It took me years of gardening to appreciate the pale beauty of its leaves and flowers, but now that I have learnt to look at them in the right way I can begin to see what other gardeners meant when they extolled the merits of the Funkia. One has a lot, an endless lot, to … Continue reading I Hate Hostas, Don’t I?
Tag: beauty
From Muddy Waters to Finding the Perfect Shade of Blue
"The Morning Glory is a joy every year. Those enormous sky-blue trumpets that open every morning before breakfast and shut themselves up again between luncheon and tea...You must make sure to get the right kind: it is called Ipomea rubra-coerulea, Heavenly Blue." -Vita Sackville-West In Your Garden: February 12, 1950 Vita loved her Morning … Continue reading From Muddy Waters to Finding the Perfect Shade of Blue
Only the Good Die Young…
The charm of annuals is their light gaiety, as though they must make the most of their brief lives to be frivolous and pleasure-giving. They have no time to be austere or glum. They must be youthful because they have no time to be old. And so their colours are bright, and their foliage airy, … Continue reading Only the Good Die Young…
ROMANCING THE CLEMATIS
An unusual way of treating clematis is to grow it horizontally instead of vertically...but do this as gingerly as you can, for clematis seems to resent the touch of the human hand. ...the reward will be great. For one thing you will be able to gaze right down into the upturned face of the flower … Continue reading ROMANCING THE CLEMATIS
“Go Round Popping The Buds”
Far more satisfactory [than the hibiscus], I find, are the hardy fuchsias...although they will probably be cut to the ground by frost in winter, there is no cause for alarm, for they will spring up again from the base in time to flower generously in midsummer...and in case of extremely hard weather an old sack … Continue reading “Go Round Popping The Buds”
Waging a Cold War…On Bunnies
The French Idea of gardening... I have recently returned from a wondering holiday in southwestern France. The villagers produce an altogether charming effect, comparable with our own cottage gardens at home. The village street is lined with pots, standing grouped around the doorways or rising step by step up the outside staircase when there is one … Continue reading Waging a Cold War…On Bunnies
Toxic Beauty
It is perhaps too ordinary to appeal to the real connoisseur- a form of snobbishness I always find hard to understand in gardeners... -Vita Sackville-West January 1st, 1950 I've often thought Vita wouldn't approve of my growing pussy toes. After all, they're just an ordinary wildflower. But then I read the above passage. Of course … Continue reading Toxic Beauty







