Pembrokeshire has more than 180 miles of vast, unspoiled coastline, where beaches embrace rugged cliffs, largely untouched by modern life. This region beckons families and solo travellers alike, offering a tranquil getaway.
30.11.2023 - 08:11 / houseandgarden.co.uk
You can take an Englishwoman out of England, but you can’t change a deeply ingrained English garden aesthetic. Pom Shillingford has lived in America for 26 years, but she still yearns for the garden she knew as a child — her grandmother’s beloved Arts & Crafts garden in Hampshire, which she remembers always being filled with seasonal flowers. She and her husband David and their three young children moved from Manhattan to the small town of Salisbury in Connecticut in 2013. ‘I had always loved Manhattan, but suddenly I didn’t love it any more and needed to go back to green fields and the outdoors,’ says Pom.
They had always vowed not to buy a house that needed renovating, but when they first saw the run-down 1830s farmhouse and its three-and-a-half acres, it was the garden that sealed the deal for Pom — and the old barn for husband David. ‘The house was a wreck but it was the garden I really wanted,’ says Pom. ‘I could see what it could become.’ Ten years on, she has designed and created her own version of her grandmother’s garden. Set out behind the elegant white clapboard house, this English-style garden seems entirely in character with the genteel environment of northwest Connecticut, complete with yew-hedged garden rooms, lawns, herbaceous borders, potager and most recently an expanding cutting garden.
Cut flowers have become an increasing focus for Pom as her children have grown older and she has more time to devote to the garden. In 2020 she enrolled on a six-week online flower farming course with the well known Floret Farm, and the following spring launched her own seasonal flower business, English Garden Grown. Now she cuts early spring bulbs, tulips, sweet peas and dahlias from her garden to sell to subscribers,
Pembrokeshire has more than 180 miles of vast, unspoiled coastline, where beaches embrace rugged cliffs, largely untouched by modern life. This region beckons families and solo travellers alike, offering a tranquil getaway.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden was one of the key reasons I wanted to visit Cape Town. I’d long heard of the famous gardens, and their importance to horticulture worldwide, so the chance to explore them for real was a dream come true. There’s so much to do and see in Cape Town and, with only a few days to fit it all in, my wife and I had to carve out dedicated time to visit Kirstenbosch, but we’re so pleased we did.
On day 12 of advent we’re offering the chance to win a hand painted fern bin and tissue box from Master the Art, worth £180.
Dramatic and elegant, amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are bulbous indoor plants that cheer us through the coldest months. The huge flowers bloom atop tall, sturdy stems, opening like colourful trumpets, as if about to blast away the winter blues with a clarion call.
Day 10 of our advent prize draw gives entrants the opportunity to win a DNA’24 DB26 Bread Knife from Savernake worth £199. Please note you must be over 18 to enter this prize draw.
Our eleventh prize is a Gold Smokebox, worth £105 from Lambton & Jackson.
Day 9 of our Christmas advent prize draw gives you the chance to win WOLF-Garten’s Bypass Loppers worth £119.99.
The Isles of Scilly are like an idealised version of England – where the sun always shines, the food is wonderful, there’s no traffic and no one locks their doors! To say the sun always shines is an exaggeration, but they’re among the sunniest and mildest places in the UK – sea breezes mean it’s never too hot or humid and thanks to the Jetstream, they almost never have frost.
Hidden behind the door for day 8 of our advent prize draw is a bundle of tools from gardening brand Wilkinson Sword, worth £114.97.
Enter our day 7 prize draw for your chance to win ‘his and hers’ Buckingham wellington boots worth £109.98 from Harbour Lifestyle.
Offering some of the closest beaches to London, Essex has a reputation for kiss-me-quick resorts and dormitory commuter towns. The truth is that this flat county, defined by slow-flowing rivers, estuaries, salt marshes and oyster beds, abounds in subtle charm. The Romans settled in Colchester and evidence of their occupation can be found in many coastal settlements. In the 1560s Flemish protestants brought their silk-weaving skills to the town, while the Dutch reclaimed swathes of land for farming.
Robins can lose up to 10% of their body weight keeping warm over a single winter’s night. With reports that the La Nina weather system may bring harsh cold spells in winter 2022-23, added to the problem of disappearing food sources and habitats over the UK, robins – and other garden birds – could do with some support this season.