Oh yes, I know that the cornus is a plant much maligned – especially the ones with variegated leaves. I’ve addressed this before and remain resolutely a dogwood devotee, a cornus connoisseur, albeit an amateur one. Even if they are often seen in car parks and on roundabouts, they continue to get my vote. First,Continue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Dogwoods”
Category Archives: Daily observation
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Cammasias and Cosmos
These two favourites in the Dumfriesshire Garden couldn’t be more contrasting. One perennial, one annual. One lover of the semi-damp of the arboretum. The other more at home in a sunny, drier border. One first planted as bulbs that gradually bulk up. The other beginning life each year in a seed tray, before potting onContinue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Cammasias and Cosmos”
Six word stories
Flash fiction is popular. Very short stories. From maybe fifty to a few hundred words. But how short can a short story be? Ernest Hemingway is credited with the quintessential version. A story of just six words. Coming across it a few months back (it’s easily found on the internet) I began scribbling my ownContinue reading “Six word stories”
Lost and found in the Spring garden
It has been a long, hesitant, process. I look back at my diary and photographs over the two months since mid-February, bemused by the intermittent unfurling of Spring 2024, here in south west Scotland. Delayed by days and days of rain. Held up by low temperatures and with winds ‘like a whetted knife’. Hindered byContinue reading “Lost and found in the Spring garden”
The month of cakes
It may be the shortest month of the year, but February seems replete with symbolism, ritual and ambiguity. Ancient observances jumble with Christian overlays. Calendrical quirks and lunar considerations bubble up and surface. The weather flatters, but can also deceive. The garden wakes up, though might easily turn over and go back to sleep. MuchContinue reading “The month of cakes”
Denise Zygadlo: making art through lines, threads, prints and performance
I think I first spoke to Denise Zygadlo at a death cafe. An occasion where strangers meet together over coffee and cake, to talk about mortality in all its aspects. I was impressed by her clarity of thought and speech and her open-ness about her encounters with dying and death in her family. I alreadyContinue reading “Denise Zygadlo: making art through lines, threads, prints and performance”
Wintering through January
With the Christmas decorations packed away and the New Year holiday behind us, I found myself pondering on those moments in the depths of Winter when the darkness persists and the weather forecast hangs over our plans and commitments. Too early yet to think of Spring, despite the slender daffodils in the shops, but maybeContinue reading “Wintering through January”
Encountering labyrinths
At Lammastide 2015, I was lucky enough to secure a modest rent and a long lease on the field adjoining our house in south west Scotland. I set about planting trees, initially in circles and later, linking them together with mown paths. One circle consisted of fairly closely planted hornbeams. My idea was to createContinue reading “Encountering labyrinths”
What’s in a place-name? An interview with Colin Mackenzie
This latest interview in my series about creative and inspiring people living in Dumfries and Galloway, is someone I have never met. Indeed, when I contacted him earlier this year, he informed me that he was about to leave his home region and relocate to Orkney. So I’m looking forward to meeting with him inContinue reading “What’s in a place-name? An interview with Colin Mackenzie”
The epimedium – understated elegance for all seasons
One of the hallmarks of my plant choosing habits is an attraction to anything that has what I consider to be an ‘old fashioned’ look about it. I shy away from sappy, gaudy overly hybridized and commercially tampered with plants of all kinds. By contrast I am drawn to things that look like they haveContinue reading “The epimedium – understated elegance for all seasons”
Quotidian 