Should you meet your heroes?
Matthew Pottage scans his shelves and realises he has met several of his horticultural heroes. Who lived up to his expectations, who made him laugh, and who was the one author who got away?
Latest
Welcome to Book Month
In a world where your phone wants your attention and AI can tell you anything at the touch of a button, we are embracing books. James Alexander-Sinclair welcomes you to the Garden Collective's inaugural Book Month.
On why we need the Almanac
The days are shortening and the season is shifting. As we start Book Month, Lia Leendertz tells the story of how and why she had to write a very special Almanac.
Ponds: One is not enough
Tom Stuart-Smith's passion for ponds brought an unexpected discovery. Not swimmer's itch, but the realisation that the least designed part of his garden has turned out to be its most successful.
Excuse me sir, but your garden is leaking
Gardens are leaky things: seeds blow in, vines creep out, and plants escape over walls and fences. Ben Dark takes the train and peers into other people's gardens, celebrating the contributions of serendipity and committed gardeners alike.
The Marmite that is the maze: and what we can learn from them
The ultimate in horticultural puzzles, mazes are a heady mix of being lost and being found. Jane Perrone seeks the secret of their enduring attraction (and recent resurgence) at the centre of the maze.
10 Reasons gardeners have September as the start of a new year
Forget January. For gardeners, September is the real new year. Here are my ten reasons to love it, from seed collecting and second-spring sowing to misty mornings, stewed plums and the best Piet Oudolf gardens to visit right now. Plus: the tulip-buying rule I wish I'd followed.
How not to Garden: the September edition
How not to garden in September: do not rip anything out, do not prune, do not scalp the lawn, and do not panic order every bulb in the catalogue. Laetitia and Ann-Marie on the plants that survived the drought untouched, and why you should buy for foliage, not flowers.
Appley dappley
Every apple you have ever eaten descends from a single tree in the mountains of Kazakhstan. James Alexander-Sinclair chases apples from there to Babylon, to Johnny Appleseed's cider orchards, to the chemically suspended blandness of today's supermarket shelf.
Working the Night Shift: Why Your Garden Needs Moths
Mention moths and someone always tells Helen they hate them. But these fluffy night workers can out-pollinate butterflies, feed our bats and birds, and have declined by a third since the 1960s. Here's why Helen is obsessed, and the easy changes that will bring them to your garden.
The Flower Show Bandwagon
The future of the big flower shows has caused much speculation and controversy recently. George Plumptre has been asking the big questions about how (and where) they can go next.
A stumpery revival
What has Highgrove got in common with a custard cream? And with today's piece from Sandra Lawrence? She's talking stumperies — why they were once exceptionally fashionable, why they keep disappearing, and why she's not building one herself.
Sustainability
Holiday blues? Or browns?
Joe has had some R&R away from his big country garden, but going away means coming home. How has the garden fared in his absence? There are some stoics and some scorched, and one thing that made all the difference.
Plant profiles
Persica roses
If this hasn't been your year for the hybrid teas, Matt has got his Eye on a particularly intriguing species of single-flowered roses, Rosa persica. The picture of health even in drought conditions, open-flowered for the pollinators, and blotchily beautiful. Are you ready to be seduced?
Plant profiles
Counting needles and learning to love the pine
Alan Titchmarsh didn't always love pine trees; Friday identification tests at Kew saw to that. But having inherited 26 Scots pines with his new Surrey garden, he's become their devoted custodian. Here's why he's not afraid to change his mind on these giants.
Bulbs
Going underground: a nudge
This is your friendly reminder that this is the optimal moment to order your spring bulbs. In case you think that we always get it right, here are five of our best bulb tales.
Dogs
The Landscaper's Dog
Dogs and gardens. A classic pairing. James is looking back at the highs and lows of a life with a landscaping dog. London in the 80s, and a black and white mongrel dog, in a scarlet bandana.
Garden history
Lancelot 'Businessman' Brown
The busiest man in the business? Capability Brown was one of the first people to make his fortune through landscape design. George Plumptre explores how he did it.
Garden Therapy
Biophilia, and when gardens become a matter of life and death
The garden you hope you never need. Grace interviews Kate Tantam, pioneer of and advocate for green spaces for patients in ICU, exploring how the most natural of spaces can be adapted for the people who need them the most, and the difference they can make to recovery, or saying goodbye.
Travel
What Grows on Tour Stays on Tour?
Ben Dark is home from his holidays, but what's in his suitcase? Gardening inspiration from the Mediterranean? No chance. Ben files this under limoncello: glorious away, never the same at home.
Wildlife
There’s never been a better time to be a gardener
Guest writer Kate Bradbury examines the impact of this year's drought on wildlife, considers how silence and complicity have stalled progress on climate change, and argues that the future of gardening must have stewardship at its heart.
Plant profiles
Noxious nerium or opulent oleander?
One shrub is celebrating this summer without a care in the world. It flowers for months, fills the air with scent, but could knock you off your perch. Matt Pottage wants to know if you'd invite it into your garden?
Horticulture
The death of gardens
Unlike other forms of art, gardens need their gardener to keep their shape. So what happens when they are left to their own devices? When does a garden become an ex-garden? Noel revisits some old favourites and finds them changed.
Flower shows
Mulch Ado: Triumph and Tantrums in the Village Hall
Jan Etherington is seizing the day (or seizing the flowers) and scouring her garden for entries for the village show. Competition is fierce and there is duplicity in the air... Can Jan triumph with an old favourite?