Noel's Garden Blog: March 2019

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Why is Britain in such a mess? Part Two

If you are watching, horrified, at the continuing political chaos in Britain you may like to read Part Two of my occasional political posting 'Why is Britain in such a mess?' It's an attempt to explain to outsiders, especially the often anglophile garden community, what is going on. Brits might like to take a look too. It's not meant to re-assuring!
https://www.noelkingsbury.com/noelsgarden-blog/2019/3/31/why-is-britain-in-such-a-mess-part-two

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Horti-Culture in Camellia-City Porto

Porto in northern Portugal is the city of the camellia. The public parks and people’s gardens are full of them. For those of us who are only used to seeing them as head high, or maybe in Cornwall, up to the first storey, these are huge. And the city clearly loves them. Last weekend, the city council put on its annual camellia festival.

Read on here-----

Links

The most exciting garden in Europe: Hermannshof. And the most beautiful, Le Jardin de Berchigranges. In England I'd flag up Holbrook Gardens in Scotland: Cambo.
Favourite nurseries are Crug Farm, Cotswold Garden Flowers, in Austria Sarastro and Ewald Hugin in Germany.
Photographer Andrea Jones is someone I much admire. Piet Oudolf is deservedly regarded as probably the best garden designer in the world. At the University of Sheffield, James Hitchmough 's work is revolutionary and full of enormous potential; Nigel Dunnett at Sheffield is a green roof, rain garden and sustainable planting guru. Over in the USA Tracy DiSabato Aust is a gardener of skill and originality. In Uruguay, Amalia Robredo is doing very good work.

Of garden websites check out Thinking Gardens for something completely thought-provokingly different, though 'tis a bit like the sea - there are deep bits and shallow bits.

Finally, a friend, Jonathan Garratt - he's a potter, but with a good understanding of gardens and an acerbic commentator on the British gardening scene.