March in the Garden - Trisha's Meanderings

The fun of growing and picking and eating your own produce from the garden is very much part of a reason to have a garden.

AUTUMN MUST-HAVES

Today its a stunning still sunny day in the courtyard, and with music wafting out from the speakers, a few late larkspurs flowering and the snowberry berrying along and an old grapevine climbing up the stone 1830s Toad Hall building - once the original kitchen... apparently the cook way back then, would tie a paper bag around the bunches to stop the birds eating them all! Now it is I who am eating as many grapes as I pick - whole fabulous bunches, and there is absolutely nothing like sun-ripened, homegrown fruit - especially grapes. Just getting in before the birds demolish them all, but I do always put out lots of tasty crumbs (because they like small pickings) for the families of blue wrens that are such friends to me.

Not only the wrens, the sun, the music, but also the whole courtyard awash with lavender fragrance as have just cut back a large old lavender and keep the stems to thrown in the open fire in my office over winter to recall such perfect sunshine late summer days and make me think of cycling through France where I will be soon enough! And, have also just cut back the stunningly fragrant lemon verbena, which I keep to dry in huge bunches to use for breakfast tea (with slices of fresh ginger) and as a moth repellant behind bedroom doors.

March, like most months of the year, is a time for visiting friends, going on tour and doing talks, which gives me such an amazing opportunity to be inspired by other people's gardens. Almost whatever the style of garden, if the creator is passionate and has a good sense of what they want to create, then I fall under the spell. 

Small courtyard gardens, smart, manicured gardens, large country gardens, beachside gardens, minimalist gardens, whatever, always something to admire and to be inspired by. And it's not always the plants - it can just as easily be a rusted wire bird's nest atop an old stump, a fabulous garden gate welded together from old garden tools or a red painted tripod.

AUTUMN MUST-HAVES

For wow in the garden at the moment it is the Sedum ‘autumn joy’ which is knockout planted en masse and also the Japanese windflower which I admire in other peoples gardens as my nil by mouth water regime is just too tough for it - lthough almost a weed in most cool climate gardens with any semblance of water. A small price to pay for not watering as these grapes are super, super delicious!

Trisha xx