It has been ten years since I started this blog, back in January 2012, and I have now written 252 blog posts, including this one.

After an initial flurry of activity, I now try to write something about once a month.

Most of my blog posts are about a specific plant or fungus but I have also written about gardening in general (see Gardening For Wildlife and Why You Should Ditch Peat) and specific gardening projects, such as creating a wildflower meadow,  building a raised bed, growing a pot of cornfield annuals or making a tiny roof garden. I also wrote about community gardening projects I was involved in, such as Grapes Hill Community Garden (2009 – 2013) and The Belvedere Centre (2011 – 2013).

The first plant I wrote about was my Bird of Paradise flower (Strelitzia reginae), growing in a pot in my office. It eventually became too big and I gave it to a firm of financial advisers (Investing Ethically) to grow in their large, light office, where it is thriving and is currently in flower again.

My Bird Of Paradise Flower, Strelitzia reginae, January 2012.

The same plant in January 2022. Photo credit: Investing Ethically.

Other plants have been and gone too. When we moved house in 2013 we brought our Gunnera manicata with us. It grew and grew and provided a lovely focal point by the pond in our gravel garden. But it also drank huge quantities of water and eventually we’d return from a day out in summer to a wilting giant. It was great to have grown it but difficult to look after it properly and justify its thirst in a drought-ridden part of the country. I eventually gave it away (in several pieces) to friends with more suitable places to grow it.

Gunnera manicata in the back garden, June 2016.

I had a couple of attempts to grow Dragon Arum (Dracunculus vulgaris) but although the plants flowered stinkily and magnificently they proved to be short-lived. Other plants only lasted a couple of years, including my Society Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea), Navelwort (Omphalodes cappadocica) and Wild Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris). Again, it has been good to have grown them.

Dragon Arum at the allotment

Other plants have gone from strength to strength: Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus) and Chocolate Vine (Akebia quinata) are doing well in the front garden. I now have two large specimens of Giant Fleeceflower (Persicaria polymorpha) in the back garden. The ‘Canary Bird’ Rose is magnificent and its flowers continue to attract lots of insects.

Some plants are doing rather too well: Crosswort (Cruciata laevipes) is taking over our wildflower meadow and a couple of flower beds. Saffron (Crocus sativus) cropped spectacularly in 2020 but the clumps are now becoming congested and I need split them and start a new Saffron bed.

Saffron, Crocus sativus

My gardening style has changed over the last ten years, from “relaxed” to “very relaxed”, and I garden more and more for wildlife and I’ve become more tolerant of some former “weeds”, such as Gallant Soldier (Galinsoga parviflora).

Gallant soldier, Galinsoga parviflora

I’ve written about quite few wild flowers and seeing favourites such as Bluebells, Wild Garlic, Viper’s Bugloss, Yellow Loosestrife and Ivy in flower (along with their associated insects) is a highlight of every year.

A female Yellow Loosestrife Bee, Macropis europaea, at work in a Yellow Loosestrife flower.

Other plants have been a special one-off treat, such as Dark-red Helleborines in Cumbria, Oysterplant in Iceland and Orkney, Lizard Orchid in Norfolk and Field Cow-wheat on the Isle of Wight.

Field Cow-wheat, Melampyrum arvense

Fungi have featured regularly in my posts, starting with Chicken Of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) and most recently with Wrinkled Peach (Rhodotus palmatus).

Wrinkled Peach, Rhodotus palmatus, on at log at Whitlingham Country Park, Norwich. The log was “tidied up” in 2021 and the fungus is no more.

I haven’t seen Bindweed Rust (Puccinia convolvuli) again nor, thankfully, Bean Anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum). I find Pear Rust (Gymnosporangium sabinae) every year on the allotment and in the back garden, but keep it under control by picking and removing infected leaves. Ash Dieback is now widespread.

Dune Roundhead, Stropharia halophila (originally misidentified as Agaricus devoniensis in my Sand Dune Fungi post). Thanks to Marco Contu from Sardinia for the correction.

I occasionally update my blog posts to correct a mistake or if new information becomes available but most posts are a snapshot of what I knew at the time.

Unspotted or Suffolk Lungwort, Pulmonaria obscura. An update to my post on Lungwort.

Sadly, some of the books I’ve referred to are now out of print and some websites are no longer there. I especially miss the Poison Garden Website (thepoisongarden.co.uk), which gave a wealth of information for several posts (such as Hemlock Water Dropwort) but no longer exists. (Update 1st May 2022: Good news! I’ve just discovered that the Poison Garden Website has been archived.)

Hemlock Water Dropwort, Oenanthe crocata. Isle of Wight, May 2016.

Thanks to everyone who has written to me in the last ten years, to correct me, ask for further advice or to thank me for writing the blog. (The latter is always unexpected and appreciated.) I’ve enjoyed writing about plants and fungi and I hope to be able to do so for some time yet.

In the meantime, Happy New Year!

Here is a List of All My Blog Posts, in descending date order.