- OF THE GARDEN

April 6, 08

Woke up to this this morning. So no spring after all

by 10:00 it was almost gone

March 26, 2008

Weather is finally relenting. Maybe we will have spring after all. The plants are surging out of the ground

Beschorneria phallus

Ferula communis in bud

Paeonia cambessedesii

Digging everything up and dividing it before it gets too much top growth. Amazing how many plants you can make out of one.

Lathyrus vernus filicifolius just beginning to bloom. Hair fine leaves. will have red seedpods afterwards

March 22, 08

Too cold to garden. Piercing North wind slicing right through me. But Viola corsica starting to bloom, late this year due to our obscenely cold March. Outblooms almost everything else in the garden, will still be going strong in November.

March 2, 08

Spent the day cutting down hazels and willows and weaving plant supports in situ. Crude but fun.

About to plant my eighty feet of Iceland Poppies (sown last summer)

Hellebores looking grand

February 08

Prunng the Solanum jasminoides high up on the south side of our house I got a great view of Peter's "shapes in the landscape"

My newest discovery, after growing it for a year the winter has finally showed me why it is called Corydalis 'Chocolate Star'

January 2008

Bananas and Cordylines all wrapped up, standing around like mournful ghosts.

But the best is the Polygala blooming merrily out othe top of its fat little drum of straw. This should never survive outdoors here, but it is acting as though it needs no wrapping.

I have risked planting one of my precious Lithodora rosmarinifolias away from the shelter of a wall and so far it is doing splendidly. They bloom from New Years Day till Easter, a joy to behold in the bleak midwinter.

- OF THE NURSERY

April 6, 08

Not a very happy nursery this morning

March 26, 08

We are sorry to announce the passing of Miss Tilly, who ruled the nursery with her iron will. She would walk up and greet people in the carpark and accompany them on their journey down, but woe betide anyone who tried to pick her up. As she got older, she got rounder and rounder but she never lost her sense of authority.

March 24, 08

Cardamine pratensis Flora Plena is about to be the star of the show. A very pretty double form of the wild Lady's Smock. Very easy to grow and very easy to weed out as the young plants look just like hairy bitter cress, but it always seems to find a place to hide from me and comes back year after year

Lady's Smock likes damp meadows and is an English native.

Camassias also like damp meadows but they are from the Pacific Northwest, appartently Indians used to eat the roots. Their beautiful blue star flowers are a sight to behold in May. If not too dry, they will spread and naturalize here just as in America.

Camassia leichtlinnii Caerulea. Not in bloom yet but buds pushing up through strong leaves. Gorgeous big potfulls

February 29, 2008

Just back from lecturing in the States. Feel like I have missed the beginning of spring. Leucojeum vernalis 'Gravetye' started blooming in weird stunted way in January, now hitting its stride, but it is still weirdly early

February 08

I am now going to abandon ship, abandon any eco principles I may have ever had and fly to Zanzibar! Enjoy this rainy February why don't you?

Seedlist finally went and orders now flooding in, 39 yesterday! Selling out of things I never thought anyone would buy. Someone even bought seed of my curly dock which looks like dead seaweed. I love it but someone wlse is that crazy?

January 2008

New Years Resolution - will do better!

So far January is all about getting out the new weedlist - oh my god, seedlist, (fine Freudian slip there). Supposed to come out at the end of November. But at the end of November I was in Philadelphia for a major family reunion sparked off by my 60th birthday. And then of course I had to have a birthday party here when I came back and then there was Christmas and there you have it.

There won't be a new plant catalogue this year since the printer accidentally printed twice as many last year and the plant list does not change nearly as fast as the seedlist.

My best Christmas find last year - Amaryllis Benfica, 3-4 stems per bulb! blooming from Dec 1 to mid Jan, amazing. I grew them for all my friends this year,

SPECIAL PLANTS is about 100 miles due west of London, seven miles north of Bath and four miles south of Junction 18 on the M4. Greenways Lane turns west off of the A46 100 yards south of the A420 roundabout. We are not in Cold Ashton village. It is about a mile down a very narrow winding lane. Please drive with care. There is plenty of room to park and turn around when you arrive.