Our Guide To The Best Bulbs To Plant For Spring 2021

With tens of thousands of bulbs to choose from, what should you order? Val Bourne selects the finest, chosen for looks, performance and reliability

Poet of the beach

In this 80th anniversary year of the retreat from Dunkirk, Peyton Skipwith considers the work of Richard Eurich (1903–92), War Artist, draughtsman and visionary painter of people, landscape and the sea

The doors open at last

Marquees in Petworth Park will be thronged with eager visitors, where swivel guns and cufflinks, a bachelor chest and a noble Cheviot ram will draw their eyes

And a partridge (not in a pear tree)

Some lust after sky-high pheasants or fast grouse, but, for Tom Parker Bowles, a French (or, even better, English) partridge bagged on a mild September day is top of the pops

The best of both worlds

Two Oxfordshire properties that espouse the benefits of town and country living hit the market

Of corn blobs and goggle-eyed plovers

From the ‘ethereal minstrel’ skylark to the yellowhammer with its ‘little-bit of-bread-and-no-cheese’ call, these birds are inextricably linked to our farming heritage, says Jack Watkins

Life in the slow lane

With a taste for radio and raspberries and a habit of clambering over anything in their path, tortoises are never going to be the cuddliest of pets, but they are nonetheless treasured by successive generations, finds Madeleine Silver

A shore thing

With 48 miles of coastline, you could spend an entire weekend exploring different Jersey beaches and still not see them all. Antonia Windsor has the pick of the ones you really shouldn’t miss

A magical touch

COUNTRY LIFE played a formative role in the development of Edwardian architectural taste, championing eclecticism and engaging with history, as Timothy Brittain-Catlin reveals

Learning In A Time Of Covid

Teepees, no uniform and housework–as pupils and staff return to a semblance of normality, how will school life have changed? Lucy Higginson finds out

The Best Things In (Country) Life Are Free

It’s hard to do anything in a city without spending money. Yet in the country, some of the greatest pleasures are there for the taking

The re-birth of the English country village

Thanks to broadband, rural areas are set to be transformed by an influx of newcomers freed from the shackles of a daily commute, finds Flora Watkins

The new English country house

Increasingly, flexible lifestyles are creating a fresh type of English country house that is a hybrid of home and office, with plenty of guest accommodation. Arabella Youens asks leading experts about the changing nature of the far-flung rural idyll

Further from the madding crowd

This year has shown that a five-day-a-week commute isn’t as vital to our working lives as we once thought. Now, the prospect of a part-time approach to commuting is creating a chance to head further afield. Julie Harding offers 20 destinations beyond a short train journey

The return of the bolt hole

From The Albany on Piccadilly to Bertie Wooster’s bachelor pad in Mayfair, the London pied-à-terre has had many incarnations. Could the rise of a part-time commute herald a new golden era, asks Clive Aslet

The workers' revolution

Thanks to broadband, the countryside is on the cusp of change, of a kind not seen since the advent of the train and the car, says Mark Hedges

Down to a tea

Most Britons would consider themselves fairly talented consumers of tea, but to be considered an expert, you would need to sample one million cups at 125mph. Roderick Easdale meets the professional tea tasters

Beauty in Nature

The Fraser Mortuary Chapel, Arbroath, Angus In the care of Angus Council In the second of two articles on the Scottish revival architecture of Patrick Allan-Fraser in Arbroath, John Goodall looks at the extravagant mortuary chapel he designed for the town cemetery

A newcomer's guide to the country village

For the uninitiated, the unwritten rules and subtle nuances of rural life can be baffling. Giles Kime offers city dwellers advice on everything from the parish magazine to the village pub

Green Fingers And A Business Head

The new RHS president on his own garden and what he will bring to the role

Where the writers roamed

Let the scenery and wildlife of these four Scottish estates inspire you

You don't bring me flowers...

The ancient craft of pressing blooms may not be as popular as in its Edwardian heyday, but the pastime is well worth revisiting, suggests Claire Jackson

The march of the tartan terriers

Scotland boasts five famously distinctive terrier breeds, all loyal, intelligent and amusing. Kate Green celebrates their heritage and appealing characters

Someone's been eating my porridge

Like Goldilocks, we simply can’t get enough of the stuff. Emma Hughes goes in search of the perfect bowl of porridge oats

Life is but a dream

Freed from the shackles of Scottish lockdown, The Prof ventures south to ‘kick some fin’ in pursuit of brownies on his annual chalkstream fix

Training for the Arts

Hospitalfield, Angus The property of the Patrick Allan-Fraser of Hospitalfield Trust Replete with late-Victorian collections and furnishings, Hospitalfield is today home to a cultural organisation for artists and education in the Arts. John Goodall looks at the driving personality behind a remarkable survival

Riding the winds

Attadale Gardens, Wester Ross After their almost total destruction by storms, the gardens at Attadale were brilliantly revived by Nicolette Macpherson and continue to thrive, finds James Truscott

Interiors: The designer's room

Henriette von Stockhausen has brought a relaxed feel to a reception room of a house in the Highlands

At daggers drawn

Once essential elements of every brave Highlander’s armoury, deadly dirks and sgiandubhs provided protection against foes, the elfin race and broken oaths, reveals Joe Gibbs

The Great British Food Revival

Buying local, seasonal produce isn’t merely a charming notion. It’s a philosophy with the power to save our communities, our health and the environment, urges top chef Raymond Blanc