lavender

Why We Love Lavender
The soft scent and hazy purple tints of lavender never fail to conjure up memories of long summer days in the garden. Lavender loves my local chalky soil, even self-seeding along our paths and verges. Originating from the Mediterranean, this...
Perfect plants for pollinators
There’s nothing quite like the lazy thrum of bees on a sunny day. Dipping in and out of the tubular echo chambers of a foxglove flower, settling on fragrant spikes of lavender or buzzing heavily skywards, pollen sacs laden with...
Over the garden gate
Every May some of my neighbours open their gardens for local charities. It’s not National Garden Scheme or anything grand, just a friendly initiative to garner a few quid to buy street trees or plant up a roundabout abandoned by...
Hurray for herbs...
I love the geometry and neatness of Elizabethan knot gardens, the manicured symmetry of low box hedging filled with a tangle of flowers and greenery. The best, I think, are those planted with fragrant herbs such as rosemary, cotton lavender...
It’s still cold out there
February had snow and a heatwave, March with warm and cold spells, April has begun with lovely blue sky sunny days but also frosts at night. As I’ve written before, weather is a preoccupation, if not an obsession, as planting...
They call me mellow yellow
I used to have a serious problem with yellow. As a colour for clothes, for home decor and – most of all – in the garden. Even daffodils were banned. Somehow it seemed too cheery, too bright and, by association, just a...
Lavender - a truly eclectic plant
Lavender is a herb, a flower, a medicine, a deterrent. Its uses are many and varied, probably more than any other plant I know. Lavender looks great, smells even better and despite being of Mediterranean and North African provenance is...
Goat's cheese, pear, walnut and lavender honey salad

Honey where the bees have mainly collected pollen from lavender plants has such a beautiful flavour that we didn't want to spoil it by mixing it with anything. Instead it is drizzled on top of its perfect partner – goat’s cheese, to make a simple, but delicious salad. The perfect way to ease yourself into eating lighter foods as the temperature warms this spring.

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Urban gardening: Softening transitions in your garden

Designers will often talk about ‘softening’ edges or marking transitions in your garden. A solid structure can often lead to harsh boundaries, right angles and edges. Well thought out planting will not only soften these edges but bring them alive, turning the edge to a key focal point in the garden.

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Why Lavender is my firm favourite

I was once told by a successful artist that choosing a poor frame for a picture, is the equivalent of getting exquisitely dressed up for a party and not wearing any make-up. The frame is the piece to the puzzle that makes your picture standout and chosen correctly can massively enhance a painting.

I think this same analogy can also be used for a garden. Lavender is a beautiful framer for any border and enriches the colours and plants it surrounds.

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For the love of lavender
English lavender – fragrance, colour, wildlife value, and versatility There are very few gardeners who fail to fall for the many charms of lavender – what is that you love about this beautiful, heavenly-scented and versatile plant? Lavender (Lavandula...
Get the ground ready now for when you buy lavender plants in May
If you are planning on buying lavender plants this year here are a few tips which might help you grow them just that little bit better. 1. Don't buy your lavender until towards the end of May. Lavender is a...
Lavender Diseases - There Really are Some!
I read an article the other day which claimed that lavender is immune to disease, a quality that is linked to its healing properties. I'm the first to hop in a bath infused with lavender when I need a break and...
Ice Blue Lavender Plants, Dilly Dilly...
I have never read in a gardening book anywhere that says a lavender hedge is a beautiful thing in winter. Well, our was yesterday morning. Like most of you, we had a cracker of a frost the night before last. ...