In the garden
WHEN, as a gardener, you spend most of your time trying to make conditions as propitious as possible for the growth of plants, there is a feeling of Schadenfreude when they grow in spite of your ministrations rather than because of them.
Sometimes, such willingness to thrive is a real pain—those ever-increasing rivulets of mind-your-own-business running riot between paving slabs and then colonizing an adjoining lawn— but, on occasions, these ‘happy accidents’ can be enjoyed and even encouraged if they add to a garden’s interest.
The knapped flint wall surrounding my Hampshire garden is a little like the Forth Railway Bridge when it comes to the repairs that seem necessary after every spell of winter frost. Where we’re slow to act with the mortar, the pink valerian, Centranthus ruber, will seed itself into the crevices and I’m loath to uproot it in the interests of re-pointing when it looks so delightful.
Like the wallflower, which earned its common name by virtue of its ability to grow in the crevices between stones and bricks, it’s an embellishment to my garden rather than a weed.
Denne historien er fra May 08, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 08, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
