Winter Pruning – Taille d’hiver

We usually prune our roses and wisteria in January but we decided to wait until I got back from Boston. With more than twenty Rose bushes, it’s faster when there are the two of us. The house certainly looks bare. The second photo is a reminder of what it looks like in June. Nous avons …

Water lilies – Nénuphars

We cycled to Château de Chaumont this morning and I took this photo of my favourite pond. By the time we left at midday, the crowds had started to arrive. The gardens at Chaumont are one of my main sources of inspiration but they don’t seem to have slugs. Our main after-dinner activity at the …

Summer’s Over – L’été est fini

I learnt to my surprise today from my knowledgeable friend Susan from Loire Valley Time Travel, that helianthus is from the same family as sunroot or Jerusalem artichoke. I only replanted these in spring and was surprised to see how vigorous they are. J’étais surprise d’apprendre aujourd’hui, de la part de mon amie savante Susan …

Cyclamens along the Cher – Cyclamens au bord du Cher

We went looking for cyclamens recently because it’s that time of the year. We came across these on our bike ride along the Cher yesterday and I think they are the best we’ve seen yet. The second photo is the house that owns the cyclamens. Nous sommes allés à la recherche des cyclamens récemment parce …

Why aren't my petunias like that? – Pourquoi mes pétunias ne sont-ils pas comme ça ?

As an aspiring gardener – and I say aspiring because gardening, like parenting, is very humbling – I am always on the lookout for magnificent planters such as this one that we rode past last night on our bikes. Below are my petunias this year, which I am quite proud of, but they are the result …

Blue-Flowering Borage – Bourrache à fleurs bleues

As we walked past our next door’s neighbour’s house a couple of days ago, I remarked, once again, upon a plant with the little blue flowers that I love. It’s called borage and is also known as starflower. The leaves are edible (not that I’ve tried them) and it is often grown in vegetable gardens. So …