Fork It!
This will be my last column, as I am starting a new career as a languages teacher in the autumn. Over the last 4 years I have written about subjects as diverse as Sudden Oak Death and making a Christmas wreath and I hope you have enjoyed them. Here is an A-Z of the some of things that keep me gardening.
Apples – nothing beats that crunch on the first Discovery each August
Bees – I love hearing them and seeing them at work and remember that a third of our food is pollinated by them
Cosmos – my favourite annual. See last month’s column for more details
Dahlias – back in fashion now. My favourite is the scarlet Bishop of Llandaff
Eschscholzia – better known as Californian poppies. Bright, cheerful and obligingly self-seeding
Felco – the best secateurs and with their red handle you can always see where you left them!
Grit – about a ton of horticultural grit has made our clay soil workable
Helenium – a mainstay of the late-summer “hot” border. “Moerheim Beauty” is a favourite
Irises – for their transient beauty
Jasmine – for its fantastic fragrance
Kniphofia – or red hot poker. Another stalwart of the hot border and a nostalgic reminder of my childhood home
Lilac – short seasonal interest admittedly, but what a smell!
Mizuna – a cut-and-come-again leaf that peps up salads
Nicotiana sylvestris – its statuesque, white flowers are the scent of summer nights
Oleander – its sickly-sweet smell conjures up holidays in Ibiza
Pink Fir Apple – nutty-tasting knobbly potatoes that sum up why you should grow your own
Quince – for puddings, preserves and to scent your kitchen if you put some in your fruit bowl
Roses – of course! Generous Gardener and Paul’s Himalayan Musk are my favourites
Squash – easy to grow, easy to store, easy to cook
Tomatoes – shop-bought tomatoes just can’t compare
Unmissable moments – seeing the first snowdrop, picking bunches and bunches of daffodils for the house and for friends, the first sweet corn of the season slathered with butter, glimpsing the electric blue of the kingfisher as it patrols our stream…
Viburnum – like v tinus Laurustinus and the other late winter bloomers that cheer me up with their scented flowers
White – the best colour for flowers, as they are still visible in twilight and are often the most fragrant
X – exercise! Gardening is cheaper than a gym, gets you outside, is productive and birdsong is much more relaxing than thumping pop music!
Yew – adds gravitas and structure to our garden and the birds love the berries
ZZZ – a shocking percentage of people in the UK have insomnia, but I can’t think that many gardeners have problems sleeping after all their exertions.
As Eric Robson of Gardeners’ Question Time says, “Goodbye and good gardening!”
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