The Marvels of Malvern

With its long history of medicinal use, I find yarrow to be one of the most incredible and fascinating common garden plants.An herbaceous perennial and member of the

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Chitting potatoes is also called gree

Fothergilla Monticola a shrub which I was not familiar with

It’s an age-old debate that’s almost impossible to avoid when living with another person: Does silverware go up or down in the dishwasher? And is there even a right answer? Since the popularization of the dishwasher, how to load this appliance has been a hot point of contention, particularly when it comes to silverware. Should silverware be rinsed first? Should you organize each utensil so like is grouped with like? Should you use the silverware basket or the rack, if your dishwasher is a newer model? Some people are adamant that silverware should be placed handle-up, while others insist on handle-down—but those aren’t actually the only options.

Zinnias are truly marvelous flowers, spectacularly colorful annuals that are incredibly easy to grow.And they come in a dizzying array of colors,

Mudlarking at Malvern Thank goodness that the weekend weather at Malvern was glorious – which is more than can be said for Thursday morning when I was there. Fortunately I had boots and waterproof clothes so I was warm and dry – if far from elegant.

The last couple of days of warm weather has everything bursting into bloom – yesterday I was admiring a trio of irises and today I looked up and saw that the mimosa is starting to open its little yellow pompoms.

Retail therapy at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014 by Daniel Carruthers The Chelsea Flower Show, now in it’s 101st year, is revered for its wonderful gardens showing the latest trends in garden design. The show does also have many other elements of inspiration too with a wide and often unsung retail section. Predominantly the Eastern Avenue is the shopaholic gardeners first port of call with everything on display ranging from hats and gardening apparel to seeds and works of art.

Trulli Marvellous Nigel Dunnett’s Blue Water Garden is an interesting working of an old idea – the harvesting and use of water to create a green oasis in the driest of places.  The building is based on the trulli of the Puglia region of southern Italy, the water rills echo the paradise gardens of ancient Persia and the planting was inspired by the dry meadows of south eastern Europe.  It felt very different to many of the other gardens – fresher, crisper and with more vibrant colour contrasts.  With the warm weather I’m sure the orange martagon lilies will be looking better and better as the week progresses.  The roof of the trulli has been made without any mortar – a real work of art.

It’s Looking Marvellous at Merriments I’ve just returned from Merriments Nursery (Hurst Green, East Sussex) where I was preparing for a guided walk I’m giving with Helen Yemm (from the Telegraph) this Saturday May 3rd as part of National Nurseries Week. Helen will be talking about plant combinations and I will be encouraging those attending (and everyone else) to plant pollinator friendly plants.

We spent the final couple of days of our visit to Cyprus in the Troodos Mountains where snow was still lying on the highest areas. We scrunched through it to find Crocus cyprius pushing up through the pine needles.