It's 20.C and rising, warm air is circulating in the early morning sunshine, spiders webs glisten with the dew and late summer herbaceous plants are providing a real show to talk about. Nerine bowdenii produces attractive umbels of flowerheads on…

There were families queuing to come into the garden the other day and I overheard children moaning about wanting to go to the beach. Half an hour later I passed them running down the woodland path with shrieks of delight…

I love this time of year when the massed drifts of perennial flowers interspaced with annuals and summer bulbs combine like a painters palette. This year the 'Mediterranean bank' looks stunning with many South African species combining to produce vibrant…

It's been an odd sort of season with the weather baking hot in April, hose pipes in early May, and a cool damp start for June. At least there are still some good old standby plants that never let us…

Abbotsbury gardens can be a real haven for wildlife, especially passing migrant birds. This year a rare Hoopoe was spotted as he came up from the continent and paused to rest a while at the gardens. Talking of exotic birds,…