Snowdrops (Gallanthus)
These are the first snowdrops in our garden. I spotted them near the gate when I was driving out yesterday. As there is so little else in the garden at this time of year, I treasure the snowdrops. When they get into full swing we usually have a few in an eggcup on the kitchen table, ours are all small varieties. Snowdrops are massively popular nowadays. So much so that there is a real danger that all our wild snowdrops are likely to die out. Snowdrop thieves are plundering naturalised sites. This is a real cash crop. A small pot of three...
read moreNarcissus: Paper Whites are flowering for us
When my Mum left at the end of her Christmas visit this year, she asked me to open the boot of her car. She had a funny glinty look so I was intrigued as I put the key in the look. Snuggled up beside the tyre jack was a bowl planted with paper white narcissii. I was delighted. In an instant she had filled a yawning gap. Usually we buy bulbs and plant them in large bowls for the cottage so that they’ll flower for us indoors through January and February. Once they are over, I plant the paper whites in a sunny protected spot in the garden...
read moreFresh flowers
Years ago, my mother told me an old Chinese saying. ‘If you only have enough money to buy a loaf of bread, think again. Buy half a loaf and a chrysanthemum. They will both feed you.’ If we don’t have flowers in the house, I feel the difference. When I open the front door and if there are no flowers, there’s a gap. I love flowers. If you have a moment and are near some, take the time to examine them closely. If you get really intimate you’ll see what I mean. It’s another world. Breathtakingly beautiful. Dive...
read moreDandelions. A treat for chickens and bees
I was surprised to hear recently, that dandelions are one of the largest sources of nectar for bees in the spring. So now I don’t feel quite so guilty about leaving them be and only snapping their heads off just before they go to seed. Like most people, I find weeding out enemies with deep roots to be a slow and boring process. I always start the year with good intentions but gradually am drawn into other self sufficiency activities and the weeds then flourish. The feverfew in the photo self seed prolifically, and many consider them to...
read moreSweet peas and wood pigeon, the most evocative scent and sound of summer
There is nothing to compare with picking the first posy of sweet peas. The heady scent from something so delicate. The fragile flowers, at best with buds. We have a special vase for them. I think it might have been home to a scented candle once but it is now perfect for these flowers that fade so fast. When the vase is off duty it sits on the windowsill with the other special things: the Buddha, the basil, my frogs. When I first came to live here a friend from London used to stay regularly at weekends. Her grandfather had been Head Gardener at...
read more
FD