What an utterly lovely new flower pot: beautifully clean, orange, smooth – and sterile. Is that really what we want in a cottage garden? That'll be a hard 'No'. What we're looking for are items with soul that tell stories instead of looking all "shiny & new". Especially with flower pots though, I'm often required to switch over to brand-new models. I need too many to be able find enough combing through flea markets. So I buy new ones and then they just sit there as I wait, season after season, f...

It grows each year: my love for fall. Not to go too dark on you here but it shows us that life is somewhat fleeting. Autumn's arrival can take us by surprise, all dark and gloomy, making us swap flip-flops for boots. Bye-bye balmy nights and hello wind whipping around the house. The ground is covered in leaves and the outside world feels cold and uninviting.

But: it’s also a time for truly special moments of happiness that only this time of year brings. Fall is colorful and mystical and that...

Once upon a time… Isn’t that how all good fairy tales start? Only this one isn’t fiction but actually happened all the way back in the 17th Century. There was a time when tulips were two-hundred-times more expensive than… gold! That in itself seems entirely crazy. Almost unimaginable is that the highest demand was for ‘infected’ tulips – but more on that later. These days, seeing tulips poke their little heads through frosty soil, announcing that spring has arrived, is an entirely ‘normal’ occur...

So, here’s a perfect example that you never stop learning in life – and the garden. Last year was the first time I stumbled across Hardy Annuals, also called Cool Flowers. It’s a concept that’s little known here in Germany, even though nature shows us how it's done every year. Sweet Pea "Hi Scent" And the best thing? Right NOW, when we’re lovingly looking at the last of our summer blooms and longing for spring, when we can start our annual seedling Kindergartens all over again – THAT’S when the ...

I imagine most people think of France as a modern country with all the amenities one has come to expect. Is that true of everywhere in France, though? Weeeell – it just so happens that I know of a little, picturesque village in the Champagne region that would vehemently argue that it isn't. It's right here that you'll find the tiny house that once belonged to my great-great-grandparents. And I mean tiny. It has two rooms. One of them is the kitchen (and also the entrance and living room). I ofte...

I’ll never quite understand the purpose of slugs and snails. What was evolution thinking! The gastronomically-savvy French probably have some kind of garlic and parsley soaked answer for snails, but what about slugs then? On a side note: the marvelous Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame really did go all out and, with an enormous amount of patience and creativity, bravely attempted to transform slugs into a delicacy. It didn’t work. The Burgundy snail Even the fact that hedgehogs a...

If you're looking for flowers that will bring you joy all summer long, are easy to grow and turn your garden into a sea of blooms, it’s time to take a closer look at cosmos. Cosmos are the perfect flower for beginners, they're easy to grow and look after. They bloom in abundance from May (if they've had time to germinate indoors beforehand) through to October, are heavenly as cut flowers and, in a nutshell, just make me oh so very happy. Just a little bit of their story: cosmos found their way t...

It’s confession time! I never used to like dahlias. I felt they were somewhat old-fashioned and a bit ‘stuffy’. Fast forward a while, and I’m now one of their biggest fans. Sure, it could be that my taste has changed – a little like I used to loathe the avocados I now adore. I’m pretty certain though that it’s more down to the incredible range of new varieties bred over the past few years. There are over 30,000 to pick from! And I, for one, am utterly smitten with these vibrant, late-summer bloo...

An interview with Christian Schultheis – owner of Germany's oldest rose nursery Every year, without fail and right before the forsythia starts to flower, I have a short but intense panic attack. It's time to prune the roses. With over 60 roses (and three kids, a job, a household to run and all the rest of it) you might think it's the amount of time involved that has me in a state of frazzle, but that's not it. In reality, it's that feeling of standing in front of my colorful medley of proud, whi...

It's time to get sowing! I know, I know – it's only the end of February and there are many who would call me a hopeless optimist and remind me that it can still snow at Easter... buuuuut just look outside: The days are getting that little bit longer. I'm waking up to happily chirping birds. Snowdrops and winter aconites are poking their little heads out of the ground. Not that it’s a good thing but I’ve encountered the odd person (those suffering from hayfever) sneezing. It’s seed(l)ing time! Bu...