Time to be out and about now the fire risk has subsided. My own garden is a disaster, with only the natives and hydrangeas holding up. But how is everything else going in this awful heatwave I wonder? Well, to my great surprise an ibis has taken
Read more →As a writer and gardener, I find it hard to resist roses with a connection to a much loved book, or its author. Perhaps my favourite would be the beautifully scented David Austin rose called Jude the Obscure, named for Thomas Hardy’s tragic novel. It’s appropriate that
Read more →Sometimes you see another person’s garden and think, ‘Oh my word, I think I’ll rip all my stuff out and create something like this …well try to anyway.’ This is how I feel about Helen Chadwick’s garden, just up the road from me. It is a little piece
Read more →SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR LATEST UPDATE! My guardian Pauline Conolly grew a special rose called Hot Chocolate. ‘Come and smell it Des’ she said. So I did, just to make her happy. I took a deep breath of the perfume and then…wham!! A *#@!*!*# bee stung me
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