Weeding does not seem so much a chore when you see it as gathering free packets of scarce nutrients to boost your compost -and right now Stinging nettles come up roots and all really easily IF you pull the outermost ones first

This would be such a special place to work...

been trimming the grass where it's grown over the edge of the slab path, really fibrous roots, sand and fine soil, so packing the bits into black plastic sack, kept warm and moist it'll turn into fibrous loam which will make excellent sowing or potting compost

sweet scented violets blooming right now, pick 1000 petals (200 flowers of 5 each) nip off bottom of each, then drop into white rum or gin/ vodka, after fortnight strain off petals & add sugar syrup to taste, it's divine

Marc Quinn's Light into Life exhibition KewGardens opens today and lasts all summer. This large bonsai sculpture in bronze took centre stage in the Temperate House.

A six month paid internship is now available @KewScience Centre for Forest Protection mapping elms in Britain careers.kew.org/vacancy/scienc…

We’re thrilled to share that we will be featured on BBC Gardeners World this Friday, 15th November, at 8pm on BBC Two! Adam Frost explores our collection of rare and remarkable trees, uncovering how they could hold the key to what we grow in the future: bit.ly/48PVYSL

The ex-Curator of Ventnor Botanic Garden - Simon Goodenough, has sadly passed away after his brave battle with cancer. After arriving from having worked at Kew’s Temperate Nursery, together with his wife Debs, he shaped VBG between 1986-2011 into the amazing garden it is today.

just emerging some tubs of Sea Holly, love the glaucous grey foliage though spiny as hell however it's the roots I'm now going after, to crystallise as with ginger, Shakespeare refers to them as aphrodisiacal but were reckoned tasty anyway, we'll see

It's a great time to become a member of my website - currently you can watch a tour of Inventing Post-Impressionism at Charleston, for the Aug video I've visited the BM's Ancient India, for Sept it's a tour of the Courtauld's Barber show - and there is a summer discount! Summer25