Mallows in the Meadow

July 22, 2021July 27, 20225 Comments

The towpath beside the River Lee is a study in mauve with sprays of Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris) sprawling along the verge and out over the water. Often reduced to stunted tufts in managed verges, wilder areas that have been spared the mower allow this jaunty perennial to spread luxuriantly, its stems trailing and reaching up to a metre.

In our wildflower meadow (if a 4m x 1m patch in the lawn merits such a name, which for idealism’s sake we think it does) Common Mallow’s open, five-petalled flowers colour in the gaps between Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra), Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) and Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis). It was the first flower my daughter learnt to identify and amongst the first I attempted to paint in watercolours, but our affection for this wildflower is just the latest chapter in its long history as a familiar plant growing outside the backdoor or down the lane.

As members of the Malvacaea family, Mallows are related to Hollyhocks (Alcea), Hibiscus and Limes (Tilia). Like Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata) and Large-leaved Lime (Tilia platyphyllos), Common Mallow has edible leaves and flowers, but the nutlets or fruits (known colloquially as ‘cheeses’) were the part of the plant most prized by children as a wayside snack.

I like to rewind a couple of centuries and imagine the children in my family munching on the nutty cheeses, a tradition recounted by poet John Clare who shared a cottage in rural Helpston in Northamptonshire with my shepherding ancestors back in the 1820s. In The Shepherd’s Calendar (1827), Clare describes a thresher musing on his childhood:

The sitting down, when school was oer

Upon the threshold by his door

Picking from mallows sport to please

Each crumpld seed he calld a cheese.

I can’t help wondering if, one summer morning in the late 1820s, my young great-great-great grandfather Henry might have picked a fistful of mallow nutlets to give him something to nibble on as he trotted beside his father on their way to tend the sheep in the Helpston fields. While Henry might have been thinking about his handful of cheeses, children in other counties knew them as ‘rags and tatters’, ‘old man’s bread and cheese’ or ‘Billy buttons’.

Mallows were also important for their medicinal properties with both Dwarf Mallow (Malva neglecta) and Common Mallow collected by the local herbalist in John Clare’s poem ‘The Village Doctress’ to add to her potions. They had a wide range of uses including as a laxative and purgative, and as poultices for bruises, inflammation and insect bites due to the soothing powers of the mucilage in the leaves.

Other native mallows in the UK include Musk-mallow (Malva moschata) with its delicate pinkish or occasionally white flowers in July and August, and slightly later from August to September, Marsh-mallow (Althaea officinalis), soft white with the merest whisper of rose-blush. Marsh-mallow was most valued for the demulcent properties of its leaves and roots – the latter was the original source of the glutinous substance in marshmallows, a sweet treat now commonly (and somewhat less romantically) concocted from sugar, water and gelatin.

Common Mallow’s nectar-rich flowers are a mauve magnet for pollinating insects. In 1999, a study at Cambridge University Botanic Garden revealed that Honeybees (Apis mellifera)and Red-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius) were the most frequent visitors to both Musk-mallow and Common Mallow. Hoverflies, solitary bees and Small White (Pieris rapae) and Large White (Pieris brassicae) butterflies are also attracted to the blooms.

Caterpillars of the imaginatively-named Mallow Moth (Larentia clavaria) feed on Common Mallow, although they will forsake their main larval foodplant to feed on Hollyhocks in the garden too. If feeding caterpillars are disturbed, they drop to the ground and curl up, disguising themselves as mallow seeds. Least Yellow Underwing (Noctua interjecta) larvae eat Common Mallow leaves too, while Hollyhock Seed Moth (Pexicopia malvella) caterpillars seek out the seeds of Marsh-mallow as well as feeding on Hollyhocks.

Common Mallow thrives in most soils and is an ideal addition to a wildflower meadow (however small) and any sunny wildlife garden. Marsh-mallow is also easy to grow and its tall (1.2m) flower spikes have an elegant charm at the back of an informal or wildlife border. At the more modest height of 60-90cm, Musk-mallow suits sunny spots in wildflower meadows or the middle of cottage borders. It is a fairly short-lived perennial, but will self-seed.

Both common mallow and common lime have edible parts, but should be eaten with caution as nitrates in the soil (for mallow) and old flowers (for lime) can cause problems. Mallow should be avoided by people with gallstones. See the Plants for a Future database for further information.

To buy mallow plants and seeds, try Bee Happy Plants, Chiltern Seeds, Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens, Scotia Seeds, Cumbria Wildflowers, Norfolk Herbs, PlantWild and other growers on the Peat Free Nurseries List.

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Nic Wilson and Dogwooddays do not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally. Always ensure it is legal to forage and where identification is concerned, if in doubt, leave it out.

Garden Schooling: Ladybird Maths

May 11, 2020June 6, 20217 Comments

The sunshine has brought out the ladybirds on our snow-in-summer. Some hurry along the raised bed sleepers in between the silvery leaves, clearly preoccupied with ladybird business, while others doze and mate on the warm wood.

10-Spot Ladybird (Adalia 10-punctata)

The kids have always enjoyed watching these charismatic beetles with their striking patterns and distinct spots, so we decided to focus on ladybirds for our garden school maths project (with a bit of art and natural history thrown in for good measure). Ladybirds emerge from hibernation during spring, so now is a great time to go on a ladybird hunt. There are over 40 species in the UK, although only 26 resemble what we would generally think of as ladybirds. The number of spots varies between the species from 2 to 24 – ideal as the basis for a range of garden equations.

Learning about different species of ladybird

We started by learning about different species and drawing some of the different patterns so we’d be able to identify any ladybirds we found. Favourites included the 14-spot ladybird which we later found on the whitecurrant and the multi-coloured 10-spot ladybird. Once we’d learnt a bit about the different species we might find in the garden, it was time to get calculating…

Funky Ladybird

MATHS: CALCULATE AREA

Choose a sunny afternoon when ladybirds are likely to be out and about. Begin by measuring the length and breadth of a border, garden or any green space that you have access to – in metres.

Measuring area

Calculate the area of your space by multiplying the two numbers together, to find the area in m².
Now measure out a m² quadrat in one section of your space (1m x 1m) or a smaller quadrat – maybe 0.25m² (0.5m x 0.5m) – if your space is restricted. Mark it out with bamboo canes or twine.

RECORD LADYBIRD NUMBERS

Count all the ladybirds you can find in the quadrat and record by species on a tally chart. We also recorded ladybird larva, but not by species.
Make a bar chart or pie chart to display the numbers and species.

Ladybird pie chart

Work out how many quadrats there are in the whole space by dividing the total area by the area of your quadrat. Round up to the nearest m².
Calculate the estimated number of ladybirds in your space by multiplying the number in the quadrat by the number of quadrats in the total space.

This pie chart turned into a ladybird

GET CREATIVE

Of course, it’s possible that there are not many ladybirds in the quadrat or that those you find are all of one species. If this is the case, imagine some different scenarios such as:
- You find 10 two-spot ladybirds, 6 thirteen-spot ladybirds and 3 twenty-two spot ladybirds (feeding on the mildews on your herbaceous plants!) How does this change your calculations?
- What would happen if you find 12 ten-spot ladybirds, 9 five-spot ladybirds (you’ve clearly got a Welsh river running through the garden) and 4 beautiful yellow fourteen-spot ladybirds?
  Ladybirds emerge from the pupae without spots – these develop over the next few hours as the wing casing hardens

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Consider the equations in terms of spots rather than individual ladybirds. How many ladybird spots are there in your total space?
Complete the same exercise for the results above in blue and make up some of your own ladybird sums.
Throw in a few non-native harlequin ladybirds just to mix things up a bit. They can have up to nineteen spots!
Our completed ID chart

DEVELOP HABITAT

Log piles create great habitats for all kinds of insects, including ladybirds

Attract more ladybirds to your garden in future by building a bug hotel to give insects somewhere to shelter.
Avoid using pesticides in the garden – instead encourage natural predators like ladybirds, ladybird larva and blue tits that will eat problem insects such as aphids.
Don’t be too tidy – overgrown areas, long grass and hollow stems left over winter are all beneficial habitats for ladybirds.
The only disadvantage to creating an amazing habitat for ladybirds is that next year’s maths equations will be far more tricky!!!

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I’ll be posting another project soon and if you’d like to read about our last projects you can explore the Seed Sowing Challenge and Nature Spells lessons here:

Garden Schooling: From Small Seeds…

Garden Schooling: Nature Spells

Garden Schooling: Nature Spells

March 25, 2020April 2, 20203 Comments

This week dawned sunny and cold – new and strange too. But life with kids doesn’t give you much time to pause and think (a blessing at times), so we’re moving onward with a new garden school project involving poetry, nature and art – to get us all out in that bright, life-affirming sunshine.

We decided to write wild acrostic poems based on the spells in The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. For those who haven’t yet experienced the mesmerising images and spell-binding acrostics in this magical book, they aim to re-animate our relationship with the natural world – returning to children (and adults) some of the words that were removed from the Junior Oxford English Dictionary in 2007.

‘Fern’ – the first poem my daughter learned to read aloud

These words – acorn, bluebell, fern, kingfisher, newt, otter and more – were discarded in favour of more frequently used words in modern children’s vocabulary such as chatroom, blog and bullet point. The apparent redundancy of words connected to the natural world highlights the way childhood experiences have shifted as our kids become more focused on indoor, technological pursuits and ever more distanced from the world outside their back doors.

We are intending to use a couple of the nature spells as a starting point for an English and art project. We’ll be learning to read them aloud, working out how they make us feel and why, and then writing our own illustrated acrostics based on our experiences in the garden. If you don’t have a copy of the spell book, it’s a beautiful resource – especially for the next few weeks – which we’ve used time and time again. Or you can use other nature poems as inspiration, or just do the acrostic writing activities.

Thinking about how the poem ‘Bluebell’ makes us feel

ENGLISH: WILD READING

Choose a nature acrostic or other nature poem that you like to read. If you don’t have a copy of The Lost Words you could buy it from an independent bookshop or online from the Natural History Book Service (I don’t get any commission!!) The spell ‘Otter’ is also available to read on Jackie Morris’ website. Or you could read some of these other beautiful nature poems:

‘Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat’ by T. S. Eliot

‘A Dragonfly’ by Eleanor Farjeon

Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth

‘Whirligig Beetles’ by Paul Fleischman

‘The Eagle’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson

‘Little Trotty Wagtail’ by John Clare

‘Firefly’ by Jacqueline Woodson

‘The Darkling Thrush’ by Thomas Hardy (for older students)

2. Practice reading the poem aloud, thinking about the sounds (rhyme, alliteration, repeated sounds or phrases, short or long words, rhythm) and how the poet uses these to create meaning.

3. Find somewhere outside (if you can) to record your nature poetry reading to send to a friend or relative. You could include a few comments at the end of the video on why you particularly like this poem – or if you are reading the poem over Zoom, Skype or another live platform, have a chat with your ‘audience’ about how the poem makes you both feel and why.

WRITING AN ACROSTIC

Choose a plant or animal in your garden or in a local green space. Write a list of adjectives to describe your plant or animal – thinking about its colour, size, shape, smell and sound.
Think about any associations your subject has in nature – maybe your plant is often found growing alongside streams (like Celandine) or with other plants (like daisies and dandelions in lawns). Or your animal might prey on other animals (like sparrowhawks on bluetits) or feed on plants (like snails on my lettuce!)
Find a simile or metaphor to describe an aspect of your animal or plant. Maybe the colour of the hyacinths is ‘as white as freshly-fallen snow’ or the sound of the goldfinches flying over reminds you of the pealing of distant bells.
Research a little about your chosen subject – does it have associations with myths or other stories, with certain seasons and weather, is it facing particular challenges at the moment – perhaps its habitat is being destroyed or there is conservation work being undertaken to protect populations around the UK?
Use these ideas to write an acrostic which conjures your plant or animal into being on the page.
My daughter’s final poem – based on ‘Bluebell’

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

The John Muir Trust has a series of excellent resources on The Lost Words – including ideas on analysing the poems and also covering a wide range of other subjects, eg. science, art, history, craft – which can be found on their website.
Look at Jackie Morris’ images that accompany the nature spells – can you find the words spelled out by the golden letters? Can you find the absence of each plant or animal and then its picture on the following pages?
Do some sketches of your chosen word – then use these as inspiration for illustrating your own acrostic.
Write and illustrate some more acrostics to make your own Lost Words book.

OLDER STUDENTS

Find a natural object, plant or animal in your garden or a local green space that interests you. Take photographs and do sketches – from different angles, in different lights – use these as the basis of a mood board to capture its essence – its ‘quiddity’.
Create a piece of art – in any medium – based on the mood board, which depicts the absence of your subject. You might want to consider the different ways Jackie Morris conveys absence in her art – look at her use of white spaces, outlines, feathers, bubbles, stems and negative images.
Watch the YouTube video ‘Charm on, Goldfinch’. Using Jackie’s art and Beth Porter’s lyrics and music as inspiration, paint your own watercolour or compose your own song based on a favourite plant or animal, considering any challenges it faces in the modern world.

For updates on the nature spells project and more garden schooling ideas – you can follow the blog below…

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I’ll be posting another project soon and if you’d like to read about our last project you can explore our Seed Sowing Challenge here:

Garden Schooling: From Small Seeds…

March 18, 2020March 18, 20205 Comments

Once upon a time, when dinosaurs were undoubtedly roaming wild in the garden, I had a previous life as a teacher. I loved working with children – and now I’m looking forward to rediscovering my creative side with my own kids (8 and 11) as we enter this rather surreal period of living, working and studying from home.

Science in the skies

Rather than home schooling, I’m hoping to garden school the kids wherever possible, making the most of the spring weather to avoid cabin fever. I’m planning lots of outdoor active projects and hoping to share our experiences as a family studying in and around the garden.

Art and Poetry on ash buds

We’ll be covering a wide range of subjects in the garden – maths, PE, history, science, art, craft, geography, creative writing, reading and much more. Hopefully most of the activities will be suitable for a range of ages and possible to do in courtyards, parks, woods and even on the grass verge outside the house. So even if you don’t have a garden, there should be projects you can do if you have access to a local green space.

Natural History – bug hunting

We’ll be kicking off garden schooling with a seed sowing challenge. The kids will each have a tray of tomato seeds to germinate on their windowsills. They’ll measure the germination and growth rate of their dwarf tomato plants (one variety each) to see which is speediest and which grows tallest. Later in the season we’ll have blind taste tests to judge each variety on a scale from ‘mouth-wateringly delicious’ to ‘absolutely revolting’.

Labelling tomato pots

Science: Tomato Germination and Growth

Each child needs a tray or pot for their seeds. We have used our old plastic seed trays which are on about their ninth year, but we also use the cardboard trays from our veggie box fruit. You could also reuse a clean tin or yoghurt pot with holes poked in the bottom, or even a small pot made from newspaper.
Fill the container two-thirds full with peat-free compost and tap down gently. Sow two to three seeds for a small pot and six for a tray. Cover with fine compost (can sieve through a garden sieve or one of the nylon orange bags that contain satsumas).
Water with a fine rose or soak plastic trays from beneath. Label with variety name and date of sowing.
Place containers in a light spot (such as a windowsill) and cover with either a propagator lid for trays or a clear plastic bag kept off the compost with a twig or small wooden stake and secured with a rubber band.
Keep compost moist by misting or watering regularly.
Chart the progress of the seeds – recording the number of days that each takes to germinate. The results can be displayed as a list, diagram, bar chart or graph.
Once each seed has germinated, measure and record its height each day, until it produces the first true leaves (the second set to grow – the first small pair of leaves are the seed leaves.)

Extension Activities

Add drawings of the two types of leaves – seed leaves and true leaves – to the growth charts.
Try germinating a second set of seeds in a shady spot – which emerges first – the sunny or shady pots?
Create a seed packet for your own tomato variety. Come up with an imaginative name and its flavour – is it sweet, tangy, meaty or slightly sharp? Draw a picture on the front of the packet (you could use an envelope) based on these wonderful quirky heirloom seed packet designs from Pennard Plants and write the instructions for sowing and growing on the back. (Use these instructions and other seed packets to help with this.)
Make up and cook a recipe using tomatoes to prepare for your bumper harvest later in the year. You could use tinned tomatoes or fresh ones. Perhaps you all love pizza and could learn to make the tomato topping, or experiment with different herbs, spices and oils for a fresh tomato salad or spicy salsa.

Funky Seed Packets from Pennard Plants

Older Students

Germinate and grow two or three different tomatoes including varieties with different coloured fruits and cordon/bush varieties. Compare growth rate, fruit taste and harvest size.
Research the history of heirloom tomatoes. What are they and how do they differ from hybridised F1 varieties? Write a 300 word policy document for DEFRA putting forward the case for the importance of conserving these heirloom, open-pollinated varieties. More information on how to write a policy brief can be found on the web pages of POST (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology).

It would be great to share thoughts in the comments – how are you using green spaces and gardens with children at the moment? What activities have been successful and why? What are the biggest challenges and in what curriculum areas would it be helpful to have more ideas?

For updates on the seed sowing challenge and more garden schooling ideas – you can follow the blog below…

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I’ll be back with some more family activities soon, but in the meantime, take care of yourselves and seek as much solace in nature as you can xxx

Year of Green Action Garden at RHS Hampton Court

July 6, 2019June 7, 20216 Comments

Many of us owe our love of plants, gardens and wildlife to early experiences in childhood. Even on a small scale, places that enable young people to connect with the natural environment can begin a relationship that lasts a lifetime.

The YoGA Garden is full of interesting features to engage children with nature

At a time when we need the younger generation to understand, cherish and protect the environment like never before, these early experiences are vitally important. The Year of Green Action Garden, created by DEFRA and the Sensory Trust, explores ways that children of all abilities can get involved with nature through gardens.

Starting early often fosters a lifelong love of plants and wildlife

It aims to inspire people to create sustainable, resilient outdoor spaces at home, in schools, workplaces and communities, with environmentally-friendly top tips including:

Peat-Free Compost

Healthy peatlands are crucial in combating climate change, so always buy peat-free and tell friends and family why peat-free is so important too. The compost in the YoGA Garden is sourced from Melcourt.

Water

Opt for drought-resistant planting schemes to conserve water. Key examples in the garden include low-growing woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) and wild strawberries (Fragraria vesca).

Year of Green Action Garden. Designed by Helen J Rosevear and Jane Stoneham. Sponsored by Defra and Sensory Trust. RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2019. Stand no. 329

The sensory plant wall, including woolly thyme. Image credit: RHS Joanna Kossak

Paving

Permeable paving is vital to avoid flooding on hard surfaces, an increasingly common issue as the climate becomes warmer and wetter. Accessible permeable surfaces in the garden include turf reinforced with a grid system, recycled shredded rubber paths and porcelain paving made from recycled materials.

Pollinators

Nectar-rich plants with different flower shapes attract a range of pollinating insects. Designers Helen Rosevear and Jane Stoneham chose common garden plants like nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) for long-tongued bumblebees and butterflies, woolly lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina) for wool carder bees (which collect the hairs and eat the pollen and nectar) and Verbena bonariensis, a magnet for a range of butterfly species.

Nasturtiums attract a range of pollinating insects

Native Plants

Plants from other areas of the world are useful for pollinators, but native species also provide food and habitats for wildlife, especially larval forms of invertebrates that provide the vital foundation of many food webs. As non-natives often don’t provide for the larval stages, it is important to include a range of native plants to support healthy ecosystems in the garden. Silver birch (Betula pendula) was chosen as part of the canopy layer in the YoGA Garden as it casts dappled shade on the sensory dome and also provides a habitat for over 300 insect species, seeds for birds and homes for woodpeckers. For these reasons we planted a silver birch in our garden this year and I can’t wait until grows up to join the two neighbouring birches, playing host to daily goldfinch visits and redwing and waxwing in the winter.

Redwing in the silver birch outside my study window

All the ideas in the YoGA Garden are designed to be affordable and accessible. From the wheelable thyme lawn tables and planters filled with edibles, to the shrub den and willow tunnel, the garden encourages physical and emotional participation, helping children to learn about the natural world.

The vibrant planters are full of edibles, including foliage with colour contrasts for partially-sighted visitors like this red-veined sorrel

If you visit the garden or the website (www.yearofgreenaction.org), you can make a pledge to take green action and help protect the natural environment. I hung my promise on the tree among many others:

I pledge to encourage my young children and my nieces to engage with nature through wildlife gardening in the coming years.

Featured image credit: RHS Joanna Kossak

Fruity New Ideas in the Edible Eden Garden at RHS Hampton Court

July 3, 2019February 27, 20234 Comments

Beautiful blackcurrants, deep rosy red fleshed apples, delicious patio tomatoes, and a ginger rosemary cocktail that will blow you away – all on offer at Hampton Court this week in the Edible Eden Garden, designed by Chris Smith of Pennard Plants…

Companion planting in the Edible Eden Garden. Image credit: RHS Joanna Kossak

Edible Eden combines a formal vegetable area, unusual edibles in the forest garden and a soft fruit display in a garden that is a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds. Chris explained that he collaborated with Burpee Europe and Lubera on the garden, two companies specializing in breeding and producing new varieties of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Initially Simon Crawford, of Burpee Europe, had the vision of a field of sunflowers and this developed into the impressive display of dwarf sunflower ‘Sunray’ which leads the visitor into the vibrant edible garden.

Field of Sunflower ‘Sunray’ glory

Passing the Riverside Shepherd’s Hut, which would be wonderful to use as a potting or writing space, the sunflower field leads to a vegetable area full of ripe tomatoes, peppers and fiery marigolds grown as companion plants to ward off unwanted insects.

The ideal writing retreat…

Of particular interest was Sweet Pepper ‘Lemon Dream’, launched at Chelsea last year as a companion to ‘Tangerine Dream’. I’m growing both for the first time this year and peppers have just started to form – I hope my plants prove as ornamental and productive as the Pennard peppers at Edible Eden!

Who could resist Sweet Pepper ‘Lemon Dream’?

The forest garden area showcases new fruit from Lubera including the Redlove apple varieties – ‘Era’, ‘Lollipop’ and ‘Calypso’. I was impressed by the amount of fruit produced on these trees in such a small space. The apples are particularly attractive with a deep rosy red colour that shows all the way through the fruit. The high levels of anthocyanins found in the skin means the apples are healthy to eat as well as being beautiful and the deep colour is retained even when they are cooked.

Redlove ‘Lollipop’. Image credit: Lubera

The apple trees have deep pink flowers in spring and beautiful autumn colour, making Redlove both ornamental and productive – an ideal tree for a small garden.

Redlove blossom – a welcome sight in spring. Image credit: Lubera

Next to the apple trees, my eye was drawn to a display of several different Szechaun peppers from the Pennard Plants collection. These hardy shrubs are easy to grow and provide different flavoured peppercorns depending on the variety. I love the range of leaf shapes and colours from the purple-leaved Japanese Sansho pepper (Zanthoxylum piperitum) with its aromatic leaves, to the lush deep green foliage of the Korean lime pepper (Zanthoxylum coreanum). Pennards have collected over 15 different Szechuan and other pepper varieties all with different flavours and preferring different garden situations, so there’s sure to be one that will thrive in every garden.

Chinese Red Pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum) in the Edible Eden forest garden

Inside the Alitex greenhouse, the fruit on Melon ‘Mango Mel’ (bred by Burpee to thrive in a northern climate) made my mouth water. Fortunately I had the opportunity to taste the melons later when writer and grower Mark Diacono, of Otter Farm, prepared a range of cocktails to showcase the fruit, vegetables and herbs from the garden.

Each melon resting in its own individual hammock

Mark’s Pimms with ginger ale and garden produce (cucumber, melon, lemon, strawberries, Moroccan mint and even radish) was delicious and then he prepared a ginger rosemary gin with ginger rosemary syrup (equal amounts of water and sugar, on a low heat until dissolved, add ginger rosemary or any other herb and steep until required strength, then remove), lots of lemon juice to add the sharpness and a good quantity of gin. This is one to drink at the end of a visit to the show though – not before touring the gardens!

Beware Mark Diacono preparing (delicious) cocktails

Finally Chris showed me a new tomato due to be launched at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show later in the year. This tiny tomato combines a diminutive stature with a deliciously sweet taste – the holy grail of patio tomato breeding. Christened ‘Veranda Red’, this variety is ideal as a tabletop tomato and would be perfect to grow at home with children.

Tiny tomato ‘Veranda Red’

As I was leaving Edible Eden, full of new ideas for my ornamental fruit and vegetable plot back home, I noticed blackcurrant ‘Black ‘N Red’ which develops gorgeous deep burgundy leaves as the summer progresses. I’ve just removed a blackcurrant that had become unproductive, so I think the sweet fruit of ‘Black ‘N Red’ along with its ornamental foliage might just be the next edible addition to my garden.

Blackcurrant ‘Black ‘N Red’. Image credit: Lubera

Featured image credit: RHS Joanna Kossack

Gardeners’ World Live: Water, Water, Everywhere…

June 15, 2019June 7, 20212 Comments

Helping with A Resilient Garden in a Changing Climate was an inspiring (and soggy) experience

Water has been a key focus at this year’s Gardeners’ World Live, both in terms of garden design and the inclement weather. Professor David Stevens, designer and winner of eleven RHS Gold medals, believes it has never been wetter at the show, yet last year’s weather was scorching and all through the summer designers struggled to keep show gardens looking at their best. This year the rain and cold winds were the biggest challenge in the build phase – risking damaging delicate plants, creating banks of mud and making working conditions wet and chilly. I didn’t mind the rain but putting wet gardening gloves on again after tea break is a particularly unpleasant sensation! The teams all did a magnificent job and by Wednesday afternoon as the rain started to clear, the gardens were immaculate, ready for the show to open the following morning.

Once planting was finished, I headed off to explore the other gardens and was immediately drawn to the Canal & River Trust Garden. It was easy to become absorbed in the reflections of the tranquil water in the full-size canal and I rather wished I could live in the traditional legger’s hut with its canal-side cottage garden. The Canal & River Trust Garden is not the first design this year to place water at its heart – the RHS Chelsea Welcome to Yorkshire Garden incorporated an entire lock gate into the design, donated by the Canal & River Trust. The combination of canal and wildflower planting in the perennial meadow, represented both Yorkshire’s industrial past and its breathtakingly beautiful natural environment.

Naturalistic planting around the canal in Mark Gregory’s Welcome To Yorkshire Garden at Chelsea

Water and Wellbeing

The Canal & River Trust Garden is subtitled ‘Making Life Better by Water’ (also the subtitle of the Trust), emphasising the positive effect that the UK’s 2000 miles of historic waterways have on the wellbeing of everyone who comes in contact with the water. Richard Parry, chief executive of the Trust, explained that volunteers David and Hilary Godbehere inspired the garden and also worked with Chris Myers, the designer, to develop this serene and undisturbed space.

Canal & River Trust Garden – Making Life Better By Water. Credit: Steve Granger

Hilary and David, lock keepers on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, are clearly passionate about communicating their love of the canals and the benefits of being close to water. With a huge range of activities including exercising, boating and exploring the rich wildlife habitats and historic features beside many of our waterways, spending time by water can have a positive impact on everyone’s wellbeing.

Airy planting of geranium, nicotiana and salvia in the canal-side garden. Credit: Steve Granger

Water in a Changing Climate

The theme of water isn’t restricted to the show gardens; the beautiful borders also consider the impact of water on our daily lives and our gardens. As we’ve seen in microcosm over the past two show seasons, high temperatures and extended periods of heavy rain are increasing as the climate changes. As these changes become more extreme, gardens will be subject to longer periods of drought and possible flooding, making it vital for gardeners to store water, create effective drainage and make plant choices to cope with changing conditions.

Astrantia ‘Abbey Road’ thriving in the damp soil in A Resilient Garden in a Changing Climate. Credit: Steve Granger

Tessa Parikian’s Resilient Garden in a Changing Climate demonstrates simple ways to mitigate the effects of extreme weather conditions in the garden. Her border includes both damp and dry areas, and Tessa suggests using 150cm depth of gravel as a mulch around plants. In damp areas this will help to stabilise the soil, preventing runoff and soil erosion, while in dry borders it will keep any moisture in the soil rather than allowing it to evaporate. She also advises incorporating water putts into the garden, like the stylish water butt planter by Garantia at the centre of her border.

Drought tolerant artemisia and Mexican fleabane in the Embracing Change Garden. Credit: Steve Granger

The Embracing Change Garden, designed by Lucy Miller, also addresses the issue of changing climatic conditions. Her border channels rain water runoff into planting areas and she has chosen versatile plants that tolerate both wet and dry conditions to ensure that they have the best chance of surviving whatever the weather.

Waterwise Planting: Dry Conditions

Both beautiful borders include plants that add colour to the garden during late spring and summer. They also tolerate dry conditions so they minimise the need to water. Plant choices such as Mexican fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus), rose campion (Lychnis coronaria), Stipa tenuissima, Dianthus carthusianorum, fennel (Feoniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’), Salvia verticillata, Briza maxima and prostrate rosemary (Rosmarinus prostatus) prefer drier soils and will cope with periods of drought, especially when established.

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Credit: Steve Granger

Waterwise Planting: Damp Conditions

In the damp areas the designers have chosen plants that tolerate wet ground, such as snowy woodrush (Luzula nivea), Atrantia major ‘Burgundy Manor’ and ‘Abbey Rose’, Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and Primula bulleyana and Primula beesiana. These vibrant candelabra primulas create colour and interest in the damp area of the Resilient Garden and are very happy in damp, wet or pond-edge positions in the garden. They multiply each year and create a stunning floral display in late May and June, as shown at Gardeners’ World Live.

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Credit: Steve Granger

With a combination of rain-saving measures, good drainage and plants that tolerate dry and/or damp conditions, our gardens will be more able to tolerate changing weather conditions, allowing us to continue creating beautiful gardens and borders into the future.

Gardeners’ World Live continues until tomorrow evening and is a friendly and inspiring show to visit. If you’d like to read more about this year’s shows, you can follow the blog below:

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Coral, Peach and Ivory Tones in Jo Thompson’s Wedgwood Garden

5 Environmentally-Friendly Ideas to Take Home from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Coral, Peach and Ivory Tones in Jo Thompson’s Wedgwood Garden

May 23, 2019May 23, 20192 Comments

The Wedgwood Garden, designed by Jo Thompson, marks the 260th anniversary of the company, founded by Josiah Wedgwood in 1759. The hard landscaping is inspired by Etruria – the pioneering Staffordshire village that Wedgwood built for his workers – and the canals that transported his pottery throughout the UK.

One of the vistas through the garden

Many of Wedgwood’s motifs were based on Greek and Roman mythology and this influence is captured in the interlinked arches that provide multiple frames through which to view the garden. The importance of the Staffordshire canals are referenced in the watercourse that flows through the garden, connecting the architecture with the surrounding planting. The garden includes sculptures by Ben Barrell – ‘Erosion’ is a rippled stone surface inspired by centuries of erosion and ‘Poldhu Point’ is a bronze sculpture inspired by a headland on the Cornish coast.

The overarching conifers (Pinus nigra, Sequoia sempervirens and Cedrus atlantica) and soft colour palette of the shrubs, perennials and annuals creates a warm, secluded atmosphere, perfect for relaxation. I’m helping on the garden this week – answering questions about the design and planting, but what I most want to do is settle down amongst the umbellifers and peonies to drink in the sights and scents.

Water is the key element in this garden – seen here in Ben Barrell’s sculpture

Jo’s planting takes my breath away with its subtle, natural combinations of form, texture and colour. I am particularly drawn to certain plants – as are many of the visitors to the garden – these are all cultivars that would be easy to grow at home in both formal and informal gardens:

Iris ‘Pink Charm’

A gorgeous bearded iris with a name that belies its delicate peachy falls and intense tangerine beard. This iris creates drama and height among the lower perennials on the margins of the garden. The fragrant flowers will reach 60cm and bloom throughout May and June. Iris need full sun and well-drained soil in a sheltered position. If you can give them the conditions they require (sadly not easy in my garden), they will repay you with bursts of peachy joy in your early summer borders. Without a doubt, my favourite plant in the Wedgwood Garden.

Iris ‘Pink Charm’

Eschscholzia ‘Ivory Castle’

Another flower attracting a lot of attention from the crowds is Eschscholzia (bless you) ‘Ivory Castle’, the Californian poppy. This delightful annual has glaucous feathery foliage and ivory flowers with a creamy eye. It’s not too late to sow seeds and as ‘Ivory Castle’ only grows to 40cm, it is ideal for softening the edges of beds and borders.

Eschscholzia ‘Ivory Castle’

Paeonia ‘Pink Hawaiian Coral’

This herbaceous peony has semi-double flowers that last well in a vase. Peonies prefer well-drained soil in full sun, and prefer a sheltered position. It will reach 90cm and produces scented blooms throughout May and June. The glowing coral-pink flowers fade as they age, revealing a centre filled with soft yellow stamens. It’s a real beauty.

Paeonia ‘Pink Hawaiian Coral’

Daucus carota ‘Dara’

Jo’s planting is light and airy using umbellifers like Ammi majus, Angelica archangelica, Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ – another of my favourites – and Daucus carota ‘Dara’. I grow this cultivated variety of wild carrot for its light burgundy umbels and ferny foliage. At 90cm, the flowerheads create drama above the surrounding planting, but don’t obscure the views beyond. As with many umbellifers, Daucus carota attracts pollinating insects and later in the season provides seeds for birds. Another bonus is the concave seedhead which is almost more beautiful than the flowers themselves.

Daucus Carota flowers and seedhead

Verbascum ‘Helen Johnson’

I love verbascum in all its shades and sizes – from native Verbascum nigrum (dark mullein) and Verbascum thapsus (great mullein) to cultivars like ‘Clementine’ and ‘Gainsborough’. ‘Helen Johnson’ was found as a chance seedling at Kew and its pinky-coppery shades bring together the dusky tones in Jo’s planting. Verbascum flowers attract a wide range of pollinating insects – bees, butterflies and flies. Rather wonderfully, hairs are also combed from stems and leaves by wool carder bees to use as nest material, and males guard areas of the plant for potential mates.

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Cutting Patch: Into The Limelight

Book Review: Dahlias by Naomi Slade and Georgianna Lane

August 18, 2018June 7, 202110 Comments

Published earlier this month, Dahlias: Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden is a captivating celebration of the dahlia combining Georgianna Lane’s sublime photography of single cultivars and mixed arrangements with Naomi Slade’s lyrical and engaging text. I’ve been looking forward to reading Dahlias since May, when Naomi mentioned the new book she’d been writing. Having been kindly sent a review copy a couple of weeks ago, the first half of August has been filled dahlia joy – watching the first flowers emerging in the garden and discovering new cultivars in the book.

Such variety of colour and form

The History and Botany section offers a fascinating insight into the Mexican origins of our garden dahlias and the history of dahlia breeding and classification. Recently, I’ve become interested in the physical manifestation of colour and the language used to describe it, so I particularly enjoyed the section on ‘Colour Magic’ where Naomi explores the relationship between optics, biological systems and our perception of colour. If you need help to distinguish your Balls from your Pompoms or to differentiate between a Collerette and a Waterlily dahlia, then Naomi’s explanation of dahlia classification is a good place to start.

Pompom and Ball dahlias are particular favourites of mine

Once I began reading about individual varieties, the temptation to compile a list longer than the depth of my pockets was overwhelming. Naomi explores different dahlia styles from ‘Romantic’, through ‘Fabulous and Funky’ and ‘Dramatic and Daring’ to ‘Classic and Elegant’ and it’s easy to see why there’s a dahlia for every border, container and flower arrangement. Details on each variety include height, spread, flower size, its suitability as a cut flower and practical advice about which other plants and colours make good combinations. There’s even a list of alternative varieties in case you can’t get a particular dahlia or if you wish to explore flowers with similar forms or colours.

Cafe au Lait is one of the best for soft arrangements

It’s almost impossible to pick favourites as Geogianna’s images capture the essence of each flower so beautifully and Naomi offers compelling reasons to grow each variety – even those which you wouldn’t normally choose. I might have considered Dahlia ‘Pooh’ a tad on the garish side with its ‘dark orange petals dipped in custard at the tips, and a handsome golden ruff in the centre’, but the three pages of images of ‘Pooh’ in a garden setting alongside the information that it has a RHS Award of Garden Merit and is a prolific flowerer with blooms that are ideal for cutting, had me reaching for the pen to add it to the list.

Cricket enjoying my blazing Dahlia ‘Firepot’

I was pleased to encounter old favourites like the refined ‘Twyning’s After Eight’, the cheerful Happy Single series and the sultry depths of ‘Thomas A. Edison’ and I fell for some new varieties too. ‘Jomanda’ is a delicate ball dahlia with petals that ‘wax and wane in size’ washed with sunset tones. It has an Award of Garden Merit and is a good cut flower. ‘Neon Splendour’ attracted my eye with its flamboyant decorative form and neon orange, apricot and gold petals. Described as ‘cheeky, riotous and slightly decadent’, I like the advice to ‘grow it with plants that are equally splendiferous – the smaller sunflowers, delphiniums, Amaranthus caudatus or Leycesteria formosa.‘ This type of pragmatic knowledge about how the plant performs in a real garden setting and as a cut flower helps to set each dahlia in context and, in this case, demonstrates the practical potential of showy ‘Neon Splendour’.

Nic Wilson Dahlia 'Happy Single Date'.JPG

‘Happy Single Date’ combines compact growth with deep chocolate maroon foliage

The dahlia at the top of my unfeasibly long list by the time I’d reluctantly reached the last page was the fresh, understated ‘Eveline’. The patterning on this small Decorative dahlia is exquisite and the mauve eye is surrounded by petals of the purest white. Naomi introduces ‘Eveline’ as ‘romantic and ethereal, this lavender-flushed bloom recalls milky dawn mists over a late summer meadow.’ It’s the combination of these evocative descriptions with the clarity and detail of the photographs that makes each new variety irresistible. Once you’ve read Dahlias there’s no return – it’s a one-way ticket to a lifelong obsession.

Woburn Abbey Garden Show: A Family Affair

June 23, 2018July 3, 20184 Comments

Where better to take the kids on a sunny summer’s day than the family-friendly garden show set in the beautiful grounds of Woburn Abbey? Now in its ninth year, the show attracts many visitors all looking for inspiration from the 100+ exhibitors, demonstrations, talks and garden tours. The talks – from Adam Frost and Pippa Greenwood – include topics ranging from designing your garden to creating an alpine planter and, of course, the traditional Gardeners’ Question Time. This year the questions concerned the perennial weeds ground elder and mare’s tail, a sickly daphne, a wisteria that refused to flower and how to prune giant euphorbia and the foxglove tree (Paulonia tormentosa).

The panel – Adam Frost, Pippa Greenwood and estates garden manager, Martin Towsey

What we enjoyed most about the show was the relaxed atmosphere – the busy crowds seem to melt into the extensive surroundings – and the wide variety of nurseries with experts on hand to give advice. Dalefoot Composts were there to suggest which peat-free compost from their growing range best suits which situation. I’ve been using their seed compost for a few years now and it’s excellent for all manner of seeds. They are also one of only a few suppliers of peat-free ericaceous compost, and I spent most of yesterday up to my elbows in their vegetable/fruit and double strength composts as I potted on my tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers. I’m hoping for great results and lots of fruit this summer.

Traditional trug making from Thomas Smith’s Royal Sussex Trugs

There were single species displays from Harkness Roses and the National Plant Collection of Achillea millefolium and mixed stands from RHS Gold Medal winners Hardys Cottage Garden Plants. Other nurseries were exhibiting and selling grasses, hostas, peonies, chysanthemums, herbs and many more plants.

We loved the vibrant achilleas

I chatted to Pippa Greenwood who has been a regular at the show since it began. She thinks the warm atmosphere is created by the many local people and families who visit each year and who see the grounds and show as being a part of the local community. It is certainly encouraging to see the presence of local suppliers like Brickhill Perennials at the show. Community spirit was also shown through the Badger Hill Scout Group helping to carry plants to cars and the cheerful brass band music throughout the day from Bedford Town Band.

The spirit of summer in car form…

Pippa was in search of her favourite plant at the show, and was struggling to choose amidst such competition – everywhere you turned there was fresh horticultural temptation. I didn’t find out which plant she chose in the end, but thought I’d set off on the same quest myself. I was tempted by Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata) from Brick Oak Farm Herbs and Achillea millefolium ‘Inca Gold’, but in the end I couldn’t pass by Pelargonium sidoides – a showstopping species pelagonium with deep velvety red petals against soft glaucous foliage. I’ve grown it before and enjoyed the vivid sprays of flowers, but overwintered it badly and lost the plant. I’ll be giving my new sidoides the VIP treatment this winter to make sure it is still with me next summer.

Pelargonium sidoides – simple, elegant and breathtaking

The kids enjoyed visiting the Artisan Food Hall and the wide expanse of grass in the middle of the show ground was declared ideal for cartwheeling with both my daughter and husband joining in at one point! There is also easy access to the gardens themselves because of the way the show sits right in the middle of the site. You can saunter down the perennial borders, visit the folly grotto and explore the private gardens of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford.

Beautiful perennial borders

The kids picked up some peas for sowing from the Heritage Seed Library – a fabulous organisation run by Garden Organic working to save old seed varieties. The peas – a variety called ‘Tutankhamun’ – are thought to have originated from the garden of Lord Carnarvon at Highclere Castle in Berkshire who, along with Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Then we headed back to the car, but the excitement wasn’t over for the day. As we stopped to listen to the brass band my son, who had already struck up a conversation with the band leader earlier in the day about his recent Grade One trumpet exam, was offered the opportunity to conduct the band during the Radetzky March. Watching him conducting a piece that both my husband and I have played in bands many times was a wonderful end to the show. We’ll definitely be back next year – but you don’t need to wait until 2019 as the show continues tomorrow. The forecast is good, so do visit and enjoy a family day at Woburn Abbey Garden Show.