We had lovely September weather again here in Herefordshire, hot and dry and yet softened by exquisite light, and this glorious late-season weather seems a pattern emerging out of climate change, but we know it is all borrowed from summer and when October arrives with the accompaniment of rain, winds and plummeting temperatures at least it feels as though the balance of the seasons are reasserting themselves.
Read MoreThe weather in August was pretty miserable here in the garden. We had a swelteringly hot, humid first half followed by constant, wind, gales and then unseasonable cold. It felt as though the seasons had skipped a month and October was knocking at the door. But September is the mediator. It is the true link between summer and autumn and, in its gentle light and slow drift can be one of the loveliest times of the year.
Read MoreOver the last month all our worlds have been turned upside down and inside out. But there has never been a time when a garden has been more important to our physical or mental well-being. A garden or allotment is a privilege and a luxury but a balcony, window box or a window sill that we can grow some plants on can all enrich our lives and bring a perspective to these troubled days.
Read MoreI apologise for being a little late with my update this month but I have been buried in a book (which will be published this September and is about all the wildlife here in this garden) and lost track of the days.
What with some of the wettest weather I have known in my life, February was a strange month, so it is a relief to arrive at March.
Read MoreI know that there are those that find February the cruellest month- the straw that breaks winter’s back - but I love it. Regardless of the weather or the state of the garden, Spring is coming and the days that hang so heavy in the weeks up to Christmas, are getting lighter in weight as well as day length.
Read MoreWhereas I have a real sense in November and December of the year folding in on itself and the garden at best retreating but more often cowering from the lack of light, January always brings with it a slow unfurling. There may be – there usually is – snow and ice to come but that is a temporary inconvenience. The progression is unstoppably forward. But gently.
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