Gardens
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How to make a gloomy city garden into a haven of colour and nature
Tiffany Daneff discovers how to transform a typically dark London back garden into a light-filled green haven that is always in use. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
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The daffodil full of 'simple, dotty charm' that's the most generous of all Narcissus species
Charles Quest-Ritson looks at the endlessly cheerful hoop-petticoat daffodil, Narcissus bulbocodium.
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‘It can take three days to paint one leaf’: The extraordinary, painstaking lives of Chelsea Physic Garden’s Florilegium Society artists
It sounds like a secret spy agency, but the Florilegium Society is actually a part of one of London’s oldest botanical gardens and they’re on an ambitious quest to record 5,000 plants.
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The real language of flowers, or how to decode your Valentine's day bouquet
On Valentine's Day, Martin Fone takes a look at the true meaning behind flowers, decoding what each individual bloom says about the receiver - or the sender.
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'I followed a lorry for miles just so I could ask the driver if I could buy his pot': How Beth Tarling put together her dream terracotta pot collection
Ordinary terracotta flowerpots have been made in their millions and yet, as collector Beth Tarling tells Tiffany Daneff, there is very little on record about them. Photographs by Mark Bolton.
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Isabel Bannerman: The year’s first and most abundantly cheery, uplifting and undemanding of winter flowers
Cyclamen coum is one of the plants that lights up our gardens at this time of year.
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The winter vegetable that's 'the prince of accompaniments to a joint of meat'
Steven Desmond on the joy of parsnips.
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Totally tropical Tresco: The English country garden that brings the tropics to the British Isles
A warm reception awaits visitors to Tresco Abbey Garden — the home of Robert and Lucy Dorrien-Smith — where the year-round temperate climate has created an extraordinarily colourful garden–even in winter. Tiffany Daneff reports, with photography by Clive Nichols.
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Alan Titchmarsh: The neat planting trick which means I almost never have to do any weeding
Alan Titchmarsh yields to no-one in his striving for garden perfectionism — and he's helped in his task by a cunning strategy that helps him avoid weeding almost completely.
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The ultimate joy of winter gardening? Heading for sunnier spots knowing that your garden won't suffer from your absence
Charles Quest-Ritson shares his Mediterranean winter dreams.
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G&T to Gravetye and 'the David Attenborough of garden visiting': The Garden tours to book in 2025
One of the best ways–often the only way–to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris tags along.
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Taste explosions: How to grow micro leaves that pack a serious punch
Small in size and quick to mature, these seedlings of coriander, rocket, radish and more are bursting with flavour that belies their size.
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Villa Frere: The centuries-old garden created by an English diplomat, reclaimed by Nature, and now once again restored by Man
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story of the gardens of Villa Frere in Pietà, Malta.
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Alan Titchmarsh: 'A stately pile in my part of Hampshire has been on the market for years — but one buyer didn't even make it to the door before getting back in his helicopter'
Silence is golden — and more readily accessible at this time of year than any other, says Alan Titchmarsh.
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Country Life's top 10 gardens articles of 2024
From the gardens of A-listers and crazed plant hunters to tips on compost, we covered it all in 2024.
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Charles Quest-Ritson: Walnuts are one of the gardener's greatest pleasures — but you'll have to be ready for the squirrels
Once you are hooked by walnuts and want to grow more varieties, you find an extraordinary amount of choice. Charles Quest-Ritson explains more.
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The special magic of a frozen garden in winter
Waking up to discover the garden transformed by a short, sharp hoar frost is a magical experience. Tiffany Daneff looks at how to make the most of it, and shares five of the best to visit over the holiday period.
