Who cares about a spot of rain? Well certainly not the fearless Garden Club members! We all crowded onto the ferry and sat on the few (nearly) dry seats to admire the loveliness of lake Como wreathed in the mists. We arrived at Villa Carlotta, one of the Grandi Giardini Italiani, to be greeted by… Continue reading Villa Carlotta
Tag: Flower
Anteprima of Spring
Spring IS coming again this year, my garden told me so. We are having magnificent weather, bright and sunny, several drops in night-time temperatures but milder than last year. I have all this interesting information because I keep an R.H.S 5-year diary, fantastic invention. You can check what you're likely to see , what's early,… Continue reading Anteprima of Spring
Last garden outing? Surely not
The latest outing was planned and organised by the Garden Club of Monza, not as well-attended as it should have been unfortunately. And the weather ...... awful ,after a wonderful week of sun, anyhow we went up to ..... the nursery Anna Peyron. We had been there before, in fact it's where I first got… Continue reading Last garden outing? Surely not
Wakey wakey! Absolutely not “woke”
When you think about it isn't it wonderful. The way you gradually come out from that longing for hot heavy food and drink and emerge like a newborn into a world of salad and fresh- picked fruit? Suddenly the snug scarf round your neck and up to your nose can be shed and you come… Continue reading Wakey wakey! Absolutely not “woke”
But I always thought we ENGLISH invented roses….
Yes, well along with everything else worthwhile: cricket, all dressed in white on the village green, bucolic!; afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches (no crusts) and scones with raspberry jam and whipped cream; a proper breakfast with cholesterol-busting bacon, eggs beans, hash browns, fried bread; the weather with information on the best places to experience it… Continue reading But I always thought we ENGLISH invented roses….
Small and delicate or big and blowsy?
That's a difficult choice for a gardener. Naturally you want your visitors to gasp with admiration but unfortunately they do that in front of the huge blooms of Hibiscus. I still can't fathom why I bought it in the first place? A moment of madness I suppose. Every year I decide to get rid of… Continue reading Small and delicate or big and blowsy?
Come rain or shine
Let's start with the rain. A really cold, heavy rain driven by a blustery wind, managed to invade the usually safe haven of my patio and wet all my precious seed packets! I'd got stuff in envelopes saved from my own garden, little brown paper packets from the RHS gardens (these contained the more unusual… Continue reading Come rain or shine
An almost perfect day (or the art of making the most of what you’ve got)
I overslept, not you would think the best way to start a day but there it is. I decided to do something I'd been neglecting but which fills me with happiness, take a stroll around the garden and take photos. I started off in the far corner to admire my handiwork on the winter jasmin… Continue reading An almost perfect day (or the art of making the most of what you’ve got)
Grazzano Visconti
Last Sunday, Monza Garden Club went to Grazzano Visconti for a plant show. It was held in the grounds of the castle, a medieval structure built by Giovanni Anguissola in 1395 for his wife Beatrice Visconti and it is still in the hands of the Visconti family . It looks very much as you would… Continue reading Grazzano Visconti
Orticolario and good intentions
In Monza parking tariffs were awful as usual and train information was obscure. in fact we mysteriously paid a different price to go from the one we paid to come back. bst The journey is always a pleasure, but we arrived in Como, not Como lake or Como San Giovanni which we had asked for… Continue reading Orticolario and good intentions
English that grows 