Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
‘The Generous Gardener’ rose is one of my favourites. It requires some discipline not to list its selling points, even after so many years, but I’ll confine myself to observing that it is one of the more fragrant English roses, best grown as a short climber against a wall or sturdy pillar. That hardly counts, does it? Continue reading “‘The Generous Gardener’ Rose (Plus A Riff On Leaves)”
Love isn’t always requited between humans & plants, but we shouldn’t allow the lamentable failure of a relationship to thrive to put us off one type of plant entirely. Easy to say, but harder to venture a tender heart the second time around.
I was first acquainted with a brownish heuchera that lived in a hanging basket in an out of the way place, seemingly never watered. Most of the soil had fallen out and only a spindly root system prevented the heuchera from going the same way. The plant never looked great, but you had to respect its toughness. I can’t claim to have fallen in love; at best we were on nodding terms.
Inspired by that one, I went on to grow several heucheras, tiarellas and their hybrid, heucherellas, using their mounds of patterned leaves as ground cover. They really are plants you can paint land with, in England, at least. Unsurprisingly, I found myself getting fond of them. Continue reading “Fingers Burnt By Plants (Or Is It The Plants Getting Burnt?)”
Usually there are plenty of opportunities to pick an overcast day if we’re planning to visit a garden or, if not, at least chances to wait for a cloud. But this year is different. Unrelenting sunshine is not usually a big issue in northern England but Texan-style blue skies (with not a cloud in sight all day long) are all the rage. Â Continue reading “Sunlight Attack”
A New Year’s walk up to Darwen’s Jubilee Tower has become a tradition. I’ve been a little under the weather over the holidays (just a nasty cold), so when we finally took the plunge, it felt extra-good to brave the fresh, winter air and get out for some exercise.
Darwen Tower may look warm under the glow of late afternoon sun, but anyone who has ever made the climb will vouch for the wind chill factor up there, even on a summer’s day. Continue reading “First Wintry Walk Of 2018: To Darwen Tower”
Virginia creeper in the daytime, gracefully covering a fence  Continue reading “Virginia Creeper: Growth”
The air potato vine (Dioscorea bulbifera) is a vigorous plant that can be hard to shift from the garden once it takes over. While it may become a menace, the veined, heart shaped leaves are very decorative backlit against a blue sky. This plant was tumbling over a bottle tree in Jackson, Mississippi.
Susan Rushton 