It begins.....slightly late to the Aubergine party. 🌱

Kendo Nagacatty likes to supervise the Winter apple tree pruning. I know Summer pruning would also be a good idea but have never managed to get round to it. We have more apples than we can eat so I guess the Winter only regime is fine. 🌱

A wintry walk on the fen this morning followed by apple pruning time. Love this time of year. 🌱

Gorgeous Christmas morning walk on the fen next to our house. Blessed to have this beautiful natural reserve so close.🌱

Peter Gatehouse in the forefront and the ever reliable for Christmas Three Ships doing their thing. Happiness. 🌱

Any one else experience that feeling of relief when a named snowdrop returns for its first season after planting last Winter? Here comes Midas, I am relieved. 🌱

These golden beauties define my visual garden boundaries. They give me so much joy all year round.🌱

Added another side to our dead hedge over the Summer and Autumn. This would have been bonfired, so it's good for our environment and wildlife to have turned it into a hedge. Looks good too. 🌱

Who wouldn't want to walk on this woodland path every day? It's on a 3k circular walk through woodland and fen a short walk from our house. We're so lucky to live here in Suffolk, UK.

The best Celeriac I've ever managed to grow. Still pathetically small, softball sized. Really struggle on our sandy soil despite lots of pampering. Tips? 🌱

Last of this seasons tomatoes. Picked green and ripened slowly on a south facing windowsill. Chuffed to have our own tomatoes from July until December. 🌱

Kendo Nagacatty was determined to help whilst I checked on the festive ivy situation in the garden. Spotty mushroom accompaniment. 🌱

I think this is Salvia Blue Suede Shoes? I thought it had been killed off by Winter frosts, as it took so long to reappear. Finally it is flowering it's socks off, just in time for November frosts. I've taken insurance cuttings this year, just in case. 🌱

Cutting garden Chrysanthemums. Originally the Apricot colour, slowly being overtaken by the pink, which I assume is a parent. Luckily I like both. 🌱

Birthday bowl treat to myself. Just need to wait for it to rust properly. Seating nearby so I can admire it in my grass garden. Grasses from Plantsmans Preference over the years. Fabulous local Nursery. 🌱

www.theguardian.com/environment/... This really grinds my gears. Labour is turning out to be a disgraceful disappointment.

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK Abbey Gardens always have an immaculate Summer bedding display. Well worth a visit to this historic town. Wonder. What they do with the Salvias when the display ends in Autumn? Hope they are overwintered but suspect not. 🌱

Added rusted daisies to a corten planter today. Pleased with the result. Fills a gap I've been wondering what to do with for the past 2 years. 🌱

I feel very lucky to have this spring fed swimming pond for refreshing swims. Clear water and 15ft deep. Dug in 1975 on the family smallholding. Lush and bounded by fabulous wild flowers 🌱

Kendo Nagacatty cleverly likes to rest amongst our decking Agave. This protects him from the evil Nasty, next doors cat. Clever Kendy. Agave grow well here. 🌱

Over the years, I've come to love Zinnia more and more. Easy to grow from seed, stand hot weather, each flower lasts for ages, and the colours are so zingy. A must for me. 🌱

A small epiphany (can an epiphany be small?) this week. I grow lots of mint. I buy mint teabags. Why don't I make my own mint tea? It tastes much better than the bags and is free. Doh! Think of all the plants I could have bought with all the money wasted for years.....🌱

Happy to let these self seeded beauties flower next to our decking. Alive with insects too. 🌱

Found this dug out wasp nest just yards from my bee hives in the orchard. Look how beautiful it is inside. I'm not opposed to wasps like some of my beekeeping pals who slaughter them at the drop of a hat. If your hive gets cleaned out by wasps, it wasn't worth keeping, is my take.

Another first for me. Homegrown pink Cauliflower. What a beauty. 🌱

First time growing Acroclinium. These are doing well in the shelter of a willow dome. The ones in the open are not going so well. Seriously Chelsea chopped by deer but will recover if not chopped again. Interested to see the young flowers start with a black centre. 🌱

An enjoyable couple of hours this sunny Suffolk Sunday. Made a hazel hurdle to christen my new billhook. This Tradescantian path interloper has been annoying me for weeks as I have to weave around it every day. Annoyance solved. 🌱

Not super photogenic, but yesterday’s garden cauli is now a tasty veggie curry. Contains kale, turnips and new potato from the garden. The only bought ingredients are spices, onion,tinned tomato and chickpeas so it's also frugal. A delicious alfresco lunch with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

This is shocking.

Happiness is coming home from a week away and finding cauliflower monsters. These were nowhere to be seen last week. Growth is phenomenal. "All year round"sown last November. 🌱

Looks like Kaunas, Lithuania is a good area for garden Hostas. No slug damage. Mine would be non existent unless netted as deer find them very appealing. 🌱

Sunny visit to Kaunas, Lithuania. Majoring on Alliums in public displays. Also enjoyed this streetside golden composition. 🌱

We're extremely privileged to live in the UK Suffolk countryside with views over meadows. I use this patch of garden for cutting flowers. The old horse harrow comes from my family smallholding so holds massive sentimental value for me.🌱

It's all coming together in the main veg garden. Everything is netted against marauding deer. There's beetroot, kale, caulis, strawberries, turnips, radish, courgettes,leeks, shallots, and chard going on in there. Greenhouse is rammed with tomatoes, currently on 3rd flower set.My very happy place. 🌱

Had another go at making a Willow and Hazel plant support. Neater than my first attempt. They do keep the pesky deer from guzzling precious plants too. 🌱

Kendo thinks this was made for his afternoon snooze....

Lots of very welcome Ladybirds in waiting scoffing the blackfly from a Foxglove in my veggy garden. They will make short work of the infestation. Happy to see them. 🌱

My Hosta bookcase is looking good at the moment. Built from old decking to hide our oil tank and elevate the Hostas. Stops the deer eating them. 🌱

Great article. Lovely photo of Nel too. 🌱

Azara Serrata in full bloom today (Suffolk, U.K.) Thunderous noise from honeybees who are busy stuffing the yellow pollen into their pollen baskets. First honey harvest spun out today too. 🌱

Adore this pink Cratageus. A beautiful May flower. 🌱

Woke up to a sunny Sunday in Suffolk,UK. My first thought was that it was a swarmy kind of day. Lo and behold at midday.... Handily only at head height in the orchard. Boxed and ready to be hived tonight.🌱

Under that netting are newly planted out cauliflowers. Extremely excited to grow the purply/pink ones for the first time ever. Always thought caulis were hard to grow. Turns out, they love my soil. Meanwhile, Kendo basks in the dead hedge suntrap. 🌱

I'm really lucky to live near Tim's nursery. Visit it if you can. Peat free and fabulous plants. 🌱

Knocked up a very rustic Hazel gate for the dead hedge to allow access to the nuttery. Nuttery sounds posh. In reality, it's badly coppiced Hazel. Squirrels eat all the nuts too. 🌱

Rainy and wet today, so weeding was temporarily halted. Knocked up this plant support/deer discourager instead. It's Hazel from my nuttery and Black Maul from the fabulous Musgrove Willow in the UK. I can only do 3 rod waling but I'm pleased with this creation if I don't look too closely at it. 🌱

Very pleased with my first ever dead hedge effort. Had an enormous pile of prunings which I was going to burn.I also have a lot of badly out of control Hazel, which needs coppicing. Had a brainwave to combine the two into a dead hedge. Et voila. 🌱

It's been a long wait for these beauties, but they've finally arrived. Sown last year and then left in a pot on a table. You'd think they'd have been fine, but the deer round here are merciless.Nibbled down to next to nothing. At last, they've bounced back. Worth the wait.🌱

A final bonsai from our Vietnam journey with Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum in the background. Adore the roots on this one. 🌱

More stunning bonsai in Hue, Vietnam 🇻🇳 🌱