Author Archives: offtheedgegardening

This hydrangea head is possibly the most beautiful spent flower in the world.  Of course I am open to correction about this outrageous claim, but today at L&L’s it seemed that way.  My morning spent digging out a raspberry (and ground elder) bed was enhanced by the sight of its gloriously maturing blooms.  If Helen Mirren was a flower,Continue reading “Spent”

We have all been guilty of it.  We see a plant that we like, in fact it is love at first sight.  We must have it right away, now, without delay.  The only spanner in the works of this burgeoning affair of the hortie heart is that we can’t plant it out straight away.  There could be many reasonsContinue reading “Pot”

Would someone please knit me a jumper in these colours.  Preferably in mohair, wide stripes and big and baggy. Thank you.

On many occasions recently  I have been tempted to feature nerines.  It is after all their time to shine in all their pink trumpety glory.  There are specimens in almost all of the gardens I visit and I have photographed them in various guises, “wet”, “dry”, “open”, “closed”, even “over”.  But somehow it didn’t seem quiteContinue reading “Nerine bowdenii”

Autumn flowering aconites.  The End.

The top ten reasons why being a gardener is so great (assessed at today’s date, it may very well all change tomorrow):  Seeds For me the joy of the amazing miracle of germination never diminishes.  This is true whether it is as easy as a lawn of cress or needs quadruple stratification, nicking and soaking whilst doing the hokey-cokey before justContinue reading “Top Ten”

Investigations into the Great Pasty Theft continued at The Farm today.  CSI scoured the site looking for crumbs, rejected crusts or even signs of the plastic wrapping, all to no avail.  It is becoming evident that we are up against seasoned professionals.  Tiny was keeping tight-lipped about his part in the misdemeanour.  We are hopingContinue reading “Further Equine Enquiries”

Autumn sunshine + flower spikes of Miscanthus sinensis “Adagio” = something to remember

Occasionally I struggle to think of even a few words to accompany my meagre photographs.  On these uninspired days some will arrive eventually and, to give them their due, they rarely let me down completely.  Today, however, my problem is one of too many words.  A lexicon is zooming around in my head, bouncing offContinue reading “Words”