Author Archives: webmanager

I have lived in Somerset for 40 years and my regular coastal walks have been punctuated by the tempting sight of Lundy Island peeping through the sea mist and each time I saw it I made a promise to visit … Continue reading →

Christine Skelmersdale gives some advice on choosing varieties for decorative containers Pots must be the simplest yet most rewarding method of growing any bulb, but especially daffodils and tulips. It needs no special skills and is virtually fool proof: just … Continue reading →

Scent must be the first thing to spring to mind when the name jonquil is mentioned. The well known late flowering Narcissus jonquilla, with up to 4 small bright golden yellow flowers is understandably a garden favourite. Jonquil hybrids also … Continue reading →

A neglected Christmas flowering charmer The contrast couldn’t be greater. After the violent gales of the last two weeks, today sees a welcome return to our more normal early December weather for here in the South West. I was frantically … Continue reading →

Serendipity must happen more often in the word of gardening than anywhere else, and like all the best discoveries this one also happened by chance. When I first planted our new garden it was natural to add a collection of … Continue reading →

Fritillarias can be bought between May and November from our Autumn Catalogue or in season from our Online Store. Although I have been in professional horticulture for 30 years, prior to our purchase of BG my experience of growing bulbs … Continue reading →

How often do you hear the cry – nothing will grow under my tree, it’s too dry, too shady. With the proviso that the trees or shrubs in question are deciduous nothing could be further from the truth. It is … Continue reading →

Article published in Gardens Illustrated Feb 2011 Brisk walks, warm fires and plant catalogues sum up winter, a time of bare branches rather than brightly coloured flowers but there is one group of plants that defy the elements to produce … Continue reading →

Article published in The Garden April 2009 The genus iris is one of the most diverse and popular garden plants with flower shapes and colours almost as variable as their habitats. Iris were named after the Greek goddess Iris, the … Continue reading →

This article is split into Iris for Mixed Border, Water side, Semi-shade and the Rock Garden. There are cultivation notes at the end. Introduction Whether its a haze of flag iris shimmering in the heat of Monet’s garden or rimming … Continue reading →