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‘Scents come in and out of fashion but lavender doesn’t,’ says Caroline Alexander of the Hop Shop at  Castle Farm in Kent, one of the largest English lavender growers. Anyone fortunate enough to visit Castle Farm during the few weeks when the 90 acres of lavender plants are in flower is in for a visual

Redolent of Arts and Crafts gardens, delphiniums stood sentinel in lush Edwardian herbaceous borders in those legendary hot summers before the First World War. Appropriately an important collection of Delphiniums is at Godinton House, Kent, whose garden was designed by that great Edwardian architect and garden designer, Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) in 1902. This year’s Delphinium

A garden in a skip? These days there seems to be no end of imaginative new forms of gardening as a quick glimpse of the forthcoming ChelseaFringe events testify. The Skip Garden is an extraordinarily imaginative community garden run by Global Generation just north of Kings Cross. Once a forgotten area of London it has been

‘”Why don’t you do horticulture?” I didn’t even know what it meant’ says Fergus Garrett, of Great Dixter, as he explains why he switched from agriculture whilst studying at Wye College, Kent. The gardening fraternity has a lot to thank his Director of Studies for. ‘My first class was garden design with Tom Wright, ‘one

plant nurseriesLilies of the Incas, Peruvian Lilies, or alstroemerias are beloved by florists due to their longevity as a cut flower. ‘”The perfect flower”’ is how our team describe them’ says Ben Cross, the fourth generation of his family to grow alstroemerias in a wholesale nursery near Chichester, West Sussex. His parents also work in the

What’s not to love about topiary? Its whimsicality appeals to everyone whether they are gardeners or not. All manner of topiary can be found at the splendidly named Balmoral, one of the most original gardens made in England in the past few decades. Hidden away behind Benenden Church, in the Kentish High Weald, it is

These days snowdrops are all the rage and more and more special ‘Snowdrop Days’ are springing up each year all over the country.  But it was not always thus  ‘One hardly ever heard about them when I first started gardening’  Margaret, Lady FitzWalter told me earlier this month.  What plant I wonder is ignored today that in fifty years hence will

‘A day not in a garden is a day wasted’ says the celebrated garden photographer, Marianne Majerus. (www.mariannemajerus.com) and @MarianneMajeru5. What does it take to become one of the leading international garden photographers I recently asked Marianne? ‘The more you look, the more you see different angles’ was her deceptively simple answer. Over the years,

Border Lines Early January can only mean one thing to avid garden visitors – the arrival on their doorstep of the latest Border Lines brochure. www.border-lines.co.uk now in its twenty-eighth year specialises in exclusive garden tours both in Britain and overseas. Owned and run by James Bolton since 2008, Border Lines offers a thrilling medley

Philip Johnson of wwww.johnsonssweetpeas .co.uk has been captivated by sweet peas ever since his childhood. ’I first grew them when I was 9 years old’. A doyen of sweet pea aficionados Philip is extraordinarily knowledgeable about sweet peas and more than happy to share his tips for growing this beguiling flower.  A bunch of sweet peas