Posted on 13.05.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Every May I look at our garden and note that I could do better. Invariably this is underlined in red felt-tip pen following a visit to The RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Despite my misgivings about my own plot, there is plenty…

Posted on 13.05.2017 | Updated on 14.05.2017 | Added in Sheila May’s Blog On a Chalk Hillside – Developing our garden What we found growing here that first year How hard has it been for you to leave your new-to-you garden for a year to :- a) discover what is…

Posted on 01.05.2017 | Updated on 02.05.2017 | Added in Plant of the Month There are a selection of unassuming trees that for most part of the year blend seamlessly into the landscape providing sufficiently fine form and structure, however at this time of year, really come into their own.…

Posted on 30.04.2017 | Added in Last Month in My Garden The predominant colour in the garden has been white. Most of the late daffodils are white and there have been carpets of arabis and iberis. Spirea arguta has been noticeable (I have three bushes), followed by choisya, and pear…

Posted on 30.04.2017 | Updated on 01.05.2017 | Added in Featured Conservation Plants Missing Information Bergenia ‘Pugsley’s Pink’ If you read the March Feature on Bergenia ‘Pugsley’s Pink’ you will know that I was hoping to discover more about the Mr Pugsley who bred this plant.   Through Plant Heritage…

Posted on 13.04.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’ There are years when I feel overwhelmed by the myriad gardening tasks screaming for my attention in spring, but 2017 is not one of them (yet). We have been enjoying warm, sunny weather in Norfolk and although the soil…

Posted on 12.04.2017 | Added in Sheila May’s Blog On a Chalk Hillside – Developing our garden Spring Blossom and Carpets of Spring Bulbs What is the picture that comes to your mind when you say English Apple or Plum Orchard?  Do you perhaps think in terms of village settings…

Updated on 08.04.2017 | Added in Sophie Leathart’s Column Cuttings from the flower Garden – Violets   Whilst flicking through my childhood scrapbook of pressed flowers, I came across a bunch of violets still held together by a thin piece of raffia and written underneath it, in my childish hand…

Posted on 04.04.2017 | Updated on 16.04.2017 | Added in Featured Conservation Plants Erysimum ‘Ruston Royal’ This Erysimum was introduced to the Conservation Scheme by the Norfolk & Suffolk Group in 2010. It was a seedling that was spotted in the garden at East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk and…

Posted on 01.04.2017 | Updated on 05.04.2017 | Added in Plant of the Month Arum Arum is a genus of tuberous perennial plants belonging to the Araceae family, the genus is made up of around 25 species native to Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia to the Western Himalayas. Many…

Posted on 01.04.2017 | Updated on 02.04.2017 | Added in Last Month in My Garden Early in March, the predominant flowers were hellebores and snowdrops but gradually daffodils took over from the snowdrops, although a few late varieties remained until the end. The photo shows daffodils in an area which…

Posted on 19.03.2017 | Updated on 12.04.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Helleborus x hybridus Scilla mischtschenkoana Gardeners give precious border space to plants for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the plant was a gift, or is a lifelong favourite. We might be custodians of a national collection. Sometimes…

Posted on 16.03.2017 | Updated on 18.03.2017 | Added in Kevin’s Propagation/Plant Focus Blog/Healing Gardens March is a great time of the year when gently pruning and tidying the herbaceous borders for spring, to be inspired with thoughts of propagation.  I have mixed feelings on removing leaves from Hellebores. They…

Posted on 14.03.2017 | Updated on 16.03.2017 | Added in Sheila May’s Blog On a Chalk Hillside – Developing our garden Putting up a Polytunnel Do you think Spring is coming soon?  We have our seed potatoes chitting, and the broad bean and sweet peas germinating in the utility, so…

Posted on 28.02.2017 | Added in Last Month in My Garden February 1st was sunny and relatively warm – very different from the day before and a promise of spring. Unfortunately, the HPS Anniversary Open Day did not have the same weather but was cold, so that the snowdrops did…

Posted on 27.02.2017 | Added in Plant of the Month Erythronium E. tuolumnense E.albidum It is a sure sign that spring has settled in once the ‘Galanthophiles’ and ‘Croconuts’ have had their fix and quietly, another group of plants, perhaps one for the more discerning gardener, start to make their…

Posted on 24.02.2017 | Updated on 27.02.2017 | Added in Featured Conservation Plants Bergenia ‘Pugsley’s Pink’ AGM This month’s featured plant has been part of the Conservation Scheme since 2001, when it was put forward by a member of the Somerset Group as a good plant that was not widely…

Posted on 09.02.2017 | Updated on 03.03.2017 | Added in Sheila May’s Blog On a Chalk Hillside – Developing our garden Composting and Weeds – proper gardeners’ talk! Even in a tiny garden in London we had two compost bins.  Admitedly they were little drum-like green plastic ones:– one the…

Posted on 06.02.2017 | Updated on 28.03.2017 | Added in Sophie Leathart’s Column Cuttings from the flower Garden Amongst the debris of last summer’s verdant extravaganza sits the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger. It has been happily holding its head up for the last few months, and even when the temperatures…

This is my final contribution for ‘Plant of the month’ and as it’s February (probably the worst month of the year in which to find photographs), it was suggested that I might reflect on what makes a good choice for ‘Plant of the Month’. This intrigued me, as although I’ve…

Posted on 01.02.2017 | Updated on 02.02.2017 | Added in Last Month in My Garden The start of the growing year has been slow; cold weather has kept most plants underground. This has been an advantage as I continue to clear away dead herbaceous growth and prune shrubs. It is…

Posted on 31.01.2017 | Added in Featured Conservation Plants Iris ‘Amiguita’ (CH) Now difficult to find, Iris ‘Amiguita’ is a compact Californian Hybrid with a striking flower. It was registered in 1947 by Eric Nies (1884-1952), an American iris breeder. Best known for his work on spuria irises, for which…

Posted on 09.01.2017 | Updated on 14.01.2017 | Added in Sheila May’s Blog On a Chalk Hillside – Developing our garden What do you do with your Christmas Tree after the festive period? Although we never met the previous owner, as we cleared the wilderness past the hedge we discovered…

Hedera colchica ‘Paddy’s Pride’ AGM (syn ‘Sulphur Heart’) January is a strange month to contend with in the garden. Extremes of weather, from the sublime to the ridiculous, can rattle through in the space of a week, leaving the humble plot-tender bewildered. Already this year in Herefordshire, we’ve had temperatures…