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Real gardens: Nymans

May 8, 2010

by F&F

If you’re looking for a garden that is as grand as it is wild, as fascinating historically as it is forward-looking, and as well-designed as it is packed with rare plants, then you couldn’t do much better than visit Nymans in West Sussex.

F&F loves…

May 8, 2010

by F&F

No Responses.

…these delicious deckchairs from Balcony Boutique. If you’re looking forward to sunny days loafing in your garden, you’ll love the fun designs on the chairs. I’ve always loved the fabulous modernist tube map, and seeing it on

Sweet chard of mine

May 7, 2010

by F&F

Rolegrow this

2 Comments

Chard makes me incredibly happy. It’s the glow-stick stems, the big, lush leaves, and the plant’s incredibly obliging nature. Even though I am picking bowlfuls of salad every day, the evenings are so cool that I still need a lovely, comfo

{Think outside the vase} May

May 6, 2010

by F&F

4 Comments

I’ve used Chaenomeles japonica (Quince) in front of this picture before. I love the contrast of coral pink against turquoise and it works particularly well with these brown vases. I used hundreds of small bud vases with spring flowers for this

{Fresh gardener} It’s a pink one

May 5, 2010

by F&F

4 Comments

My garden is growing as fast as Harry Potter’s hair. My pink tulips have thrown open their petals and are basking in the sun. I do realise that most of the other F&F posts on tulips a) identify the variety and b) reveal a dazzlingly original col

A plant to love: Foxglove tree

May 4, 2010

by F&F

Rolegrow this

3 Comments

Image by Tim Waters Paulownia is a useful plant: not least because it is so very unusual. Any tree which bears such enormous flowers is an instant winner in my book, but Paulownia tomentosa is a champion of a tree as its leaves are marvellously huge.

Seed swap

May 3, 2010

by F&F

1 Comment

Like most gardeners, I have a slightly ridiculous collection of seeds, and I just can’t resist picking up some more. A few weeks ago, I dragged some rather reluctant chums along to a seed swap in Exeter, and picked up some marvellous rare heirl

The wonderful windowgrow

May 2, 2010

by F&F

2 Comments

I really, really love my Windowgrow. It’s from Greenhouse Sensation, who specialise in products which get you growing in small spaces, and produce fab results. It looks like a windowbox, or a standard propagator, but this little piece of kit do

The wrap-up

May 2, 2010

by F&F

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{Weekly wrap-up} Hot posts, stories and images from the web this week.

The hot plot: fruit flowers

May 1, 2010

by F&F

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Apple blossom. Image by nblumhardt. It’s at this time of year that we really start to thank our lucky stars for planting fruit in the garden. Fruit and nut blossom isn’t just magical: it also comes at a time when much of the veg patch is

F&F loves…

May 1, 2010

by F&F

No Responses.

…these cute little bud vases from Jo Downs Glass in Exeter. If you’ve got a small plot and you can’t bear to pick every single flower for a massive bouquet, then sticking three or four of thes bright bud vases is a much more stylish