From the Veg Plotting Archives...

Tales from our Sing For Water Preparations:

• Rehearsals Start
• The Practice CD
• Focus on the Horizon
• The Concert - Singing for Water for real!
• Rehearsing for London - 13th September
• Flushed with Success - the London Concert

Reviews of books available in the grand giveaway:

• 101 Bold and Beautiful Flowers - James Alexander-Sinclair
• Jekka's Complete Herb Book - Jekka McVicar
• The Allotment Keeper's Handbook - Jane Perrone
• New Gardening - How to Garden in a Changing Climate - Matthew Wilson

Posts to help with your orientation and trip around the garden:

• Where am I Veg Plotting? - An introduction to Wiltshire and Chippenham
• Our Skimble & Jess - More about our 2 cats
• Introducing the Patio - How we designed it
• Garden Whimsy - some of my spur of the moment finishing touches to the garden
• Allotment Plan 2008 - The crop plan for this year

101 Bold and Beautiful Flowers

I originally reviewed this book over on Veg Plotting in June. James has kindly donated a signed copy of his book for the prize draw I'm having for those of you who have generously given a donation.

As a reader of Gardeners' World magazine, I always look forward to the We Love (insert current month) for.. feature, not only for the luscious pictures of must-have plants, but also to read the accompanying words of the 'master of the simile', James Alexander Sinclair (JAS).

Now Gardeners' World has branched out into the world of books, bringing out a series of (largeish) pocket guides for less than a fiver on the theme of 101. Thankfully these have nothing to do with the Orwellian room of doom and are much more useful, brimming with ideas for projects, pots, shady or problem places and growing to eat. JAS brings us the latest in the series, the pictured 101 Bold and Beautiful Flowers.

The book is divided into colour-themed sections, thus helping gardeners to easily match flowers into their current plantings, or to produce a whole border or garden from scratch. There are selections of choice bulbs and perennials and I'm glad to see annuals have not been left out of the equation - providing those welcome fillers whilst a garden develops or this year's fireworks highlight. Many of the plants will already be familiar to most gardeners, but the book's strength is to suggest a less well known variety - take the pictured front cover as an example. The usual Helenium on offer is 'Moerheim Beauty'. Nothing wrong with it, but it's in pretty well everyone's border. JAS suggests 'Rauchtopas' instead, describing its daisy shaped flowers as 'the reddish buff of burnt toffee, while the dark brown centre of each flower could be a chocolate-covered caramel rolo'. Doesn't that make you want to buy it right now (along with some accompanying chocolate perhaps)?

In this case you can judge a book by its cover - the standard of the photography throughout is high and the choice of plants throughout never fails to please. Flowering times and cultural notes are also provided, though I would have liked a one-liner summary at the bottom of each page (along the lines of what's seen on plant labels perhaps) to help with garden planning. They can be a little difficult to find at times amongst the sumptuous prose. That minor quibble to one side, it's a book to return to and I'll be using it to help replan some of my borders next year.

I'll leave you with a favourite description of mine - it's for Kniphofia 'Ice Queen'. Now I grew some of the usual Kniphofia from seed when I first had my garden, but ripped the whole lot out a couple of years later as they were an ugly mess for most of the year. I vowed Kniphofia would never darken my door ever again, but this had made me reconsider:

In the case of Kniphofia 'Ice Queen' you could call it Chic Poker. It may not roll off the tongue as easily, but instead of glowing harlot-scarlet flowers there are modish pokers wearing tasteful frocks of greenish-yellow, and the unsophisticated foliage is swapped for neater, spined leaves. It is a poker more likely to be found taking tea at musical salons than loafing around with disreputable sharks in basement billiard halls.

Jekka's Complete Herb Book

This review appeared in Veg Plotting as part of the pre-publicity for this blog.

Jekka McVicar is a national treasure in my view. A herb guru and record breaking multi-gold medal winner at Chelsea, whose nursery is one of the few certified as organic in this country. I met her at one of the open days held at her Herb Farm last year - luckily for me it's not that far from where I live. It was a fascinating day out- it was just before Chelsea, so we got a sneak preview of the plants being grown for her exhibition stand, plus her new seed range 'Reds Under the Beds' to be launched at the show. It's a colourful mix of saladings which we also got to sniff and taste. I also met her lovely cat called Borage - as in the herb pictured above. She personally chose for me the lemongrass plant I have in the garden, as she thought the one I'd picked up wasn't up to standard. She then told me to try wrapping salmon in its leaves before baking in the oven - delicious. So I was already a fan.

Now The Garden Monkey has also persuaded her to donate a signed copy of her latest book, Jekka's Complete Herb Book, for my open garden fundraiser, so her status is now national treasure squared in my view. It's a gorgeous book and Jekka uses the term 'herb' in its widest sense, covering medicinal, culinary and other uses. So plants like Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and Betony (Stachys officinalis) have equal billing alongside the more familiar Mint and Thyme.

The bulk of the book is the A-Z of herbs (by botanic name, not common) and covers over 150 plants. You'll find plenty of history and folk-lore alongside the expected details on cultivation, harvesting and uses. There's recipes too - I've sneakily written down the one for lavender biscuits as I'm intrigued by it and also the instructions for pickling Nasturtium seeds as my plot is overrun with them this year. After the A-Z, there's a shorter, more general section covering propagation, planning a herb garden (including several designs), container growing, pests & diseases, harvesting, using herbs as natural dyes plus instructions for making herb oils, vinegars and preserves.

The text is clearly laid out whilst packing a lot of information into each page. The photographs are beautiful too. I think it's a perfect gift for a complete beginner or an expert and I think you'll be looking at a number of the plants in your garden with fresh eyes, OR finding somewhere to squeeze in 'just a few more herbs that'll come in handy' into your garden. As it's a book I'm going to find extremely hard to part with, I've decided you've got to make it worth my while. Therefore, it'll go to the person giving the highest donation to this blog. In the event of a tie, I'll draw the name out of a hat.

And if any of you are in the Alveston area on the weekend of 29-31 August, I'd recommend popping in to Jekka's Herb Farm as it's the last open weekend for this year - if not, she does do mail order too. See you there!

The Allotment Keeper's Handbook

This review first appeared in Veg Plotting on 4th September 2008.

It's been a rainy day here in Chippenham, so I've had a chance at last to catch up with some of my 'book log' (i.e. book back log). I always have a number of books on the go at one time, with a number forming an orderly queue behind them. Leaping over them all in an effortless bound today is Jane Perrone's The Allotment Keeper's Handbook. It forms part of my Open Garden prize book stash, so demands a review without further ado.

Peruse the gardening shelve(s) in any bookshop at the moment and the number of titles on the subject of food growing and allotmenteering has (pardon the pun) mushroomed in the last couple of years or so. This title is a relative newcomer (published last year) and came after the time I was in search of my own allotmenteering bible. However, I've been enjoying Jane Perrone's blog Horticultural since I started blogging, so I was delighted when The Garden Monkey persuaded her to part with a signed copy for me to give away sometime in the next few weeks.

Unlike most of the books in this genre, The Allotment Keeper's Handbook falls into the practical sized volume - neither coffee table glossy nor impossibly large. It feels like it should have the reassuring words Don't Panic written on the cover in the style of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is a book written from personal experience aimed at the beginner allotmenteer. It feels like you have that allotmenteering friend to show you the ropes right there in your hand - the friend I didn't have when I started my allotment 4 years ago.

This is a book that cuts right through the jargon, packing a lot of information, advice, anecdote and humour into a relatively small size. You won't find many photographs along the way, but that doesn't mean the book isn't useful. In fact it leaves the way clear to get the novice allotmenteer thoroughly started - from getting the right plot, cultivating it, right through to the final, satisfying harvest. There's also plenty of new information to keep relative old hands like me interested, such as the reputed use of carrots to attract nematodes away from the cucurbit family. This is the book to help you get your allotment licked into shape. Partner it with Joy Larckom's classic Grow Your Own Vegetables for more details on specific crops and you'll have the best help possible to get you started on your plot.

Sadly Jane has given up her allotment since writing this book. I wish her well in developing her new vegetable garden from scratch at her new home.

New Gardening - How to Garden in a Changing Climate

This review was posted at the end of March after I'd won this excellent book in another giveaway. Happily The Garden Monkey has again managed to persuade the author to part with a copy for this one - a signed copy this time. Since this review, I've learned that the book has been awarded Practical Gardening Book of the Year 2007 and Matthew Wilson has taken up a high profile new role (Head of Gardens Creative Development) in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).


I was lucky enough to be the first winner in The Garden Monkey's (GM) Big Bash Books a couple of weeks ago and bagged this one as my prize of choice. It caused quite a stir on its publication at the back end of last year and has been on my 'To Read List' ever since.

It sets out to redefine the RHS' best practice and its author Matthew Wilson, has been at the forefront of shaping this during his time as Harlow Carr's Curator. He looks at how we can garden in harmony with nature whilst reducing our impact on the environment. You may think he's preaching to the converted, but believe me there's plenty of gardeners out there who don't have this enlightened way of thinking if Chippenham's anything to go by. Sustainable it ain't.

The book starts with a look at climate and the soil, a refreshing starting point - these vital elements are often overlooked; then the themes of sustainability, wildlife gardening, and gardening in a drier climate are tackled. Trees, shade and container planting are looked at alongside planting styles, design and planting partners. Each chapter is broken down into a series of sumptuously photographed double page spreads, making it a highly 'dippable' book as well as one to read from cover to cover. This dippability was thoroughly put to the test by my blogging buddy Threadspider plus my SUP group (needlepoint and crafting friends) recently - the book and several of the projects are now on various 'To Read/Do Lists', including the log pile seat on mine and the rather nattily wood clad shed on another.

GM asked me a couple of weeks ago how I was enjoying the book. My initial reaction back then was it's a brave book for the stuffy old RHS to tackle. Having thought about it further (and finished the book), I believe it's exactly the kind of publication they should be doing. After all, their other books and website are often my first ports of call when I want to find out something. That's also why I use their website as a good source of links for my posts. Perhaps they're not so stuffy after all!

It's not a perfect book - there's concrete alongside rammed-earth raised beds and the planting lists aren't that extensive. However, I believe this makes the book much more approachable for anyone wanting to start to garden in this way who also needs a helping hand to begin. It covers a wide range of topics so I'm also sure there's something in there for all of us.