Last May, on the very first day that travel was permitted, I set off from my bubble at Longmeadow to a start filming a series on Adriatic gardens. This had been delayed by a year due to the pandemic and during that time I had barely left the garden at all, other than to take the dogs for a walk in empty fields. So Heathrow was a culture shock (and a fiasco - we weren't allowed to check-in because a form had been filled in an hour too early, falling just outside the 24-hour window). So, off to a hotel and another flight the next day, this time involving a change and innumerable checks on paperwork before finally starting to film - a day behind schedule.
As well as a terrible start, the whole experience was a hassle. Everywhere we went there were different interpretations of the required Covid paperwork plus a few deeply invasive and unpleasant PCR tests on top of the ones back home and, of course, the obligatory 10 days quarantining on return.
But... it was a joy to be out and about and experiencing new places, seeing different ways of gardening and, having spent the previous year only filming with robot cameras, working with a live crew again.
My Adriatic album
Snapshots from Monty's Covid-hit year of filming
A High-end design by Fernando Caruncho makes a bold statement
A Water as far as the eye can see, at the Rothschild garden, under a Corfu sun
A The Croatian version of a Paradise Garden, by YouTube gardener Ante Karanušić
A Exploring a private, coastal garden on the Croatian island of Lopud
A hidden gem by the Grand Canal in Venice the Renaissance Palazzo Nani Bernardo
A Shipping wealth of Stavros Niarchos funds one of Europe's biggest roof gardens
Gardens and cloisters on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2022 من Gardeners World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2022 من Gardeners World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
A new plot for tasty crops
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We love July
July is an island floating between the joy of June and the slightly fatigued month of August. It's a grown-up month: the year has shrugged off its adolescent exuberances, the weather is (hopefully) warm enough for ice cream to be one of your five a day, the sea should be swimmable without (too much) danger of hypothermia and thoughts will be of holiday shenanigans and family barbecues. School's out this month, the next tranche of glorious summer colour is washing across our borders and it's my birthday. Lots of reasons to give three rousing cheers for July!
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Flowers are out in abundance this month and for Jack Wallington, many of these blooms make delicious, low-effort pickings
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Glorious doorstep harvests can easily turn into gluts, so let Rukmini Iyer's recipes help you savour every last bit
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Nature knows best
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