Country Life International
Verdi’s land of opera and glory, Picasso in Spain’s cradle of the Arts, where leading writers find their inspiration, French breeds to provoke English envy and the best in luxury overseas property
Thirsty work
Amelia Thorpe selects watering cans for the home and garden
Food stuff: a simple guide to nutrients and fertilisers
Don’t know your potassium from your phosphorus? Fear not, as Steven Desmond explains what to feed your plants and when
Blossoming ideas
There’s more to ornamental apple trees than merely fruit, reveals Charles Quest-Ritson
Holey moley!
Meet the ‘gentleman in velvet’—Harry Pearson unearths the underground world of the mole
Marie Soliman’s favourite painting
The interior designer selects a dynamic, attention-grabbing painting where less is more
Masterpiece
Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit was the ideal antidote to the horrors of war, suggests Jack Watkins
The sweetest thing
U2’s Adam Clayton is restoring colour to the gardens at Dublin’s Danesmoate, finds Jane Power
Reforming splendour
John Goodall investigates the rise of the Reform, the lavish Pall Mall venue that remains a prince among London clubs
Native breeds
Kate Green marvels at the crazy horns of the Manx Loaghtan
Kitchen garden cook
Don’t confine spring onions to salads, says Melanie Johnson
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell is winging it with the best luxury picks for spring
Botanical beauty
Elegant attire for summer events
Interiors
Brighten up the bathroom with Giles Kime and Amelia Thorpe
The woman who had it all
Caroline Bugler discovers how Berthe Morisot became one of France’s leading Impressionists
A prince of painters
Jack Watkins reveals how Frederic, Lord Leighton shaped British art
And much more