I am delighted to announce the publication of my latest book Spanish Gardens.

Spanish Gardens is a detailed record of my travels throughout the country as I visited the country as a relative newcomer. The book explores how Spain has evolved from the darker days after the civil war to its successful transition to democracy over fifty years ago, tracing those changes through its gardens - from the more conventional gardens created after the war to the rich and inventive approaches of contemporary designers.

September has been wet and cold at Longmeadow but also extraordinarily busy with filming and writing commitments. Whilst these projects are enjoyable and exciting it has meant, for the first time in nearly 6 years of writing this blog, I have simply not had time to write this month’s entry.

In the mean time I have attached the my job recommendations from last October. These apply to the garden every bit as much in 2024 as they did in 2023.

September bathes the garden in golden light. September sun is often the most benign of the year, the mornings and evenings chilly enough to need a jersey but the days bright and shirt-sleeve warm. Some of this is due to the changing climate but September has always been one of the best months and always with a marked seasonal shift, with a new term, new season, new feel in the air.

We come into August with a generally held belief that - in the UK at least - it has been a 'bad' summer. The weather seems to have been greyer and colder and damper than usual. In fact the evidence is that this is not so. There have been no long spells of hot, dry sunny weather but it has been pretty average.