Fennel and Fern

Every so often, I find myself trying to explain why I write a gardening blog in my spare time. Why did I start F&F? As it’s coming up to a year since I launched this site, I thought I’d flesh out my answer a little.

It was when I bought a house with a garden two years ago that I realised I was a little different to a lot of other 21 year olds. Most of my friends thought growing vegetables and plants was the preserve of aged men on allotments, and mocked me accordingly. My extended family repeatedly asked me how on earth I knew what a witch hazel was. I was baffled: I’ve grown up loving gardening, and I couldn’t understand why this was any different to having a passion for games involving men throwing themselves around a muddy field or singing ‘Wonderwall’ tunelessly at an open mic night.

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I have a confession to make. I am not enjoying running the gardening club as much as usual. Usually, I’m well aware of reasons I may be feeling generally miserable, even if it takes a few days, but this time? This time I’ve drawn a blank.

It ’s a puzzle because I’ve absolutely loved the club. Continue reading →

There’s someone in my house who drinks a great deal of caffeine. During the week, that someone likes to drink instant coffee or mash his teabag in the mug before dashing off to work, but at the weekends, he enjoys filter coffee, strong and rich and fragrant. I like to pretend I am terribly virtuous by avoiding all caffeine, but I am grateful for Toby’s addiction as it provides me with a good kickstart for the compost heap.

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At this time of year, I find myself wedded to tiny, shy, blink-and-you’ll-miss-me plants. Ipheion uniflorum is one of those: so delicate and starry that you’d be forgiven for thinking it a bit of a wuss. But this member of the onion family is a tough little cookie, which makes me love it all the more.

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This image is not what it seems. Take a closer look. These pleached hornbeams are not growing atop a trellis: they are growing on trunks woven together. This practice, dubbed ‘Treedome’ or ‘Arborsculpture’ by creators Konstantin Kirsch and Richard Reames, blends together living matter to create stunning and surreal plant sculptures. Richard Reames talks us through his practice of arborsculpture.

To grow an arborsculpture all one needs is a few young trees a plan and a place to plant them. For example an arch way where 2 trees are grafted together at the apex, is a simple form that creates an astounding entry to any garden. Continue reading →

Row 1: ‘Ashbrook’ from Dobies; ‘Nymans’ from Nicky’s Nursery; ‘Erika’ from Nicky’s Nursery; ‘Bijou’ from Mr Fothergill’s
Row 2: ‘Revolution’ from The Cook’s Garden; ‘Tom Thumb’ from Seeds of Change; ‘Dazzle’ from Unwins; ‘Lakeland’ from Thompson and Morgan
Row 3: ‘Frillice’ from Unwins; ‘Delicato’ from Mr Fothergill’s; ‘Multy’ from Thompson and Morgan; ‘Sioux’ from Mr Fothergill’s;
Row 4: ‘Red Salad Bowl’ from Mr Fothergill’s; ‘Hardy’ from Nicky’s Nursery; ‘Yugoslavian Red’ from Thompson and Morgan; ‘Red Romaine’ from Plants of Distinction.

Lettuces provide a rich palette for the potager. Planted in contrasting rows, they silence anyone who would claim the vegetable patch is a boring space hidden at the bottom of the garden. So before you make do with a packet of icebergs this year, take a look at our top ornamental lettuces.

I’ve always found slighty odd things exciting. And plant hormones are just one of those things. I genuinely do think auxins are quite cool. I’m not expecting anyone else to jump on this bandwagon, but you could at least pinch out your sweet peas once you’ve finished groaning at me. I sowed mine back at the start of February, and they are now about eight inches tall.

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Patricia Fox’s modern take on the potager, ‘Freshly Prepped’, went down a storm at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last year. The designer decided to create a kitchen garden (which was also a kitchen in a garden), where every single plant was edible. But that wasn’t enough - this isn’t just a working veg plot - it’s a hot veg plot, tuned to perfection using contrasting textures, colours and patterns.

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My client wanted to combine her love of food and flowers in some arrangements for a wedding anniversary party. As the event was to be held on St. David’s Day, I chose to use a hand tie of Daffodils which were placed in a fishbowl vase.

Double-sided tape was used to attach several leaves taken from a savoy cabbage, disguising the container.

Image by Remy Erra.

Before I begin the wrap-up this week, I’ve had a request from top garden photographer Rachel Warne. She is looking for gardens that are a bit lost and in need of restoration to photograph. They might be grand, or they might be teeny-tiny little city gardens. If you know of any, email me - contact@fennelandfern.co.uk - and I’ll pass your emails on to Rachel.

{Weekly wrap-up}

Hot posts, stories and images from the web this week.

Another good debate on the Guardian Gardening Blog about this year’s series of Gardeners’ World. What did you think?

Fab, provocative piece on Garden Rant about why permaculture might not be the answer.

VP of Veg Plotting shares a visit to The Courts garden.

And while you’re here, don’t forget to enter the F&F Mother’s Day giveaway with Victoriana Nurseries.

If you’re reading F&F and have your own blog, please introduce yourself in the comments below. Or say hello by dropping us an email: contact@fennelandfern.co.uk

…these delightful recycled products from Hen & Hammock. Both this trug and planter are made from recycled tyres, and look fabulous to boot. I have to admit that normally I have a bit of phobia of trugs, and, at the risk of offending any readers, the women who carry them (Mrs Bennett in Pride & Prejudice being a prime example). But I really, really love this trug. It looks nicely stylish and urban, and not at all twee. Because we don’t really do twee at F&F. And neither do Hen & Hammock, which is why I’m such a big fan of their products, especially their lovely recycled range.

Image by Michiteru Kodama.

Chaenomeles x superba ‘Crimson and Gold’ likes to lie low in the garden. It creeps up to you in early spring and shouts ‘I’m flowering! Pay me attention!’ And you do. Soldier-red flowers with regal gold stamens make you sit up and look. And so do the enormous, fragrant and edible (if a little dull) fruits that follow in the winter, which look like a curious cross between a lemon and an apple.

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Image copyright Nobu.

I’m quite a fan of mixing purely ornamental flowers and veg, but sometimes I wonder whether this is rather silly, given the number of stunning flowers  which go on to produce fabulous edible crops. So before you plant up your patch with plants you can’t eat, here are some crops with very striking flowers indeed.

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Unless you have many rambling acres of gardens in which to grow your veg, chances are that like most F&F readers, you’ll be trying to combine flowers, pumpkins and somewhere to enjoy the fruits of your labours all in one plot. And growing veg doesn’t mean that you automatically sacrifice the chance of having a hot plot. In fact, as our new series for March will show, vegetables can be really, really ridiculously good looking.

The Hot Plot series will take you through all the features you need to make a gorgeous potager (that’s pretty kitchen garden to you and me), and showcase the work of some designers who are using vegetables to make stunning gardens.

And if you’ve created a hot plot yourself, why not email five photos, or a link to your blog to us? We’d love to hear from you on contact@fennelandfern.co.uk

Every so often, I like to snuggle up under a big warm duvet and watch a very silly girly film. When I did that last weekend, I had an extra-special treat as I had some strawberry popcorn kernels from Victoriana Nurseries. so I made myself some sweet popcorn, and settled down for film night.

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