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As gardens spring into life, contemporary floral jewellery is celebrated in thrilling Bloomin’ Jewels, a selling exhibition at Contemporary Applied Arts (CCA). ‘I thought, let’s go crazy,’ says Christine Lalumia, the enthusiastic director of CAA, telling me how the exhibition came about. ‘What can we do to bring gardens to the fore?’ She explains that

Hurrah for the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) Snowdrop Festival which is on throughout February. As the days are beginning to lengthen and signs of spring emerge the prospect of a garden visit is a welcome tonic, whether you want to admire the different varieties of snowdrops or have a walk in lovely surroundings. More than

  Anyone going to the ravishingly beautiful Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides this August should make a beeline for Torosay Castle.  Just a few minutes drive from the ferry at Craignure, it is one of the most beguiling and romantic gardens I have ever visited. If walking appeals there is a good path from Craignure through woodland to ,the castle. Since it

It’s that time of year again.  Christmas present lists are beginning to litter everyone’s kitchen tables.  If you are near the delightful Kentish Wealden town, Hawkhurst, you must visit Cranbrook Iron’s ‘pop up’ shop opening on the 6th November at Septimus Quayles, Ockley Road, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 4DP. In addition there will also be an enticing range of

Four hundred private gardens to visit in two days is an astonishing statistic but that is what the National Garden Scheme’s (known by many as the NGS) annual weekend Festival (6th & 7th June) is all about. The NGS was originally set up in 1927 to raise money for nurses who didn’t have pensions in

16th May -7th June Dubbed ‘the fastest growing fringe festival ever’ by the World Festival network, the Chelsea Fringe, www.chelseafringe.co.uk now in its fourth year, is firmly established as a highlight of the gardening calendar. ‘The idea is twofold, to celebrate the amazing work that community gardens do, and to open up links between gardens and

Ideally flicking through a Summers Place Auctions (summersplaceauctions.com) catalogue of their forthcoming auction of Garden and Natural History on 14th and 15th April, my eye was caught by Lot 336:  ‘A collection of Pulhamite stone: 19th-century’. What on earth is Pulhamite stone? you are probably asking yourself. The answer is that it is a miraculous Victorian invention of

Anyone encountering the ancient art of chestnut coppicing for the first time must wonder why a great swathe of woodland has apparently been wantonly chopped down.  Aren’t we meant to be protecting forests and woodland at home as well as in far flung exotic climes?  The answer is that coppicing is an ancient woodland management custom stretching back to Neolithic man which is

At last the age old thorny problem of what clothes to wear when gardening has been solved by two lady gardening whizzes. Genus Performance Gardenwear  (www.genus.gs) was established just over a year ago by Sue O’Neil, a sexagenarian entrepreneur. It specialises in lightweight shower-resistant gardening trousers for men and women with the added bonus of

What is the optimum time for taking sensational garden photographs?  It is not midday day on a gloriously sunny summer’s day but early in the morning just after sunrise when the quality of light is best.  Some years ago the renowned garden photographer, Clive Boursnell  www.cliveboursnell.com came to Doddington to take photographs for a magazine article.  He declined