In 2013, in a North Lincolnshire kitchen, pea farmer Ben Branson began experimenting with a copper still after reading about the non-alcoholic remedies distilled by apothecaries in the 1600s. Ben's family have been farming for 300 years and their peas are picked by hand by Ben and his team. His kitchen experimentation led to the … Continue reading In Praise of the Humble Pea: The Seedlip Garden
I have loved the marine environment ever since my first school biology field trip to Anglesey. Although I moved through a career in English to garden and nature writing, I've never lost my affinity for the sea. I became a member of the Marine Conservation Society many years ago and started learning about and campaigning on … Continue reading Plastic Pollution in the Pearlfisher Garden
Chris Beardshaw recently said that he felt Chelsea show gardens should only be accepted if they were going to be relocated afterwards. It seems that other designers may be following his lead as this year's show sees more of the gardens and planting being relocated than ever before. The recipients of the gardens are diverse; … Continue reading Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The attention to detail in the 2018 Chelsea Flower Show gardens surpasses anything I've seen before; I love the way the planting maintains a sophisticated and elegant feel, yet is more grounded than in previous years. Many gardens focus on naturalistic forms and soft planting with coppery tones, highlights of deep purples and pinks, and … Continue reading RHS Chelsea Flower Show Highlights
I've spent much of the past week reading about one of the twentieth century's most influential landscape designers and it has left me surprised that Geoffrey Jellicoe's name doesn't crop up more often in discussions of contemporary garden design. As someone who has always worked between the margins of different disciplines - especially focusing on the … Continue reading Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe – the landscape, arts and the mind
2018 is Humphry Repton's bicentenary year and over the next few months events and exhibitions all over the country will be celebrating his life and work. The first person to use the title of 'landscape gardener', Repton (1752-1818) began to practise in 1788, five years after Lancelot Capability Brown's death. His designs reinstated the importance … Continue reading Humphry Repton: Art and Nature for the Duke of Bedford
Yesterday there was a frantic scramble at the breakfast table – there was a fieldfare in the birch tree – the first we'd ever seen in our garden. Later, as I drove down the Bedfordshire lanes on the way to visit a friend, I saw fieldfare in the hedgerows and when I arrived there were … Continue reading Winter Treats: Redwing and Fieldfare
If you only grew 3 tomatoes this year - which cultivars would you choose? I've never had this dilemma before as the greenhouse is usually a jungle of tomato foliage by June and I always defend my excessive tomato habit by claiming that growing for the school fete necessitates producing several extra trays of tomatoes … Continue reading 3 Top Tasting Tomatoes…
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about how my love of gardening began and asked readers to share their own stories as part of my research for a book I'm writing on our relationship with gardening and the natural world. I was overwhelmed by the response - over the next week, more than … Continue reading How Our Love Of Gardening Began – With Thanks
With chilli sowing season already upon us, it's time to unearth my special seedy shoeboxes to plan for the growing year ahead. One particular box contains an exciting collection of seeds - those I'm trialling for Suttons in my role as a guest blogger for 2018. I'm really looking forward to trying out some of … Continue reading Seedy Saturday: Rainbows, Crocodiles and Pearls