A garden visit: Whinfell Quarry Garden

Whinfell Quarry Garden is Sheffield’s own secret garden. Despite being on a main road a few miles from Sheffield city centre and next to some popular footpaths, I never see more than a handful of people there. It’s a magical place and well worth a visit. A potted history. The garden dates from the turn … Continue reading A garden visit: Whinfell Quarry Garden →

In a vase on Monday: May

Today’s posy is made up of flowers and leaves from the lemon yellow tree peony and a beautiful blue brunnera. I think of blue and yellow as a classic springtime combination before the pinks and purples of early summer take over. My brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ grows a shady corner of the garden, planted along with … Continue reading In a vase on Monday: May →

Sheffield’s bluebell woods

There is no better place than an English woodland in May, and I’m lucky enough to live in a city with some of the finest bluebell woods I know. Sheffield is a famously hilly city. Around a third of the city lies within the Peak District National Park and the western suburbs sit high up … Continue reading Sheffield’s bluebell woods →

April round up

“When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.” John Wyndam, The day of the Triffids. Nearly a month of dry weather and perfect sunshine has lent a surreal feel to lockdown. The light seems to have been clearer, giving a hyper-realistic glow to the garden … Continue reading April round up →

Big Dreams

Its been a while since I posted (I seem to say that a lot). The world has been a strange place for the last month and much has changed in the garden. Its been a nearly a decade since I last had a greenhouse and I have been hankering after one ever since, dreaming of somewhere … Continue reading Big Dreams →

Growing mistletoe from seed

Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis have put paid to much gardening for the last few weeks. The garden is sodden and storm battered. But in a brief calm spell this weekend I have been having a go at propagating mistletoe. I didn’t think it grew in the north of England, having only seen it when … Continue reading Growing mistletoe from seed →

In a vase on Monday

This is my first foray into gardening memes. When I first started blogging I didn’t realise they were a ‘thing’ or how many they are. One of my favourites is ‘In a vase on Monday’ hosted by Cathy at RamblingintheGarden and it fits in nicely with my 2020 resolution to pick more blooms for the … Continue reading In a vase on Monday →

Breaking my new year’s resolutions – one seed packet at a time.

My gardening resolutions for 2020 were: 1. Not to let germination get out of hand, thus spend the entire season pricking out, potting up and potting on, leaving no time for anything else. 2. To stake plants that need staking. I made an effort last season with my willow supports and cut flowers, but woeful … Continue reading Breaking my new year’s resolutions – one seed packet at a time. →

Lovely Lithops!

Who couldn’t love a lithops? I started growing these last year because they fulfilled my sowing/germination addiction without generating lots of extra plants that would need space in the garden. I’m now just a tiny bit in love with them. The plants are like small, squidgy sea creatures and wouldn’t look out of place in … Continue reading Lovely Lithops! →

Chilli Pearls – growing Biquinho chillies

Some blog posts are spontaneous things, dashed off in an hour. This one is nearly a year in the making, and its satisfying to see a project through from start to finish. In January 2019 I had a meal out in Pizza Express and found tiny sweet chillies sprinkled through my Caesar salad. I had … Continue reading Chilli Pearls – growing Biquinho chillies →