Tag: garden
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The name of the rose
We inherited several roses in the mill garden and, never having grown them before, I’ve been trying to identify and learn about roses and their needs. In some cases this is quite simple. “Rhapsody in Blue“, for example, is an immediately recognisable cultivar, not only because of its its open blooms of a most unusual…
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Roses and pinks
It is rose season here in the mill garden, and I have the colour of roses on my mind. Because it is so loved, and because it has been so widely cultivated for such a very long time, perhaps no flower has the ability to soak up cultural meaning quite as much as the rose.…
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Meconopsis blue
Those of you who enjoyed seeing the emergence of my Himalayan blue poppy in 2025 may be interested to know how it has fared this year. The poppy began flowering on May 18th (almost exactly the same day as 2025) and is still doing so today, June 9th (carrying its final bloom alongside six healthy…
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a broken tulip
“Come quickly,” I said to Tom, “and bring the camera. We’ve got a broken tulip.” “a broken tulip?” “Yes! A broken one! Just check it out!” “Hmm. It certainly looks like a freaky tulip” “It is freaky! In fact, a tulip that has broken in this particular colour combination is actually known as a bizarre.”…
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“Peppermintstick”
Tulip season has arrived – hurrah! I anticipate several happy weeks, in which I savour and enjoy every variety that I carefully chose and planted last November. I have several lasagne-style tulip pots at the front of the house, as well as a sizeable display round the back . . . . . . and…
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Helle-bore
One of the things I love about gardening is the experience it enables of what Buddhists refer to as Beginner’s Mind: I am very much a beginner gardener, and the fact that I inherited my garden means that, over the past two years, I’ve often found myself in a state of confused un-knowing, having to…
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gardening leave
Hello! It’s been a while. As you may have gathered, I have not been well. Some of you will know that I have bipolar disorder and that winter can often be a tricky time. I am aware of this, am used to this, and have a range of strategies in place which (usually) help me…
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