Giant squill is simply delightful, Madeira

Tim Entwisle

No I haven’t been to Madeira. But according to Greg Redwood, one of my colleagues here at Kew, I should go there rather than to (mainland) Portugal. This was in […]

Garden tour of Great Barrier Island, NZ

Rose Thodey

Last year I overdid it, positively gorged myself, on garden travel. But just after enjoying a wonderful weekend at the Melbourne Garden DesignFest in the middle of November, there was […]

Plant promenade in Paris

Tim Entwisle

At 10 metres above the ground, maybe 10 metres wide, nearly 5 kilometres long, and packed with trees, shrubs and views of Parisian streets, the Promenade plantée is a trend […]

New Zealand’s geothermal vegetation

Helen McKerral

During our recent holiday on New Zealand’s North Island, we saw ecosystems that were so different to South Australia’s landscapes that they seemed positively alien. The apparent darkness of a […]

Mama nature’s merge with architecture

Leon Kluge

Having to be on the filming location at 4.00am in the morning is not what I call fun, especially because I am not the most bubbly morning person, not at […]

You say Burma – I say Myanmar

Peter Whitehead

Hilary and I have just spent two blissful weeks of the second half of October in Myanmar and we are still dreaming about this amazing country. I guess everyone can […]

Nature’s leaf rainbow

Matthew Popplewell

Having returned from a whirlwind tour of the UK, few places could have left a more lasting impression than the wondrous colourful transition of the leaves and progression into a […]

Garden DesignFest is Design Feast

Catherine Stewart

I am smugly replete. What an amazing two full-on days of gardens. About 327 gardens all up I think, although maybe that was me feeling a little drunk on the […]

New Zealand native garden – Te Kainga Marire

Helen McKerral

One inner-city garden in New Plymouth, near Mt Taranaki on the west coast of New Zealand’s north isle, defies this English style. Te Kainga Marire is a native garden open to the public by appointment for a modest fee from September to April.

Monty Don’s French gardens

Jill Sinclair

One of my more exciting projects over the past few months has been providing consultancy advice to a forthcoming BBC TV programme on the history of French gardens, presented by […]

Western Australian wildflowers

Angus Stewart

The southwest corner of Western Australia is without doubt one of the world’s greatest spots for wildflowers, with visitors flocking from around the globe to see them. However, I’ve got […]

The GREAT baobabs of Madagascar

Leon Kluge

I find myself extremely fortunate to live so close by nature’s biggest wonderland – Madagascar! There is no place more strange, more unique, and best of all more exciting for […]

The James Bond garden tour

Tammy Schmitt

I recently popped over to Plant Postings to read about the amazing garden tour of Italy Beth is planning for herself and other bloggers. I just returned from a garden tour […]

The Loire Valley

Anne Latreille

Back home again after two weeks in France’s beautiful Loire Valley, its sights and sounds are still singing in my mind. Most of all I remember the ducks quacking gleefully as […]

Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay

Linda Green

When I last visited Singapore two years ago, the Gardens by the Bay which opened in June this year was just a building site but now it has been transformed […]

Pukeiti Gardens, New Zealand

Helen McKerral

The wonderful thing about being a gardener on vacation is that, no matter where you are in the world, you meet people who love plants. The climate may be different, […]

Celebrating the coconut

Amanda Mackinnon

Ask someone to think of a tropical island they’ll usually conjure up images of palm trees, white beaches and crystal clear waters. If you’ve been lucky enough to spend some […]

Chelsea 2012 review & retrospective

Paul Urquhart

Sometimes it is hard to crystallise your thoughts about an event especially when there is so much visual white noise around. I found that after visiting Chelsea 2012. I have […]

The heart & soul of America

Mary Gray

If you had to choose one place in the United States that you felt all Americans should visit, one landscape or landmark representative of the “American ethos”, what would it […]

Wilpena Pound

James Beattie

Over three hundred kilometres north of Adelaide in South Australia looms a mountain range with breathtaking natural beauty on a grand scale. As I sit here penning this blog to […]

Ornamental vegies at Villandry

Jennifer Stackhouse

Well it seems vegetables are hot. And, if they are colourful and ornamental, well they’re even hotter. If you want to see vegetables used to ornamental perfection, then I recommend a […]

Costa Rican gardens

Jan Hintze

Part of my trip to Central and South America a few weeks ago involved a quick trip to Costa Rica. We (a group who were attending the Heliconia Society International […]

My pilgrimage to Uluru

Catherine Stewart

What is it about a rock in the middle of a desert landscape that can create such a siren call? For years I’ve thought “I just have to go there”. I […]

Grand Cayman’s QEII Botanic Park

Jan Hintze

A few days ago I was on Grand Cayman Island, on my way to Panama for the Heliconia Society International Conference and my daughter took me to visit this garden. […]

Girl & boy hydrangea at Trebah Garden

Tim Entwisle

Trebah Garden is in the far west corner of Cornwall, half an hour or so by hedge-row lined roads from Falmouth (i.e. a couple of miles). ‘Trebah’ means house by the […]

A Mediterranean cottage garden

Alison Stewart

The British really do take their love of gardening with them when they move to other parts of the world. I’ve just come back from a short stay in the […]

Horticulturists in Ohio

Amanda Mackinnon

What do 10,000 horticulturists and a heatwave have in common? They can all be found in Columbus, Ohio each July. The OFA Short Course expo is considered the melting pot of […]

Singapore Garden Festival

Linda Green

There’s been a little run on garden festival reviews in GardenDrum lately but when I read that the Singapore Garden Festival is being held again this month I thought it […]

Peony paradise!

Peter Whitehead

I had promised Catherine a story about my incredible visit to the Peony Festival at Luoyang in central China in April this year. It’s a bit late, as I have […]

Real, or not? Dubai, Chelsea & Aalsmeer

Helen Young

Some things you see when you’re travelling are amusing or thought provoking, and it’s nice to have a blog like this to share them. I’m very lucky to lead a […]

Floriade 2012, Venlo, The Netherlands

Clare Bell

Having heard so much about Floriade in the Netherlands, I was keen to experience this world famous European garden event held every ten years and looking forward to two days soaking […]

Turning forests into trees into poems

Tim Entwisle

I’ve returned from my visit to Ionia, or at least the island of Chios, home of Homer and Mastic and once part of that Ancient Greek empire on the Aegean Sea. I […]

Bushwalk from Sullivan Rock to Mt Cooke

Linda Green

I recently went bushwalking in the Monadnock National Park, named for the huge granite rocks that have resisted erosion…

Basils – sacred and fragrant

Arno King

Over the weekend I purchased a Tulasi plant (Ocimum tenuifolium, prev O. sanctum) known as sacred, or holy basil. The plant is renowned as the most sacred of Indian plants…

International Garden Festival at Chateau de Chaumont

Linda Green

The International Garden Festival at Chateau de Chaumont in France's Loire valley should be on the 'bucket list'…

Tuna and other succulent fruit

Tim Entwisle

To avoid death you may eat a cactus but not a euphorbia. To avoid an irritating meal don't eat the prickly bits of either. Mostly it's the fruit of cacti that people eat…

An Indian Adventure

Peter Whitehead

I’ve been asked to write about our experiences (plus some plant info!) on our recent trip to India – this February 2012. Our third visit to India (it won’t be the last) and each time…

Subtle palette in winter’s woods

Maria von Brincken

I took a drive a few weeks ago up to the Catskills mountains in New York state. I hadn't driven there from Massachusetts before, although I realized I had been there before…

Snowy Mountains wildflowers

Angus Stewart

The wildflowers of the Snowy Mountains are truly one of Australia's great botanical treasures. During mid-summer the high plains around Mt. Kosciuszko are lit up…

No dogs but three dragons in the land of the spaghetti western

Tim Entwisle

Forget the dogs now it's all about dragons. Most of them have been slain but like Jurassic Park they rise again…