Phew…

June 2022

The well-worn cliché that the older you get the faster time passes has proved itself true yet again and June has flown by in a flash. By mid month the garden was at its peak with a crescendo of early summer flowers but now, just two weeks later, what was a vibrant tapestry of annual poppies and love-in-the-mist is just a tapestry of swelling seed-heads.

The dreaded Box Caterpillar problem…

You can see from this photo the damage done by Box caterpillar. Left untreated, caterpillars will eventually kill whole plants and all over the country they are causing devastating damage to box topiary and hedging.

I’ve been following the advice given by the topiary expert James Todman and earlier in the month I sprayed all my box plants with Topbuxus Xentari. This biological insecticide targets box tree caterpillars and is harmless to other insects or birds. The treatment is only effective for around 10 days though so you have to re-apply while the caterpillars are still active. I think I am winning and will keep you posted!

Indoor plants…

I took the photo above at the Chelsea Flower Show in May because I loved the styling of indoor plants, accessories and containers. I have a burgeoning collection of indoor plants myself and the pic below shows some of the ceramics I’m creating for them.

Suffolk Open Studio weekend…

Many thanks to everyone who visited my studio over the Sudbury trail weekend. As always it was lovely to meet so many friendly people and fellow artists interested in looking at my work and garden.

Now I’m working towards the annual Artworks exhibition in September. I will be exhibiting as a guest member of this group of professional artists and hope to see some of you there too.

Thanks for reading. Happy gardening and stay safe all :-)