q&A sessions to help us navigate some of the many gardening pitfalls so our fingers can get a little greener. Continue reading “What is Virtual Chelsea? A Guide to THE Gardening Event of 2020”
Kristian Reay was named Young Designer of the Year at last year’s RHS Tatton Park Flower Show for his gold medal winning Phytosanctuary Garden.
The Mediterranean themed garden had lots of flowers and scents, with a magnificent copper swing seat as a focal point. Round seats and bean bags offered more space for relaxing (or queuing for the swing?) on a curved area of wooden decking.
Kristian’s planting was a dreamy mix of English and French lavender, Achillea, Gaura, Agapanthus, Verbena, Erigeron, Artemisia, Echinacea, Allium, Nepeta, Kniphofia and Hemerocallis beneath one multi-stemmed Italian olive tree.
On a windy day, there was lots of movement. Plants spilled over a flowing path of Cotswold stone chippings. White Gaura floated butterfly-like over the borders and tall grasses waved in the background. Continue reading “Kristian Reay’s Phytosanctuary Garden”
