‘Within a month, one was eaten by a tiger, one was burned alive, five disappeared and the sole survivor emerged with 7,000 specimens’
Charles Quest-Ritson admitted in April that he never fell for orchids the way he has for roses — but the devotion they inspire is legendary.
‘My God! What’s he done?… look at it!’: How George Harrison left The Beatles, turned his hand to gardening, and created a masterpiece
The garden at Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames — the Oxfordshire home of the late Beatle George Harrison and his wife Olivia — came under the microscope in September.
The garden fruit that’s a blend of strawberry, blueberry and kiwi — and it grows beautifully in Britain
The Chilean Guava was Queen Victoria's favourite fruit — so why don't we grow more of them, asked Mark Diacono in October.
Alan Titchmarsh: I’ve been looking for the answer to peat-free compost — and now I think I’ve found it
Alan Titchmarsh delved into the history of compost, and found something that can replace the brilliant but environmentally unsustainable peat-based formulae.
How to grow lovage — and the reasons why you’d want to bother
As well as its culinary uses, lovage was once taken to treat everything from fever to jaundice, used in bath water and placed in shoes to clean and deodorise.
The best garden designers and landscape architects in Britain
Our completely revised and updated list of the finest garden designers and landscape architects, all of whom understand that the surroundings of a beautiful country house are as important as its buildings.
Romancing the stone: How one man has taken the craft of dry-stone walling and turned it into an art
Tom Trouton's works at The Newt and elsewhere set him apart as a master of one of our oldest heritage crafts, as Annie Gatti detailed.
Why the RHS decided to rip it up and start again at Wisley
RHS Wisley’s daring reinvention of one of its most famous plantings.
How to grow broad beans: How to plant them, how to look after them, and the best varieties for your garden
Right at the end of last year, Mark Diacono named the best broad beans for flavour, reliability, tenderness and the beauty of the plant itself.
‘Prepare to be amazed’ by a cathedral of autumn in the heart of Herefordshire
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire, an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs garnered over two centuries.
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A remarkable $100 million numismatic collection reappears after being buried for more than 50 yearsA collector hid his treasure from the Nazis, his widow kept it secret for decades, but now Roman aurei, Greek staters and British pounds so rare that some have never been sold at public auction have resurfaced and will go under the hammer.
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The Hollywood legend with an even more famous daughter: Country Life Quiz of the DayFrom buns to bubbly in Wednesday's Quiz of the Day.
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Evenley Wood Garden: 'I didn't know a daffodil from a daisy! But being middle-aged, ignorant and obstinate, I persisted'When Nicola Taylor took on her plantsman father’s flower-filled woodland, she knew more about horses than trees, but, as Tiffany Daneff discovers, that hasn’t stopped her from making a great success of the garden. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
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An expert guide to growing plants from seedAll you need to grow your own plants from seed is a pot, some compost, water and a sheltered place.
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The best rhododendron and azalea gardens in BritainIt's the time of year when rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and many more spring favourites are starting to light up the gardens of the nation. Here are the best places to go to enjoy them at their finest.
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Great Comp: The blissful garden flooded with rhododendrons and azaleas that's just beyond the M25Each spring, Great Comp Garden — just outside the M25, near Sevenoaks — erupts into bloom, with swathes of magnolias, azaleas and rhododendrons. Charles Quest-Ritson looks at what has become one of the finest gardens to visit in Kent.
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'I'm the expert who wrote the RHS's guide to roses — here's why pruning them right now is almost certainly a terrible mistake'More roses die from over-pruning than any other cause so what’s the reasoning underpinning this horticultural habit? Charles Quest-Ritson, the garden expert who wrote the RHS Encyclopedia of Roses, takes a closer look.
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Forsythia: The spring flower that's a ray of sunshine — and a foolproof option for novice gardenersForsythia are often sniffed at for being too brassy, but there is a lot more going for them, says Charles Quest-Ritson, although don’t plant them next to clashing pink-flowering currants.
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John Morley: A brush with the artist who changed the world of snowdropsTilly Ware meets the artist and galanthophile John Morley in his Suffolk garden, home to the oldest snowdrop nursery in the country.
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Alan Titchmarsh: I went a bit mad ordering bulbs — and I'm not even a little bit sorry I didOur columnist's splurge in the autumn is now paying off with spectacular irises across his garden.
