Perhaps it’s during the short days and dark nights of January that we experience most a longing for fresh flowers. Especially welcome are the first of the snowdrops and winter aconites; flowers so…| Planting Diaries
The British Ferns: Represented in a Series of Photographs from Nature by Mrs Glaisher was the title of a book project with promising beginnings, but for unknown reasons was never published. It was…| Planting Diaries
Valerie Finnis 31st October 1924 – 17th October 2006 The end of this month marks the centenary of Valerie Finnis’ birth, which seems like a perfect time to celebrate her life and photography. A professional gardener, alpine specialist and prolific photographer, Finnis produced still life images of plants and portraits of gardeners from her wide […]| Planting Diaries
There’s something so incongruous about long lines of freshly harvested onions laid out to dry in front of the famous orangery in Kew Gardens, where ordinarily we might expect to see well kept lawns or decorative beds of flowers. But in 1943, when these photographs documenting the work of Kew Gardens were taken for the […]| Planting Diaries
Earlier this month, the Jubilee Hall in the Dorset village of Yetminster was thronged with visitors, gathered to celebrate the annual Garden and Arts & Crafts show. This popular local event sh…| Planting Diaries
Two pairs of white petals streaked with deep pink at their centres seem to glow against their inky black background, demanding our attention despite their modest size. Carried on tall stems with f…| Planting Diaries
One of the pleasures of summer in the UK is visiting gardens that open to raise funds for charity. For a nominal sum we are admitted to places usually closed to the public, where we can examine pl…| Planting Diaries
Jan van Huysum (1682 – 1749) is considered amongst the finest Dutch painters of still life arrangements of fruit and flowers. Based in Amsterdam, his work was highly sought after by collectors all…| Planting Diaries
Posed in a front garden, this gardener stands as stiffly upright as the standard rose tree behind her. Dressed in a dark skirt and crisply laundered white shirt, her garden seems to reflect a similar preference for order and neatness, with its straight edged lawn and borders of roses and chrysanthemum, underplanted with regularly spaced […]| Planting Diaries
On a chilly November afternoon almost exactly two years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit Rousham for the first time. Suitably wrapped up against the cold and damp, myself and three gardening friends explored these iconic gardens for a happy couple of hours, until the fading light brought our journey to a close. Arriving […]| Planting Diaries