Sarah Raven

For gardeners, glancing to the months ahead is part of the course. We’re always keeping one eye on what seeds will soon need to go into the ground, anticipating the vegetables that will soon be sprouting, or preparing for our next round of pruning. With 2024 fast approaching, a calendar that not only keeps you organised and motivated throughout the year, but is as informative as it is beautiful is a worthwhile purchase. We’re rounded up some of our colourful and eye-catching favourites below.

I can’t deny that some of the winter-hardy plants are far more abundant grown under glass, so if you have a coldframe, greenhouse, polytunnel or even a series of glass or plastic cloches, do use them. We grow a mix of salads and hardy annual herbs in our glasshouse here, but certainly in Sussex this protection is not essential. The most cold-resistant of these greens, such as parsley, mizuna, mustard ‘Red Giant’ and American land cress, may falter under snow or after several successive days of frost, but even without a cover, they won’t die. They seem to hibernate, and then as soon as there’s a bit of sun or a general thaw they come back to life. 

I can’t deny that some of the winter-hardy plants are far more abundant grown under glass, so if you have a coldframe, greenhouse, polytunnel or even a series of glass or plastic cloches, do use them. We grow a mix of salads and hardy annual herbs in our glasshouse here, but certainly in Sussex this protection is not essential. The most cold-resistant of these greens, such as parsley, mizuna, mustard ‘Red Giant’ and American land cress, may falter under snow or after several successive days of frost, but even without a cover, they won’t die. They seem to hibernate, and then as soon as there’s a bit of sun or a general thaw they come back to life. 

Slugs and snails can wreak havoc in the garden, demolishing seedlings and decimating the leaves of larger plants such as hostas. While slug pellets are an effective deterrent, those containing metaldehyde can harm hedgehogs and other wildlife, while other forms of slug control can be time consuming and aren’t guaranteed to work.

A cherry plum, sweet, thin-skinned and very prolific (you’ll also find it sold under ‘Red Grape Sugar Plum’). It was in the top three of our recent taste test and everyone liked it for its strong tomato flavour that’s sweet but not overly so, and its firm not mushy texture. It has a slight acidity running through it which all sweet tomatoes need. It ripens quite late compared to ‘Sungold’ and produces for a long period of time. It’s lovely in a mixed salad with the larger varieties. 

Unparalleled in their August marvellousness at Perch Hill are of course tomatoes. The smell of the stems and leaves that lingers after pinching is almost as good as the taste of the fruit. We grow groves of tomatoes in the greenhouse here, and these are sometimes supplemented with the hardier and more reliable ones growing in a sunny spot in the garden. And we plant lots of basil in amongst and through our tomato jungle. 

Copper from an old penny, vinegar, lemon juice and aspirin have some preservative effect as they are all acidic.

Outdoor Freesias are another Sarah Raven success story.  They have flowered all summer and are still throwing up a few flower stems.  I’ve moved a co

Not just for a posy or to look at either – you can safely add the petals to your salads or puds as I learnt when I attended Sarah Raven’s lecture on dahlias at her Perch Hill garden.

Our fruit cage is cobbled together from various metal poles and some distinctly scrappy netting, erected (after a fashion) on our sloping allotment, so I felt deep envy when I visited Sarah Raven’s garden at Perch Hill and viewed her immaculate fruit cages.  Properly spaced bushes, not a weed in sight, ample room to move around and pick the fruit, flat ground – they were everything ours is not. Still our fre

There’s still time to get plant supports in place, before everything gets too large, develops a mind of its own and heads off in directions that may suit it – but doesn’t add to the beauty of the garden. With this is mind, I recently attended a Staking & Supports course given by Sarah Raven, whose garden at Perch Hill could not be bettered when it comes to plant supports, the majority of which are made from natural materials. Coppiced chestnut, willow, hazel and silver birch are all used to create sturdy and decorative frameworks to keep plants upright or support them as they climb. Anyone planning to plant a cutting garden would find the course invaluable – and I now know how I can do it better next year. The most important thing I learnt is that my bundles of coppiced silver birch need to be taller if I am going to create the tall, elegant structures that we made at Perch Hill, rather than the short, dumpy ones that I’ve managed at home. I get my silver birch from the man who supplies our logs and up until now he has cut them to the length that will fit in the car – I will ask for them to be delivered in future. According to Sarah, the best suppliers provide the materials to build Point-to-Point hurdles, but you need to be living a very rural life to have them nearby. My coppiced silver birch is too

What do I Have in Common with Monty Don & Sarah Raven? We are all devotees of the Japanese style workwear made by Kiraku Clothing – Monty’s blue denim jacket and Sarah’s tunic are both made by Kiraku who have now branched out as The Garden Clothing Company and have a stand at the Hampton Court Flower Show. If you aspire to looking stylish when you garden (at least some of the time) but need something durable – these are the clothes for you – and me.

In the past I haven’t grown enough broad beans, so this year I’m planning a bit of  successional sowing.  I’m already a bit behind on the game – because of the hard landscaping work I couldn’t do an autumn sowing – but starting next week I will sow some in the ground as well as some in pots as insurance against mice predations. I’ve gone for three different varieties – Thompson & Morgan’s ‘Express’ which has an AGM and is apparently the fastest to crop, then ‘Stereo’ from Sarah Raven which produces small tender pods that you can eat in their entirety, and finally ‘Greeny’ from Mr. Fothergill’s which is a lat

The soil at Sarah Raven’s Perch Hill garden is heavy clay, so it is top dressed with copious quantities of gravel and mushroom compost. With the rec

Swell Stuff I do love ranunculus with their tissue-paper flowers in gorgeous colours. This year I bought orange, purple, pink and white corms.

More words of wisdom from Sarah Raven. She has found that the most durable way of labelling plants is to write on a plastic label with an HB pencil (soft) and then spray with cheap hairspray which will fix the writing. She has found this far more effective than so-called ‘permanent’ markers.  

Posting my ‘Top Nine of 2018’ in Instagram, it was interesting to see that the most ‘liked’ images were all local – some from my own garden, but also from Perch Hill, Sarah Raven’s always inspiring garden at nearby Brightling and the equally inspiring Great Dixter. The only non-plant post was of the approaching Beast from the East. As we walked along the beach the sky was the most extraordinary colour and it was pulsing like a malign aurora borealis. Fingers crossed we don’t see anything similar in 2019. Follow theenduringgardener on Instagram. Key to ph

With its red and yellow flowers like a row of brightly coloured pennants, you can see exactly why Mina lobata is called Spanish Flag.  This unli

My own garden seems somewhat lacking in colour at the moment and what colour there is, is fairly low key as I wait for the asters to add some vibrancy. The same cannot be said at Perch Hill, Sarah Raven’s garden near Brightling in East Sussex where it is positively kaleidoscopic at the moment. Sarah’s vegetable beds a

On a recent visit to the Walled Nursery at Hawkhurst, I noticed that quite a few of the newly sown seeds were covered with coarse grit, rather than a layer of compost. I thought I would give this a try with cosmos seeds that I bought from Sarah Raven – I had poor germination with earlier sowings. What a tri

Rip City, my favourite dahlia, was obliterated in the border by the slugs, so it has been dug up and potted up into several pots where the rescued tubers are putting on healthy leaf. I will cosset them  through the autumn and keep them undercover for the winter so that I don’t have to do without them next year. Meanwhile,

Indoor bulb potting On 24th March Sarah Raven (in association with The Flower Council of Holland) will be demonstrating indoor bulb potting throughout the day at Perch Hill in a series of hour-long educational workshops that include Q&A sessions. Particular focus will be on five household favourites: Tulip, Hyacinth, Iris, Narcissi and Calla Lily.

La Sylphide, Mr Fokker & Sarah Raven I love anemones, and none more than the cerise-flowered La Sylphide and the rich blue Mr. Fokker.

It is always a treat to go to one of Sarah Raven’s Open Days at Perch Hill, near Brightling in East Sussex. The spring opening happened to coincide with a beautiful, warm and sunny day, which added to the pleasure. Over the years I have watched this garden evolve from quite modest beginnings to the impressive place it is today. Sarah is constantly experimenting with new varieties of flowers and innovative planting combinations, so a visit is much more than a pleasant experience – it is endlessly inspiring. I defy anyone to leave without a few packets of seeds, or a plant or two to emulate something seen in her garden. It was the white honesty (Lunaria) that was the hit this time as far as I was concerned. Purple honesty does well in my garden, as does the perennial honesty Lunaria rediviva so I’m fairly confident that it will grow in my garden. It is a seed that likes to be left to its own devices, so most have been scattered, with just a few sown in a pot as insurance, although in my experience they do not transplant well.   A new add

When it comes to plant supports, Sarah Raven really has it sorted.  I visited Perch Hill last weekend to see the various structures before they all disappear beneath their coverings of plants.   The scale of eve