Fuchsia jam, rowan brandy liqueur and the curiosities you can make from an English country garden
Charles Quest-Ritson looks at some of the berries in the typical English garden which you might never even have thought of as edible.
Charles Quest-Ritson is the author of the RHS Encyclopedia of Roses and a regular contributor to Country Life.
Charles Quest-Ritson looks at some of the berries in the typical English garden which you might never even have thought of as edible.
Charles Quest-Ritson celebrates one of the most striking flowers of this time of year, and offers his tips on how to make the most of them.
Charles Quest-Ritson, author of The RHS Encyclopedia of Roses, on Graham Stuart Thomas, how he nurtured British roses, and why now is the time for a proper national collection.
Charles Quest-Ritson reminisces on his younger days and laments the passing years — not least our shared tendency with gardens to become 'rather seedy in old age, which is when they need constant attention to stay looking good'.
Charles Quest-Ritson watches the leaves unfurl in one of spring’s most glorious sights — the reawakening of Japanese maples in all their infinite variety — and picks out best acer varieties to grow in your garden.
Charles Quest-Ritson takes a look at the surprisingly tricky world of growing holly.
Our expert columnist Charles Quest-Ritson — who literally wrote the book on roses — reveals that his 2020 crop was the greatest of his lifetime.
Gardeners like plants that do well for them and, for the Italians, there is no flower more adored than the rose. They have become connoisseurs, creating some of the finest rose gardens in the world. Charles Quest-Ritson explains more, as well as taking the wonderful photographs on this page.
When Dr Wilfrid Fox began his arboretum in 1938, he envisaged not simply a collection of tree species, but planting on such a scale as to create its own landscape. Under its new manager, this extraordinary place is, at last, being given the attention it deserves, reveals Charles Quest-Ritson.
Charles Quest-Ritson lavishes praise on the all-too-easily-overlooked mulberry, and explains how to grow them in your garden. You'll thank him.
Reminiscing on an encounter with a group of garden tourists gives our columnist pause for thought about the nature of horticultural beauty.
Charles Quest-Ritson's list of flowers that every garden should own includes the usual names — rose, daffodil, clematis. But he'd also add the less-well-known philadelphus. Here's why.
Charles Quest-Ritson has spent years making trips to Germany to gather ideas and new plants — but is puzzled that nobody back in Britain has been able to replicate their most famous garden style.
Giving up life on the Cherbourg peninsula to return to England has brought huge happiness to Charles Quest-Ritson — but there are still a few things he misses.
Charles Quest-Ritson visits the National Collection of rambling roses, which shows these most romantic of plants at their very finest. Photographs by Britt Willoughby-Dyer for the Country Life Picture Library.
Charles Quest-Ritson looks at the fascinating interplay of plants and their pollinators, explaining how what really goes on in your garden is far more fascinating than the stories you might have been led to believe.
Charles Quest-Ritson loves plants — but in his garden, he only wants the ones he chooses.
Charles Quest-Ritson's on the joys of this stupendously hardy little flower, how one particular variety came to bear his name — and why we'd think an awful lot more of them if they didn't grow so easily.
Charles Quest-Ritson visits the best English garden on the French riviera. Photographs by Claire Takacs.