Iris chrysographes
This beauty is Iris chrysographes, the gold-marked iris. Isn’t she splendid?! I mean, wow. You can also see what look like tiny white crystals on the petals at the top, leading down to where the pollen is found. I think …
Stroll/roll: along Lightwood (Sheffield)
Stroll/roll: my partner strolls, I roll, on my mobility scooter The lovely summer weather, combined with a little bit of energy, led to us deciding to take a fairly local stroll/roll today. We ventured over to Lightwood, which is about …
Creating an alpine scree bed
I have long wanted to create an alpine scree bed, after admiring them elsewhere, such as the alpine scree beds found at Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. Scree beds aim to emulate the rocky sides of mountains, only, in an urban garden. …
Hedging my bets
Hedges are great. I mean, the right kind of hedges a great. A nice beech hedge, that’s a great hedge. But not all hedges are planted equal. Like, when someone, for reasons only known to themselves, decides to plant six …
Crocus tommasinianus ‘Whitewell Purple’ and Iris ‘Cantab’
Now we’ve had some proper Spring weather, with warmer temperatures and sunny days, the colour is taking off. First up is my favourite crocus, C. tommasinianus ‘Whitewell Purple’. In the sun it shimmers, and attracts the bees who feast on …
Slow-onset ME
This article was first published in the ME Association’s ME Essential magazine, Spring 2021, pages 32-33. Slow onset ME. You’ve probably never heard of it. It’s mentioned here and there, and on the ME Association website, but there are no …
Galanthus ‘Ophelia’
Following from posting Galanthus ‘Dionysus’ last week, this week is another snowdrop double, Galanthus ‘Ophelia’. G. Ophelia is an elegant double, with stronger green markings than G. Dionysus on the inner petals, and with some lighter green markings on the …
Galanthus ‘Dionysus’
As we have finally been blessed with some good weather with warmer temperatures, the bulbs are emerging. This is a new snowdrop for me, that I planted last year, Galanthus ‘Dionysus’. It’s a pretty double with distinct green markings, that …
Voilà Violas!
By good fortune, whether from wind or birds, these violas self-seeded in my garden. As if to say, Voilà! They are very pretty. This one is my favourite. I plan on letting them self-seed and will then choose the best …
Plant mage
My addiction to plants isn’t exactly unknown (you don’t say, they cry). A couple of months ago over on Mastodon, author Vicorva called me a ‘plant mage’. That rather tickled me. Then she wrote a #microfiction about a plant mage …