Search - Articles

and were inspired by their grandmother’s remarkable collection.I tell you all this because you should really be thinking about ordering bare-root roses for planting out in the winter. If you're wondering what to plant, and you favour old-fashioned varieties

The sweet pea is a British favourite; not quite as popular as the rose but definitely up there in the top five. However, while there are numerous songs and poems about roses, the poets and wandering minstrels have been a bit sluggish when it comes

than plant a rose or another wisteria - there might be some unpleasantness hiding in the soil - I decided to stick with annual climbers. We usually have morning glories (Ipomoea species) in pots, so I moved one of them to fill in and it did an admirable

, for those of you who have not met it before, is the most phenomenally over-the-top cherry tree. A vast amount of frothy white blossom that is spectacular for a week or so in May.Here are the first leaves of Rosa rugosa 'Snowdon', a wildish rose that I have

.This idea was sparked off by Nigel Colborn’s excellent blog Silvertreedaze. Nigel listed 50 herbaceous perennial plants without which he would feel bereft. I've decided that what is good enough for the all-knowing Nige, is good enough for you and me, so I

and forgot about ... even though I had written it down. I have a largish group of the musk rose, 'Penelope', which flowers beautifully in June. If you leave it it will set some fine hips for the winter but there will be no more flowers. Last year I vowed

looking like dog-eared lace doilies. Hostas seem to be the snack of choice for all molluscs.This problem is pretty much universal - except, it seems, at Hever Castle in Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Hever Castle has a magnificent rose garden