Author Archives: offtheedgegardening

After weeks of benign, some might say fairy tale, weather today was a one way ticket on the express train to Storm Land.  Thunder and lightning followed in quick succession with lightning and thunder and the rain (not wanting to be left on the sidelines) was apocryphal. The guttering groaned and the girlies screamed andContinue reading “Thunder and Lightning (very very frightening)”

A good year for the spangle gall wasp.  I love a bit of spangle, not so sure about the gall and the wasp though.

I love to learn a new word, or in this case two new words.  Slime Flux.  How fantastic is that?  Slime Flux.  And I got to see it as well.  Slime Flux.  And I heard grisly tales of how it can spurt out of a tree like the fountain from hell and smells as rankContinue reading “Tree Poo”

Driving down the M5 in the sheeting rain along with what appeared to be the annual juggernaut migration west and their accompanying curtain of impenetrable spray, it crossed my mind that this two hour drive was a lot of trouble just to visit a National Collection of Nerine sarniensis cultivars.  Trust me, it was worthContinue reading “Because you’re worth it!”

Working in a coastal garden, albeit at the top of a mountain, means there is an almost constant supply of seaweed available on the beach below.  With this free resource you can create valuable and nutritious feeds and composts full of trace elements vital to healthy soil and therefore healthy plants.  A few years ago,Continue reading “Knickers in the Seaweed”

Earlier in the week I was, for my sins, a panelist at a “Gardener’s Question Time” event in a local garden centre.  I was joined by two others whose joint CV’s were extensive and involved phrases such as RHS examiner, lifetime in horticulture, university lecturer, supplier of vegetables to supermarkets, explorer and astronaut*.   LuckilyContinue reading “Class”

My knowledge of mushrooms is limited to fry ups and risottos.  Apparently it has been a good year for the edibles but I am far too cowardly to pick my own.  This combination of ignorance and cowardice has kept me alive so far.  My poor fungal education does not prevent me from appreciating their beautyContinue reading “Hygrocybe calyptriformis- Pink Waxcap”

There is nothing in the slightest bit blue about this cosmos.  In fact quite the opposite.  Surely this perfect pink blushed bloom, with its central boss of saffron, would banish the deepest of blues to a place far far away.