Clipped box

Spring Fever

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

I love this quote. It makes me feel so joyful and makes me want to take time and observe even more of the beauty and innocence of this season. How lucky we are here in the Highlands to be enjoying such an idyllic Spring. Day after day of beautiful weather, fields green as green from the rains in September and gentle breezes softly drifting blossom through the streets. Our little garden at The Potting Shed is bursting with colour and each day more loveliness emerges. First the crocus and jonquils, then the tulips which this year have been glorious and now the delphiniums and foxgloves are putting on a spectacular show. We are pleased to be able to demonstrate that even in a concrete courtyard you can create a garden of variety and interest by using pots and barrels to give height and texture. Here are some photos taken this week to share with you our passion for gardening and intense love of Spring. Happy gardening! M x

A few early photos from The Potting Shed

Well, we’re a long way from being fully set up but we’ve had lots of requests for photos of the shop … so here are some early snaps taken during setup over the past few days. We have a lot more stock arriving tomorrow and Friday so I’ll update this page when we have a bit more to show you. Also … there’s a new cafe opening next door in the Dirty Janes Antique Emporium on Thursday which is a bit exciting … we’re setting up chairs and tables outside The Potting Shed so you can meet friends for coffee and have a browse around the 35 antique stands and, of course, pick up a few plants on the way! See you soon. Maureen x

Marqueyssac in the Dordogne

Inspired by the lovely gardens of the late Nicole de Vesian in Provence, I am working on developing a clipped garden to the north of our kitchen, so the view from our balcony will always be green and orderly. Not that I’m really the orderly type – but over the past few years I have found the profusion of roses, foxgloves and delphiniums I had planted in long and deep perennial beds, slightly overwhelming and busy. And when the gorgeous, blowsy spring show is over and the harsh light of the Australian summer burns out the colour, the effect looks raggedy very quickly. And by Christmas it is tired and hot and exhausted.

So bit by bit I’m removing all the flowering perennials from the section closest to the house and replacing them with clipped box, cistus, bay, Viburnum Tinus and miniature abelia. It requires a lot of patience as the plants need to be spaced far enough apart for future growth and so there’s a lot of mulch still on view! But one day, I am dreaming of a view such as this seen at the Château de Marqueyssac.

The Gardens Of Marqueyssac

Comfortably nestled into the hills of Perigord are the Gardens Of Marqueyssac. The gardens were planted in 1861 by Julien De Cerval – a maniacal gardener who gave the last thirty years of his life to build Marqueyssac. Boxwoods were chosen as a key plant of the garden because of their fullness, robust texture, and radiant green color. Every path in the garden was put there with an acute intent, what seems accidental and whimsical, was in fact carefully thought out. De Cerval wanted to create a romantic experience for the garden’s visitors where they would get lost within the paths and enjoy the organic shapes of the plants. In recent years the gardens and nearby castles went under a full renovation to restore De Cervals early dream of the garden and bring people from all over the world to witness it.