Tag: Gardens

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Becky and Don Potts’ Garden, Fondren, Mississippi

Dragonfly above the words 'Welcome! Be Nice or Leave' in a leafy garden
Be nice or leave

Whenever we’re on our way to see Becky and Don Potts, I tell myself firmly, ‘No more pictures!’

It never works.

Their garden is such a fun place to visit. Fewer minutes later than is really courteous after arriving, I’ll find myself drifting off to twist my iPhone over an unusual plant, trying to get a decent angle. A miniature will have cried out for attention, something with variegations, or a new coleus as Becky is fascinated by all of these.

My eye for an interesting plant lures me along paths, under trees, over mossy ground, round corners and beyond fences, through areas of full sun and almost as full shade, one plant leading to the next.

Then I’m tugged back round to see what I’ve missed.

Continue reading “Becky and Don Potts’ Garden, Fondren, Mississippi”

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Great Dixter: An Arts and Crafts Garden with Holistic Planting

Great Dixter's front porch surrounded by a collection of potted plants
The collection of front porch potted plants is regularly refreshed

Great Dixter’s spirit is as multifaceted as any fine garden. You’d need to visit, often – or better still, live or work there to understand the effects of sunrise stealing over the garden, those late summer sunsets, and all weathers and seasons playing out.

Boldly coloured annuals at Great Dixter
Cafe garden at Great Dixter

Continue reading “Great Dixter: An Arts and Crafts Garden with Holistic Planting”

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On Display: Four Trends From The RHS Tatton Park Flower Show

The Balanced Garden, Tatton Park Flower Show
Soft, romantic planting in The Balanced Garden

Usually, my posts about flower shows focus on the plants, gardens and planting combinations I enjoyed best, or trends I picked out. Today, I’m taking a step back and illustrating the official trends from this year’s Tatton Park Flower Show.

To be honest, I’d not have guessed all four trends that the Royal Horticulture Society highlighted, but I didn’t have to as the RHS helpfully listed them online.

Trend one: Soft planting

Billowing clouds of grasses and soft pink colour palettes gave the show a romantic feel with plants spilling onto paths and tumbling over the edges of containers.

Continue reading “On Display: Four Trends From The RHS Tatton Park Flower Show”

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On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty

Tree that snapped and twisted as it fell
Tree that snapped and twisted as it fell

Today’s images are linked by featuring edges of various types. I never saw the wonderfully scenic, 300 year old Sycamore Gap tree which has been felled this week by vandals with a chainsaw, but I recently encountered the word ‘solastalgia’ which expresses the shock of the thousands of people who loved this tree. Along similar lines to nostalgia, solastalgia is the distress we feel when much-loved surroundings are altered and we are powerless to do anything about it. It’s a form of homesickness where we are at home, but sick because our home is no longer the same.

In contrast, my fallen tree with splintered edges is an unsung one. I fully feel the outrage about Sycamore Gap, but while it was leading the headlines, the UK’s State of Nature Report 2023 was quietly published, with little attention paid to its reminder that ‘the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.’ Continue reading “On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty”

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May Vidacovich’s Garden, Louisiana

May Vidacovich's garden with trees, potted plants and shed

Earlier this year we seized the opportunity to visit plantswoman May Vidacovich’s fascinating and beautifully cared for private garden in Louisiana. The garden is a heady mix of plants I know well with others I’d never seen before, or only ever at flower shows.

Normally I’d avoid being out in hot sun and I was tempted to describe it as a fleeting visit. In truth I lingered for longer than it felt at the time and pretty much had to be dragged away in a sorry state of heat exposure and reluctance to leave this piece of paradise.

I’m sharing these pictures with hardly any commentary other than to note that they only skim the surface of what was flourishing there. Continue reading “May Vidacovich’s Garden, Louisiana”