Fennel and Fern

the stylish gardening blog

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Foliage fireworks

October 7, 2010

by F&F

Roleautumn, fall, leaves

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Photographer Lotus Johnson shares some of her most beautiful shots of autumn foliage catching fire.

Fancy some sea buckthorn jelly? In fact, have you even heard of sea buckthorn? If you haven't, you're missing out on a beautiful shrub with gorgeous foliage and a spectacular autumn display of berries. Find out how to grow it here.

Magnificent mulberries

August 29, 2010

by F&F

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Black mulberries are a fabulous fruit shrouded in folklore and romance. Here's F&F's guide to growing Morus nigra, as well as some stunning recipe ideas.

Magnolia grandiflora

August 5, 2010

by F&F

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You’d struggle to find a more magnificent plant than Magnolia grandiflora. This oh-so-fabulous tree is utterly beautiful all year round, with enormous waxy deep green evergreen leaves, and tremendous white waxy flowers the size of a dinner plat

{Fresh gardener} The fairytale wedding

June 15, 2010

by F&F

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Sarah, who writes the Fresh Gardener posts, is away on honeymoon at the moment, so I decided to embarrass her a little by showing some shots of her stylish wedding.

A plant to love: Judas tree

May 14, 2010

by F&F

Rolegrow this

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Image by Tim Waters The blossom is dead and blown away, so long live the Judas tree! It boasts highlighter-pink flowers, pretty foliage, and fabulous seed pods. I’m struggling to think of a more lovable plant. In fact, the Judas tree (Cercis si

A plant to love: Foxglove tree

May 4, 2010

by F&F

Rolegrow this

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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.

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

Collector’s Item: Magnolias

April 29, 2010

by F&F

Rolegrow this

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M. wilsonii If I could only use one species in my garden, I would gladly fill it with magnolias. They are the most beautiful, the most majestic and the most elegant trees. It isn’t just those enormous goblet-shaped flowers that stop me in my tr

Weaving trees

March 11, 2010

by F&F

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This image is not what it seems. Take a closer look. These pleached hornbeams are not growing atop a trellis: they are growing on trunks woven together. This practice, dubbed ‘Treedome’ or ‘Arborsculpture’ by creators Konstantin Kirsch and Richard Re

{Ryan’s rare plants} The snowdrop tree

February 25, 2010

by F&F

Rolegrow this

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Image by sighnensis. Do you love snowdrops? How about a snowdrop tree? It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Native to North America and notoriously difficult to propagate Halesia diptera ‘Magniflora’, commonly known as the snowdrop tree, is quit

We’re out of the woods

February 23, 2010

by F&F

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I went for a little scamper around the city parks at the weekend. Southampton isn’t renowned for being the most aesthetically pleasing place in the world (although it is one of the most sustainable cities in England), but it has some marvellously bea