Three things obscured serious attention to the Dumfriesshire garden this month. I was heavily involved in the logistics of ‘launching’ my first novel. We were away on a short but garden-rich holiday in the Cotswolds. At home, the weather was unpredictable, occasionally too hot, sometimes cold and breezy, and mostly very wet!
Tag Archives: plants
May be or May be not
In my forthcoming debut novel and in effulgent terms, I describe May in south west Scotland, where I live. May can be the finest month in the Nithsdale year. Through the woods, bluebells nod in drifts. Along the loanings, cow parsley froths and swaggers. The lovely campion and cuckoo flowers are everywhere in the grassland.Continue reading “May be or May be not”
April come she will
April can seem full of deception. Promising much, then failing to deliver. Eulogized by the poets for its splendour, but also exposed by them as painful and cruel. The gateway to Spring, it still has frost on its back. Not for the first time in my life, I associate it this year with death andContinue reading “April come she will”
February’s charms and alarms
The February man still shakes the snowFrom off his hair and blows his hands (1) For the Romans it was a month of purification. British weather lore declares it brings rain or snow, or both. The Venerable Bede called it the month of cakes. From Brigid to Valentine, many saints are associated with it. TheContinue reading “February’s charms and alarms”
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Visiting other gardens
I’m not an assiduous visitor of gardens, though I do have my favourites, such as Hidcote Manor in the Cotswolds (seen here in the featured image), which we head to at every opportunity. Visiting any garden is always a chance to garner new ideas and inspirations and maybe to bring them home for local adaptation.Continue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Visiting other gardens”
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Pots
Most gardens have some pots of some kind: for that special plant, some early bulbs or perhaps for summer annuals. I’m pretty much the same, though in recent years I’ve got more interested in having them dotted around the place in small groups and have invested in a few more upmarket specimens, from a favouriteContinue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Pots”
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Moss
In the Dumfriesshire Garden I am surrounded by something special and important, but until recently I paid it little attention. Moss. Ubiquitous in a damp climate like ours. Taking many forms from close clinging to pin cushion plump. From slatey grey to deep forest green. Ubiquitous. Largely ignored. Settled and colonising the tops of stoneContinue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Moss”
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Jack in the Pulpit
When I first acquired my greenhouse a few years ago, I was soon drawn into the pleasure of growing what I considered to be more exotic plants, under glass. The first of these was Arisaema Candidissimum, with which I had considerable success, as can be seen here in the top image. I came across aContinue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Jack in the Pulpit”
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Ferns
The fern by the water in the featured image here comes from the edge of the Dumfriesshire Garden. This large plant with its gorgeous fronds spreading gently down to the water of the Pennyland Burn is growing wild. I’m fortunate to have such beauty in the ‘borrowed landscape’. There are indeed many native ferns inContinue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Ferns”
An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Borders
There are seven distinct borders in my Dumfriesshire Garden. How I allowed this to happen, I do not know. When all is going well in ‘borderland’, there is always the temptation, if you have the space, to add something more. So here’s a brief tour of the borders, in what I mostly consider a belowContinue reading “An A-Z of 2024 in the garden: Borders”
Quotidian 