offtheedgegardening

And there’s more ……

This is my favourite photo from my Tapeley Away Day. Poppies in the Permaculture Garden. Yeh!

Such a visit to Tapeley Park today! In short it involved, amongst many other things: Woodland walks, damselflies, chocolate brownies, lakes, putti, watsonia, a ice-house, ginormous cedars, fleabane, rudd, peonies, entwining dragons, a currrrrrrving glasshouse, white foxgloves, bantams, peonies, topiary, raspberries, angelica, a falling grotto, flowering sage, self seeded poppies, goliath sweet chesnuts, blustering turkeys,Continue reading “Just Visiting – Again”

Neighbours

This rose/geranium combo is very effective. In fact it caught my eye as soon as I arrived at L&L’s on Friday. The baby pink rose bloom, hiding bashfully behind the indigo geranium, a match made in horti-heaven. Later that morning Lavinia was standing transfixed by the lovely couple and I said “they look great don’tContinue reading “Neighbours”

Things I thought I’d never say – Part Two

“I love this escallonia.”

The Rector

The Rambling Rector was in his prime today at Lavinia and Lionel’s. Not only was he in clothed in a cloak of purest white with a central saffron boss, he smelt pretty darned good too, in fact he was intoxicating!

Running up the Down Escalator

I love working at The Farm. It is always fun and a bit bonkers and unexpected things tend to happen. I especially love the animals, each and every one of them. Well not quite. Today Slasher Shorn said to me “I used to love chickens until I came to work here”, glad it’s not justContinue reading “Running up the Down Escalator”

Idiot

My drive to work this morning would have been perfect for the opening credits of a spooky melodrama; Dickens, Poe, Conan Doyle would have been in their element. The initially patchy fog intensified, in a spine-tinglingly daunting way, as we approached Exmoor and the garden of the newly monikered Lord and Lady Mantle. All beganContinue reading “Idiot”

Art

This week summer arrived in North Devon. Quite how long it is going to stay is unclear. On past experience we cannot depend on it hanging about for too long. It must be made the most of. It has been a week when any gardener worth his salt has a good hat. You will beContinue reading “Art”

Mixed Bag

I am not usually a fan of mixed seed collections, call me an unadventurous coward if you must, but the lottery of colour and form is usually disappointing. This californian poppy came from one such collection and it is the first of the bag that has caught my eye. The folds of the petals, rangingContinue reading “Mixed Bag”

Where Angels Fear to Tread

There has been much written in recent months about toxic garden plants. The ones that kill dogs, cats and children, seemingly willy-nilly. At the end of last year there was the tragic tale of a gardener who lost his life after coming into contact with aconites. Admiring this beautiful flower earlier in the week IContinue reading “Where Angels Fear to Tread”