MSH Backup

As we wave goodbye to summer for another year, I’m determined to make the most of the short window of time left to enjoy being out in the garden. Whilst the heatwave wasn’t particularly kind to some of my favourite plants (poor hydrangeas!) now that things have cooled down a little bit it’s lovely to see some others in full bloom again, and hopefully they’ve still got a little bit of flowering power left before the temperatures drop: Dahlias really are the most beautiful gift at this time of the year, and make the slow segue into autumn and winter all the easier- the ones in the garden now have blossomed from bulbs which I picked up in Marks and Spencer, and I’m hopeful that next year they’ll be back in bloom- perhaps planted out into a flowerbed rather than in pots as they are at the moment. Similarly, the delphiniums are loving the last burst of sunshine which we’re having at the moment, and if they’re well protected over the chiller months I’m sure they’ll revive to be even better n...

In spite of the perils which come with hayfever season, over the last couple of weeks I’ve really been enjoying getting back out in the garden and spending some time on a few new growing projects. The older I get, the more I’m starting to realise that my spiritual home is actually the garden centre (heaven on earth, am I right?!), and it’s always really rewarding to see things flourishing, especially after the long winter. I always tend to forget just how calming it is to spend time outside too- and any patch of green can be a real oasis of peace and quiet, well worth cultivating to counteract the chaos of Monday to Friday life:   A new addition to the garden this year comes in the shape of these Delphiniums! Growing them from seed last year was something of a futile effort, so picking up a nursery plant has been an investment well made, especially given that it hasn’t really needed much maintenance apart from a good drink of water every now and then. Even better than that, it’s a ...

As we prepare to wave goodbye to August and start the inevitable slide into autumn, I'm already finding myself slightly bereft at the prospect of everything in the garden heading into hibernation mode for another year. As I've touched on in a couple of recent posts, this summer has been a glorious one in terms of how well some of my favourite plants have established themselves, and I'm already finding myself thinking about what to cultivate over the winter in time for next spring. Even more importantly, I'm keen to be as mindful as possible in my planting- particularly in terms of supporting that most precious of pollinators- the humble bee. With population decline a real problem across the spectrum of species, it's really important to offer these essential members of our ecosystem as much support as possible. With that in mind, I'm definitely going to be planting more of the following bee-friendly favourites in anticipation of next summer:  As well as being a w...