Wow! What an exhausting month and what a difference in the weather compared with last spring, when the sun shone every day from the end of March for ten solid weeks. Like last year the ground remains dry, but the big difference has been with the daily chill. The night frosts through April were veryRead More
The spiteful wind, that has been a feature of this month has dented the enthusiasm of the keenest of gardeners. It has scythed through every fibre, whilst nature has chosen to just bash on. Encouraged by the stubborn defiance of the dormant world to get back to business, I did sow seed in February andRead More
What a difference a month makes? That said there has been a scent of it for weeks. Against the backdrop of the crisis, nature has put on an extraordinary show. The cherries have been magnificent, the forsythia glowed, and the tulips have brought real joy. I have a sentimental connection with them and try toRead More
May rolls away, a muddled month, disrupted by Bank holidays and frost. Gardening confidence stayed high and lively throughout though, whilst on a daily basis, we (growers) tripped in and out covering and protecting as the teatime news indicated another after dark crash of temperature. It was all very wearing, the tease of nature changingRead More
The sting was certainly in the tail of last month, my goodness there was some treachery, particularly around the middle of the month, when a watery sun offered thin disguise to a cruel wind, that cut through everything. Every other person drawn by the deception nursed a cold. The pollen was lively too, with HazelRead More
The tide has turned and how very quickly, Autumn rushed in, the brutal heat of summer bringing the early surrender from an exhausted landscape. The trees tell of a desire to shed their leaves and rest. All across the garden there is a sense of shutdown. The harvest has been mixed, the runner beans croppingRead More
Hooray, the clocks have changed and we can garden in the evening (if it stops raining). It’s actually good to see the back of March, what a month that was. The snow was totally disarming and the cold nights have been a test. Of course the thaw and the heavy rain has made the groundRead More
Well, August was a funny old month wasn’t it? The heatwave seemed long lost by the second week and it rained. The nights began to close in too and there has been a real feeling of autumn some days, with the temperature dropping close to single figures. There were berries everywhere you looked, with hedgerowsRead More
April bounced along, in fact it flew once Easter had arrived. The late Easter was the starting pistol and we had the benefit of a few weeks of light evenings ahead of it to prepare. So many people use it as the start time for gardening, so there were many lined up for the chargeRead More
Nature wrong foots us once more and demonstrates it’s extraordinary ability to improvise. At the start of the year, I expressed concern at the way that the daffodils had all decided to rush to flower early. The Cheltenham Festival was two months off and gardens and verges shone with banks of yellow trumpets. Now hereRead More