Thank you everyone who left a comment on my review of Brigit Strawbridge Howard’s new book, Dancing with Bees. All names were put in a hat and a winner randomly selected. A copy will be posted to Debi Holland when it’s published on 5th September. photo: Bees loving Echinacea White Swan in my cut flower … Continue reading Dancing with Bees- prize draw winner. And The Good Bee Review. New books
From Sarahraven.com ISBN: 9 781529816617 I’ve never kept a gardening diary before, but I’m enjoying making daily notes in my new Sarah Raven diary. The diary is sturdy enough to take outdoors; the paper is thick, good quality so can stand up to being taken into the greenhouse and potting shed. I’m making lists of … Continue reading Sarah Raven’s Grow, Cook, Eat Diary – Book Review
By Naomi Slade Published by Pavilion Books Hardback. 240 pages. Photographs by Georgianna Lane Published May 2021. RRP £25 ISBN: 978-1-911663-00-3 For many years, all down the sides of my greenhouse, I grew tall pots of lilies. My favourites were the towering, elegant trumpet lilies, African Queen. They grew to 5ft and produced masses of … Continue reading Lilies: Book Review and Giveaway
By Mark Diacono Published by Quadrille, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing RRP £26 Published spring 2021. Hardback. 272 pages ISBN 978 1 78713 6359 At about five or six, I was given the task of ‘collecting the mint.’ My grandmother, who was cooking lunch, had a huge patch of mint in her farm garden. … Continue reading Herb/ a cook’s companion. Book Review
BY JEAN VERNON Hardback 191 pages RRP £25 ISBN 978 1 52671 186 1 Published by Pen and Sword/ White Owl Books. Foreword by Brigit Strawbridge Howard Photo from my garden. White-tailed bumble bee on Echinacea White Swan. Last spring and early summer, we woke every morning to the glorious sound of bees. From dawn … Continue reading The Secret Lives of Garden Bees- Book Review
12 MONTHS AT NEW COVENT GARDEN FLOWER MARKET By SIMON LYCETT Published by Simon J Lycett Ltd Hardback 192 pages, £21 approx ISBN 978-1-9160912-0-7 Book photography by Michelle Garrett Blog photos: bramblegarden Florist Simon Lycett thinks nothing of working with 20,000 stems of roses for a wedding. I am trying to picture the scene, and … Continue reading The Flower Market Year – Book Review and Prize Draw
A Diary. How Nature Mends Us. Emma Mitchell Michael O’Mara Books. Hardback £14.99 ISBN: 978-1-78929-042-4 It’s entirely appropriate for a review of Emma Mitchell’s diary The Wild Remedy to appear here on Valentine’s Day. For Emma’s beautiful new book is a love letter to nature. In almost 200 pages, Emma walks with us through woodland … Continue reading The Wild Remedy- Book Review
It’s been a good year for new books. One of my favourites recently arrived in the potting shed is The Creative Kitchen by Stephanie Hafferty. The publishers kindly offered one free copy for a prize draw for this blog. I’m always grateful for a chance to pass on goodies to readers. And I’m delighted to … Continue reading Book prize draw winner- The Creative Kitchen
By Stephanie Hafferty Published by Permanent Publications. November 2018 *Win a free copy in the prize draw by leaving a comment at the end of the blog. And there’s a discount code for readers. New reading in the potting shed this week is Stephanie Hafferty’s latest book on seasonal recipes for meals and drinks and … Continue reading The Creative Kitchen – Book Review
Book Review Kate Bradbury. Published by Bloomsbury Wildlife. Hardback £16.99 It’s been a difficult year. I’m only just getting over serious illness myself, and then three relatives have been ill. I’ve been stretched to the limits trying to help everyone. So when I picked up Kate Bradbury’s book, it seemed to have been written specially … Continue reading The Bumblebee Flies Anyway
Congratulations to June at The Cynical Gardener who has won my prize draw for a copy of Naomi Slade’s new book, Dahlias. I wrote a review of the book Here. I absolutely love the book, and find I’m dipping into it whenever I sit down and rest a moment in my potting shed armchair. The … Continue reading Winner of Dahlias book by Naomi Slade
Nick Bailey. Photography by Jonathan Buckley Kyle Books £25 Hardback. Published spring 2018 My garden blends seamlessly with the surrounding countryside. If you drive along our country lane, you wouldn’t be able to tell anyone lived there. The garden shelters behind mature hawthorn hedges with scented wild roses and honeysuckle. I love its wildness. But … Continue reading REVIVE YOUR GARDEN book review
Many thanks for reading my book and product reviews. Here are the names of recent winners: An Orchard Odyssey by Naomi Slade : won by 30 Days of Wild Parenting, Joshua Johnson. Clip garden gloves: won by Wilma Wilson Dancing with Bees by Brigit Strawbridge Howard won by Debi Holland. Incognito insect sprays and sun … Continue reading Winners….
Thank you to everyone who read my review of Andrew Timothy O’Brien’s new book ‘To Stand and Stare’ published by Dorling Kindersley. The publishers kindly gave me two copies to give away. The winners are Anna, and also Gill Watson. Please could you e mail me your addresses for the copies to be sent out. … Continue reading Prize draw winners- To Stand and Stare.
I’ve often thought it would be a great idea to try out different varieties before committing to ordering and growing seed potatoes. Well now you can do just that. Potato House are selling ready-to-eat varieties of heritage, coloured, rare and organic spuds! It’s a new venture for Potato House and there’s a dedicated area of … Continue reading Try-before-you-grow potatoes
With several keen sailors in my family, the RNLI is close to my heart. My nephew John Gimson sails for Britain in the British Olympic Team, training and competing all around the world. I wrote about John in a blog post here https://bramblegarden.com/2021/07/30/my-nephew-is-competing-in-the-olympics/ They won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics https://bramblegarden.com/2021/08/07/silver-medal-for-john-and-anna-in-tokyo-olympics-2021/ As a … Continue reading Christmas present ideas from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Book review and one copy to give away. Published by White Owl, imprint of Pen and Sword Books Published summer 2022 Hardback. £25 ISBN 1526711907 Please leave a comment at the end of the review if you would like to be put into the publisher’s prize draw for one copy of the book. Names will … Continue reading Attracting Garden Pollinators – by Jean Vernon.
BOOK REVIEW AND MY BBC LOCAL RADIO BOOK OF THE WEEK Published by Laurence King, March 2022 Hardback, 192 pages, £19.99 ISBN: 978-085782-893-4 A Greener Life is much more than a ‘how-to-garden’ book, it’s actually a revealing diary of the writer’s journey from a stressful life and illness, to peace and calm through creating a … Continue reading A Greener Life – by Jack Wallington
Here’s some links to the recipes I mentioned today, and ideas for home-made and home-grown Christmas decorations and presents. Thanks to everyone who listens in on a Saturday morning at 11am, and thank you also for all your kind and encouraging comments. Many thanks to Tracey from Melton who says she feels like rushing out … Continue reading Info from today’s BBC Radio Leicester Gardening Show -Saturday 4 December 2021
Dahlias have been fabulous this year, giving masses of cut flowers from mid June until November. We’ve had unseasonably mild weather, which means we still have flowers today. But other areas in the county have had night-time frosts. So now is the time to dig up and protect your dahlia tubers for the winter. There … Continue reading Overwintering Dahlias – BBC Radio Leicester phone-in questions for Saturday, November 6 2021
Winter is just around the corner and there’s a feeling of urgency to get on with gardening jobs, before the weather turns cold. I’m always rushing around. There’s tender plants to bring under cover, pots to plant and bulbs to sort out. There’s never enough time to do everything. However, gardening tasks can end in … Continue reading Accidents in the Garden
Latest news from the plot. Click on the photo to enlarge the print. There’s never enough room for all the photos I take. So here’s a selection of pictures to go with the diary recently published in Garden News Magazine. I’m looking forward to growing this Limonium Pink Pokers next spring. The photo above was … Continue reading Diary for Garden News Magazine
I always seem to have a bowl of orchids somewhere in the house, usually on the hall cupboard or kitchen table. They are easy to grow and often flower for several months with minimal care and attention. Love Orchids have sent a sample box to try out. I haven’t paid for this orchid, but in … Continue reading Plants on Trial – from Love Orchids
It’s 14 months since I set foot in a garden open to the public. I’ve missed getting out and about, seeing friends and taking photos. But this week I was invited to a media day for the Belvoir Flower and Garden Show, and it feels great to be back visiting gardens and getting inspiration for … Continue reading Visit to Belvoir Castle Gardens
Just a few of my favourite things. Send vouchers if you can’t get deliveries in time. After the 12 months we have had, I’m looking through and choosing a few items for myself. But I think we all deserve a treat or two. Don’t you agree? Feel free to add your favourites in the comments … Continue reading Birthday, Christmas and Anytime-Presents for Gardeners
If you’ve received your copy of Garden News Magazine this week, here’s the recipes I mention in my column. Above is the summerhouse where I write my pieces, and where I sit and make my cherry marzipan chocolates. The recipe link for Cherry Marzipan Chocolates is here : https://bramblegarden.com/2018/12/04/family-favourite-recipes-chocolate-marzipan-cherries/ They are very quick to make … Continue reading Garden News Magazine recipes for December
This is the place where I’m spending most of my time at the moment- my cut flower and vegetable patch. There’s a never-ending list of tasks; tying in, propping up plants, weeding and harvesting. I’m not complaining. Mentally it’s a ‘covid-free’ zone. As soon as I step into this place, my thoughts are solely on … Continue reading Six on Saturday – photos from my garden 1st August 2020
I’m still talking on the radio once a fortnight – from the peace and quiet of my potting shed. It’s lovely to be at home rather than having to drive into Leicester. And when the music is playing between chats, I get on with a bit of watering or prick out a few seedlings, and … Continue reading Talking on the radio – notes and photos for wednesday 22 July, BBC Radio Leicester Gardens Hour
Phacelia is a bee magnet. I’m growing it around the edges of the vegetable plot. It’s an annual, but self-seeds readily. It can also be grown as a green manure crop, but for this use, it has to be turned into the soil before it flowers. I’ve been re-reading Jean Vernon’s Secret Lives of Garden … Continue reading Six on Saturday. A walk around my garden 11 July 20209
Finding comfort in familiar things, I’m joining in with the weekly In a Vase meme. And this week it’s the first bunch of sweet peas – for my daughter Rachel, for her kitchen window at her first home. We still can’t believe she’s managed to complete the purchase, in the middle of a pandemic. Well … Continue reading In a Vase on Monday #IAVOM #MondayMotivation
Rose Constance Spry. Planted when my youngest daughter was born. Roses speak of celebration, and this one really shouts a welcome -to-the-world for Rachel. It flowers for three weeks in early June and fills the garden with a glorious fruit-salad perfume. Where I am today. Up a ladder. Trying to control the tangle of clematis, … Continue reading Walk Around My Garden Saturday 30 May 2020 #SixOnSaturday
Notes for anyone listening to BBC Radio Leicester today. You can send e mails, texts and messages for free gardening advice. I’ve been a travelling head gardener and a garden designer for 25 years. I write for weekly Garden News Magazine. I grow my own fruit, veg and flowers at home on a one acre … Continue reading BBC Radio Leicester Gardens Hour 19 April 2020
When I planted this walkway of trees, I never knew how essential they were going to be. I must meander along these paths at least 20 times a day, lost in thought. I’m sharing as many cheerful photos as I can find today. The covid crisis initially knocked me for six. I am desperately worried … Continue reading A Walk Around My Country Garden -27 Mar 2020
On the first warm, sunny day of the year, I’ve made a comfy place in the garden. I sit here, surrounded by familiar things: flowers, fresh from the garden, favourite books, magazines, tea, and mum’s lemon cake. And for a few minutes, I forget my worries. I am determined to enjoy the garden, birds singing … Continue reading In a Vase on Monday -March 16 2020
Secrets for Every Season Straight From the Potting Shed By Tamsin Westhorpe Orphans Publishing ISBN 9781903360422 Hardback. 248 pages. £20 Illustrations by Hannah Madden Book review and prize draw. Please leave a comment to be included in the draw. We are all standing at our house windows gazing on waterlogged, storm lashed gardens, aching to … Continue reading Diary of a Modern Country Gardener
I’m not usually a ditherer. I have a plan of action and I just get on with it. But the weather this autumn has put a spanner in the works. Unprecedented amounts of rain mean we are five weeks behind schedule with all jobs in the garden. And I am only now managing to sort … Continue reading Dahlias -Overwintering Dilemmas- 19 November 2019
I’ve just had a few weeks I would rather forget. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting here, recovering from an infection. We spent a year renovating our 1930s summerhouse; it’s on a turntable, so it can follow the sun. I’ve watched the sunrise and sunset from my armchair, pondering on how a simple gardening … Continue reading Infection – Update- 19th July 2019 #gardening
I’m practicing for wedding flowers. You never know when you might need some…. White larkspur and Ammi majus. Such a simple combination. I’d probably add white sweet peas for scent. I’ve got heritage variety Mrs Collier growing on the hazel A frame. And some white love-in-a-mist. The bouquet would be tied with white satin and … Continue reading In a Vase on Monday- All White
Pam Shave has a garden packed full of plant treasures. There’s wonderful scented roses, clematis, special perennials, and a whole border of foxgloves. And the good news is, you can visit the garden and see them too. Pam is county organiser for the NGS-Yellow Book – open gardens scheme, which raises money for cancer care … Continue reading NGS Garden Visit- Oak Tree House
BOOK REVIEW By Harriet Rycroft and Tim Miles Produced by Reef Publishing for Cotswold Wildlife Park £18 inc p&p. Looking through the mansion window, I see a pretty stone terrace, balustrading covered in rambling roses, mighty English oak trees in the distance. And a rhinoceros. Or two. I’m at the Cotswold Wildlife Park and it’s … Continue reading The Cotswold Wildlife Park – A Celebration of the Gardens
Spring flowers and a silver birch wreath. A honey -scented display for the summerhouse today. Arriving home late from work, I’ve run round the garden and picked a few spring flowers to decorate the wreath. This week, tete-a-tete narcissi and Iris Eye Catcher join the snowdrops in my display. I can report, the little test … Continue reading In a Vase on Monday 11th February 2019
I’m pleased to announce that Chloris has won my prize draw for a bird feeder kindly donated by CJ Wildlife. Thank you to everyone who left a comment and took part in this draw. Look out for my next prize draw which will be for a copy of Emma Mitchell’s new book The Wild Remedy. … Continue reading Announcing my prize draw winner. CJ Wildlife bird feeder.
I like to keep an eye on trends. I might not join in, but it’s good to know what’s in fashion. I want to keep up with the conversation. Growing houseplants is one trend I approve of. Plants are big news on Instagram right now. Millions of people are posting photos of plants and how … Continue reading Houseplant Trends
My very wise Welsh grandmother was full of quaint little sayings. I used to laugh at the time. “Pick yourself up, dust yourself down; ” and “Something good always comes out of adversity.” But I didn’t heed them at the time. Then two years ago, suddenly, out of the blue, I became seriously ill. In … Continue reading We made a garden for Rainbows Hospice : Belvoir Show 2018
Vases full of spring tulips and daffodils are frozen solid in the potting shed today. They will be fine when they thaw out. Hopefully. Meanwhile, I’ve run round the garden and collected some flower heads to float in water. All the window ledges in the house now shine with colour and cheer. I’m determined not … Continue reading In a Vase on Monday – @ashnurs @GdnMediaGuild
There’s nothing more cheerful than turning up at a favourite garden to find everyone happy and smiling. This week I visited Holme Pierrepont Hall to find the owners and gardeners busy with renovation plans. Funds from a Heritage Lottery grant and the Country Houses Foundation means work can start on restoring garden walls which date … Continue reading Garden Restoration Plans for Holme Pierrepont Hall
The conversation went something like “Hello, I need a marquee.” The reply was “That’s ok. For how many and what’s your budget.” “About 40 people. Er… there’s a problem with the budget. There’s isn’t one.” I expected the phone line to go dead. But to my amazement, Richard from Storer Smith Events laughed and told me to go on. … Continue reading Help, I Need a Marquee………
I have always believed people are amazingly kind and generous. Now I have the proof. A week ago I wrote here about combining my gardening skills to raise money for Rainbows Children’s Hospice. And the response has been overwhelming. I wrote about giving talks to garden groups- and hosting open gardens. And immediately my lovely … Continue reading Win a copy of Secret Gardens of East Anglia- and here’s an update on my fund-raising plans
Photo:A young supporter runs a fund-raising sponsored “hand print” wall at Rainbows open day. Regular readers will know I’ve been mulling over ways to use my gardening skills to raise money for Rainbows, our local children’s hospice. And I’ve come up with a plan. I’m giving slide shows and talks to local garden groups. And … Continue reading Raising funds for Rainbows Children’s Hospice and Garden
When Cathy Lyon-Green wanted a garden room – she set to and built it herself. "Building really is as simple as laying one brick on top of another- and checking the levels regularly." And the result is stunning- a pink painted summerhouse with grey windows and pretty pantile roof. It's the perfect place to sit … Continue reading Art in the garden- a visit to Cathy’s glorious plot.
THE DECKCHAIR GARDENER. Anne Wareham (Michael O’Mara Books Ltd, £8.99) In my little potting shed there is a kettle, toaster, radio- and a small bookcase. Between potting and sowing, I dip into the latest books, all with a gardening theme. So, picture the scene, I’m sitting here, listening to a storm outside. The overhanging beech … Continue reading Words and Pictures
Bramble Garden 