The Wildness of Foxgloves (Digitalis Purpurea)

Wild foxgloves growing with grasses and ferns along a country lane in Lancashire

While I enjoy seeing foxgloves in gardens, I can’t help comparing the straight, sturdy, varieties of commerce to wild foxgloves that weave around Lancashire’s fields and country lanes.

Rarely without some form of wave or bend – the ‘nod’ of folklore – wild foxgloves can grow with aplomb wherever they find themselves, high or low. Much of their charm is in their willy-nillyness. Continue reading “The Wildness of Foxgloves (Digitalis Purpurea)”

The Gravity Pull Of Plants

Acer leaves with pink tips in autumn

My home town has many rows of Victorian terraces and to get to any of my countryside, wood or park walks, I go through some of them.

While not exactly lying higgledy-piggledy, each batch of terraces forms its own grid dictated by the hillside rather than a uniform plan. Walkers are offered an alternative way at nearly every corner: all being even, my choices are dictated by plants. I visited these three along my walk yesterday.
Continue reading “The Gravity Pull Of Plants”

Wilde Weelde, Floriade: a Partnership Between Humans and Nature

Wilde Weelde flower border with heleniums

While your eye may naturally pick out the flowers, when I was face-to-face with this memorable landscape, I marvelled at that long, structured wall of tree trunks and re-purposed construction materials in the background. The fauna wall was by far the biggest insect hotel I’d ever seen.

Ash logs and reclaimed material in the fauna wall

Broad swathes of the Wilde Weelde garden’s boundary are made from small sections of logs of different diameters, stacked leaving gaps between them – the log version of a dry stone wall, you might say. The effect reminded me of the ramparts of a castle, except these walls have gaps that a raider could saunter through. Continue reading “Wilde Weelde, Floriade: a Partnership Between Humans and Nature”

Southport’s Summer Flower Show is Back at Last

Dahlias displayed as cupcakes at the Southport Flower Show
Dahlias displayed as cupcakes by The Dahlia Society’s Northern Committee

After a two-year hiatus, courtesy of the pandemic, the Southport Flower Show was back in style for its 91st year.  This northern show has something for everyone – even well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome. For those who couldn’t make it, here are some of my pictures:

Burgundy and silver leaf begonia leaves, Dibleys Nurseries stand, Southport
Dibleys Nurseries’ display of begonias with burgundy and silver leaves

Continue reading “Southport’s Summer Flower Show is Back at Last”