If you’re waiting for the big red and yellow tulips in your garden to burst into bloom, you’re already behind. These are beautiful, early, rare species tulips, and they really are plants to fall in love with. Their dainty little flowers are less than half the size of a cultivated tulip, and have lovely, fat [...]

This week’s wrap-up is dedicated to the lovely Elspeth Thompson, who tragically died on Thursday. I didn’t know Elspeth very well, although she was incredibly supportive and kind to me when I was setting up this blog, and it was a joy to exchange emails with her about her lovely garden over the past few [...]

Our Winter Garden was very late in reaching its zenith when grasses, barks, stems and bulbs finally came together in one wonderful tapestry. The prolonged frosts and snow delayed the aconites and snowdrops by more than four weeks. To say I was impatient was an understatement! However, while the bulbs took their time in proclaiming [...]

…these hilarious little post-card gardens, better known as postcardens. They pop out into little miniature gardens which would be great for growing microsalads (teeny-tiny seedlings of lettuce, rocket, kale, chicory etc, which are picked just as their true leaves are emerging) on a windowsill. And, let’s face it, if nothing else, they’ll bring a big [...]

I’ve never hidden my love of camellias. They come in such bright, boiled sweet colours, have such perfect, waxy petals, and laquered leaves. And while so many spring flowers are dainty and shy, these plants really go for the high-impact, souped up volume of blooms. I could rave about common camellias for hours, but I [...]

This plant comes with a dire, stark warning. Planting cyclamen can make your garden look awful. Please, whatever you do, don’t plant it in your flowerbeds in rows, or in strange little pots on your patio. I’m sorry to be so strident: I just know how much better these little plants look when you give [...]

With some plants, context is everything. Anemone blanda is one such. Its blue-purple daisy-like flowers could look so terribly disturbing in the wrong context, so plant this one carefully if you want to truly fall in love with it. We’re not talking namby-pamby little clumps here: Anemone blanda only really works in large carpets if [...]

Here’s a little secret which I’m rather ashamed of: I don’t really like growing daffodils. Oh, I know, I’ve probably offended the entire Welsh nation and every single gardener in the country, but there we go. I love seeing them en masse on banks, sweeping lawns and at the side of the road, but I [...]

This is a difficult time of the year - We’ve had our fill of kale, Brussels sprouts, pumpkins and parsnips over the winter, and yet it’s too early in the year for the garden to be producing. Still, we are hungry and look for good nourishing meals. ——————————————————————————————————————————- Fennel & Fern readers can get 10% [...]

…these amazing, imaginative tipis from Bau Outdoors. They’re beautiful and they’d beat a tent hands down any day. I can just see my childish self snuggling down into one of these, pretending I was hiding out in the wilds with only a campfire and a couple of horses. To be honest, I can imagine myself [...]

Down here in the South West, Spring arrived at approximately 6:53am on Saturday 13th March, and started as it meant to go on by resolutely marching round my garden, banging some saucepans and waking up my sleepy crocuses. I do respect these crocuses, since, as you can see from the photo, they have not been [...]

It’s probably best if I just get these crocuses out of my system right now. They’re everywhere at the moment, and the kind weather is helping them on their way. It’s a nice spring kick, seeing these pretty bulbs in bloom everywhere, and as they don’t last forever, here’s my crocus binge. ——————————————————————————————————————————- Fennel & [...]