The Winter Solstice

Tonight as the shortest day approaches we snuggle up by the log fire watching the lights twinkling on the tree.  A melange of pine & juniper infuse the air, all is well as the Solstice approaches during the waning of the 'Oak Moon'.

Zeus - Master of his Universe

Lovely boy, I had to include this beautiful picture of you along  'The Cornish Coastal Path' following the steps of your ancestors. I didn't capture you surfing but we all know that you were the bravest & the best!!  Heaven is a cool place to be,  I will always dream of you surfing with the angels, they are lucky to have you.

Oh Come all Ye Faithful

Tonight in the lee of the 'Oak moon' we have had to accept that our faithful companion Zeus will not be able to surmount his difficulties,  He has been a strong,brave & faithful companion; an integral part of life at 'Valley Garden Paradise'.  We give thanks to him for gracing us with his wonderful presence.  The garden will always resonate with his wonderful spirit & joy for life.  For now & forever my darling boy, 'Rest in Peace'.

The 9th Day of Advent

What a difference from the scene this time last year! The garden was pure Narnia with the promise that an unsuspecting visitor may chance upon Mr Tumnus.The unseasonal warmth of this Autumn has finally given way to biting wind & rain as Winter sweeps in from the North.  I am not sure what the tender daffodil shoots & early snowdrops will think when Jack Frost burns them with his icy touch.  The robin & blue tits look in through the windows making sure that we don't forget to provide goodies for them too! As the year comes to a close & we prepare for the shortest day & the winter solstice the garden looks forward, preparing deep below the surface for the year ahead.

The Winter Of Our Lives

Advent is a time of preparation & expectation.  It is also a time of reflection - thoughts of the high points of the year- a time to give thanks.  Here at ' Valley Garden Paradise' we would like to give thanks for the gift our our gentle companion Zeus.  He is an integral part of this garden, his questioning bark, his morning inspections & his love of chasing our pheasant Elvis over the boundary! Tonight he is in the care of a wonderful veterinary team fighting for his life.  We are all missing him & praying for a miracle. Gardens are full of miracles, they bless us daily with nature's bounty, lets hope that Zeus will be returned to continue his wonderful reign over this magical garden.

The Advent Of Winter

Now the days are shorter, we are blessed with a clear, blue winter light.  After an unprecedented autumn of balmy days the garden is still offering flowering roses & perlagoniums for our delight.  The berry-laden holly predicts a long, hard winter which will bring an abrupt halt to the early daffodils and cheeky flowering currant. The originality of the garden's Advent is beyond compare!

The Walnut Canopy

Palais Royal climbs into the Crabapple Tree

The sight of this pearly white rose with a pink blush clambering into the crabapple tree this morning stopped me in my tracks. Emerging from a bed of delicate white Canterbury Bells it reminded me of the magic of a June wedding; a perfect melange of form, scent & colour. This rose was discovered by Alain Meilland in France in 1999, his family business is now in it's sixth generation of producing exquisite blooms.


We planted this vigorous climber two years ago to introduce interest in the planting above eye-level & to dress the tree with blooms after the blossom had faded. We have not been disappointed, it's glossy olive foliage is a perfect backdrop for the lightly fragranced flowers which are produced in flushes throughout the season. Her climbing partner in this gorgeous combination is the majestic clemetis Niobe.

An Old Garden Moss

Let me introduce you to the elegant, historic rose 'Nuits de Young', bred in France in 1845 by Jean Laffay. This single flowering, mossed musk is a delight in the midsummer garden. Matt foliage & thorny stems support double maroon/purple blooms. 'Nuits de Young' has a shy, deferential nature almost as if it is apologising for its exquisite rose scent & aristocratic form. With the old fashioned air of Hugh Grant as the slightly eccentric bookseller in 'Notting Hill' it does not demand your attention from a distance. To appreciate the full beauty of this rose, I love to wander along the path & hold it's soft head in my hand. At the moment it is magnificent in full bloom, adding dramatic shade under the arching branches & white flower-heads of David Austin's magnificent 'Snowdon' & the dramatic 'Nevada'. The soft underplanting of white campanulas are like sumptuous cotton cushions, their purity enhancing this rose's regal splendour!

The Prince

I absolutely adore this regal rose who accompanies 'Nuits de Young' in our dusky purple planting. In contrast to the old mosses this heavy, fragrant flower head stands on an insignificant, spindly stem. It is almost impossible to define the glorious intensity of it's crimson blooms; neither words or pictures provide a true reflection of it's beauty. Surprisingly this is a modern rose, although the fabulous colour & heady fragrance are inherited through a long line of old crimson roses, originating in a cross between Tuscany & Dusky Maiden. I would recommend anyone to grow this fabulous rose, it's blooms never disappoint!

A Bohemian Gent

This morning between the showers I indulged in a little dead-heading. Along the terrace I encountered the delightful Moss Rose 'William Lobb'. He is affectionately nicknamed 'Jack' here; a reflection of his tendency to shoot up like a beanstalk. Whilst young the Mosses are extremely tactile with soft thorns around the new flowerheads, the thorns on the previous year's growth are viscious & will shred your fingers in a flash!

Moss Roses are fascinating to look at & invoke an air of nostalgia in the garden. The sticky moss on the flowerheads creates a shabby-chic aura with a hint of the carefree summers of yester-year. William's floppy, arching growth is enchanting & to gain maximum benefit from his fragrant, deep crimson blooms we have trained him along the walkway. When in flower I love to visit him often & sit awhile in his fragrant company. Like Paul's Himalayan Musk he only flowers once, so I like to make the most of their company while they're here!

Let Me introduce You-----

Over the next few visits I would like to introduce you to some of the charming roses that inhabit our garden.

My first choice is the stunning rambler: 'Paul's Himalayan Musk. This soft scented,vigorous rose is a dichotomy. Dainty sprays of apple-blossom rosettes flower with abandon, their slender stems arching gracefully under the weight of the blooms. If the summer breeze is travelling in the right direction one's senses are intoxicated by his soft Jean-Paul Gaultier scent. It is enough to stop you in your tracks!! This tenacious rose thinks nothing of climbing thirty feet high into the branches of a gracious host; whose reward is an abandom of blossom in June. However, don't mistake his grace & charm for weakness. Five years ago on a hot summer's day it was my sad task to fell the apple tree in whose branches this rose resided. The odds were against us, it was a blisteringly hot day & I had consigned myself to the possibility of losing the presence of this ephemeral rose in my life. Indeed the heat was such, that his amputated stems wept. We wrapped his roots in hessian & rested them at the base of our wise old Holly. These glorious photos are a tribute to the strength & tenacity of this gentle rose. Enjoy his presence, brief as it may be , for today his beauty battles with the enemy of transience---The Wind. As the petals dance across the lawn, I thank him for his presence & send him on his way.

A Rhapsody of Roses

I just wanted to introduce you to a few of the charming guests that we have flowering in the garden at the moment. There scent is intoxicating & their form sublime. Prolonging their flowering is becoming a fixation. The secret is deadheading. I love it the opportunity to stand close and experience the essence each rose in person - in a way get to know them. All roses are unique with there own individual personality; expressed in the way they hold their heads or display their leaves. Roses are a passion & at this time of year the garden is an exquisite symphony. Enjoy---

Banba's Liquid Gold

What an amazing Queen young Banba is proving to be. The colony is active & industrious with the added bonus of a genteel temperament! On our latest inspection we were astounded to see the amount of young brood hatching, together with the sheer number of bees in the hive. Banba's first honey harvest is phenomenol. I love the picture of this curious little worker bee checking in on the 'Bee- Diary'. We removed a few frames of honey, leaving the majority for the hungry young brood to feed on. Despite our restriant the harvest still exceeds 20lb. It is an honour to live in harmony with these amazing little bees & partake in the harvesting of their 'liquid gold'.

Iris River

The cobalt river of Iris snakes through the L'Heure Bleu planting drawing the eye back to the purple shadow of the Smoke Bush Cotinus. This planting was inspired by the iconic Guerlaine perfume of the same name - alluding to the magical skies between sunset and darkness. Half way up the slope facing west this is the perfect place to catch the last of the sun & reflect on the the day. All the plants in this section have a blue hue, even the poppies, which gives an air of sultry seduction. For me this is a cocoon of tranquillity.

Darling Buds of May

What an extraordinary season - roses alliums poppies & tulips all flowering together. VGP is a riot of colour, enhanced by intermittant soft rainful. An early morning tour of the garden is essential to spot the unusual flowering combinations that the exceptional conditions are encouraging!

Banba's Brood

Swarm Alert!! Today a swarm of honeybees was spotted traveling in a westerly direction along the track opposite the garden. Immediate panic set in - had Banba & the girls decided it was time to move to larger accomodation? A hive inspection revealed that in fact our colony is thriving, the frames are full of brood, pollen & baby bees. We discovered one suspected Queen Cup which on inspection proved to be an empty play cup. What a relief!

Halcyon Days.

What luxury - reading the Sunday papers under a canopy of magnolia with my bare feet resting on a carpet of magnolia leaves! An opportunity not to be missed. This is the joy of a garden, nature bestows her amazing gifts unconditionally with grace & elegance. What more can we ask?

A Plant for all Seasons

Prunus spinosa is the star of the week in this month's sensational explosion of flowering trees. Just as the cherry blossom is going over the woods are enveloped in a haze of white from the blackthorn blossom. This is a favorite with the bees, & although the trees are hermapoditic, our bees play a vital role in pollination. Blackthorn or sloe trees are small with graphite bark & dense thorny branches. Flowering just before the leaves appear in early spring, they are often referred to as the May Tree. Their fierce thorns ravage my hands in the autumn when I have the audacity to harvest the bitter fruit to make sloe gin for Christmas!

With the rising temperatures this April, Banba is laying increasingly & her bees are foraging diligently for pollen to feed the young. They collect water from the pond to dilute their food stores & return regularly to the hive with their back legs laden with pollen. It is a priviledge to live in their world.

First Bee Inspection

April's powerful combination of sunshine & showers is resulting in a garden that is changing by the moment. Our honey bees are industrious, spoilt for choice by the vast array of their favorite flowers for foraging. Today was our first hive inspection on the Eve of April's 'Seed Moon'. This is a time when from our perspective the sun is opposite the moon in the skies. This libra full moon is a time for balance; the integration of our motivation & our need for peace & harmony.

Our new Queen, 'Banba', reigns over a court of gentle, benevolent bees who bore our inspection with grace & good humour. The brood is increasing rapidly & they are storing nectar as well as pollen. Several of the frames in the top super are dripping with delicious sweet honey waiting to be capped. This is a good time for dandelions; they produce large amounts of nectar & pollen excellent for honey production. We shifted several frames to give Banba more space for laying, in the hope that we can discourage her from swarming - a worry at this time of year! They love the pollen & nectar from the exquisite crab apple blossom!

Balmy Skies

What amazing weather for early April, with the bright sunshine & scorching temperatures we could be forgiven for thinking it's June. The garden is in raptures over the clement weather & the tulip display continues to delight. Planted in swathes of colour for impact the eye is drawn up & out towards the horizon. The strident ribbons are like a road map through the plantings, each suggesting a different mood & telling a different story throughout the day - just like 24 hour TV coverage of a spectacular event.