Category Archives: Lockdown Diary

Yesterday looked perfect for the first ‘sea-watch’ of the year. 40MPH winds from the southwest makes the north coast in Margate  a sheltered spot. In big blows lots of birds take refuge either from the Irish Sea, English Channel or … Continue reading →

While Cyclamen are a family of plants the species most often cultivated is known to gardeners simply as cyclamen. It is often grown in a pot as an indoor splash of colour. I certainly was given mine like that years … Continue reading →

Abelia is such an unassuming shrub that it’s not had a mention on this blog yet. I have several in the garden, the largest of which form a hedge that is background to more grandiose flowers. Its flowering season is … Continue reading →

Over time potting compost gets impacted or washes out of containers and you can end up with a half-full contained, with plant roots exposed, and that dries out quickly.  I noticed that this is true of a number of containers … Continue reading →

Gardens are anything but static. Whether we have new plans is only part of the picture, the natural round means something die while others flourish. A plant may prosper in one place if it is failing in another. So re-modelling … Continue reading →

I wonder what it is about St John’d Wort that the greenbottles like so much? The evening after the morning before the morning glories look decidedly inglorious. In the past I’ve cut these off at the knees… nothing spreads quite … Continue reading →

How unobservant is it possible to be? Yesterday I notice the first flower on the morning glory that I had planted in a hanging basket hanging from our lilac tree. Must get a picture I thought… so today I snapped … Continue reading →

Harry Seebohm (1832-1895), an ornithologist had a bookplate in his library that said “what’s hit is history, and what’s missed is mystery”, a saying that he attributed to the bushmen. The Victorian practice of ‘collecting’ specimens of species to identify … Continue reading →

Another red-letter-day today, albeit accompanied by lots of misidentification. I was fooled by this hoverfly into thinking it was a wasp. Nevertheless, I followed it about until it settled for a photograph as it seemed considerably larger than the Common … Continue reading →

I guess our Olive ‘Tree’ is now about seven or eight years old… maybe more. Confined to a pot its never going to be full size but it started fruiting a few years ago. There are always masses of flowers, … Continue reading →