Dahlia Love

So what’s the expression? You can take the girl out of Dixter but you can’t take Dixter out of the girl? It was here under the tutelage of the late great Christopher Lloyd that I developed the love of dahlias. What’s not to like? That arrive late, put on an amazing show and are always…

Dyeing with Coreopsis tinctoria

The garden dyeing experiments continue, this time using Dyers coreopsis or Coreopsis tinctoria. Easy from seed in the spring these plants were giving a colourful show come July/Aug. I nearly missed all the flowers after going on holiday with the kids at their peak so salvaged as many as I could on my return. I…

Grasses

One of the greatest pleasures of my life is my daily walks with my large and trusty hound. Living in an area of outstanding natural beauty, within five minutes I can be loosing myself in the wilds of the coastal paths with the hound merrily sniffing and skipping beside me. Walking  here all year and…

The weird and wonderful world of Salvador Dali- Visit to Figueres, Spain

At the beginning of August I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the Theatre-Museum of Salvador Dali in Figures, his birthplace in Catalonia, Spain. Being a showman Dali choose the ruined remains of the old town theatre to house his museum which was to be ‘a great surrealist object’ where visitors will…

Dying with Woad

So here begins the dye garden experiments! Thought I would begin by reconnecting with my Celtic roots with a bit of woad. This ancient blue dye has been used since the Iron Age for both textiles and body art. The woad plants were grown from seed- sowing in March and grown on under glass and…

Garden Opening

So the garden season really began with the big opening In June 2016. Well, big in terms of the local village open gardens and the first time I have allowed the general public to do other than peek over the hedge.Trying to explain the significance of this to non horticultural partner was met with some…