White Roses and Red Geraniums

 I recently had a go at growing chervil, which is not something I previously knew much about, in fact I had barely heard of it before. But apparently it lasts well over winter so I picked up a few seeds and chucked them into a pot in the greenhouse in the autumn. I was not disappointed! Look at this lovely lush offering! The leaves are reminiscent of parsley, and like that herb they also belong to the carrot family and have a strong tap root. The flavour is not dissimilar, but it is milder, perhaps with a hint of aniseed. According to herb expert Alys Fowler, the benefits of chervil include an improved digestion and it also acts as a diuretic. In times past, it was also used in an eyewash for inflamed eyes.  You can grow it in a pot in the greenhouse as I have done, or sow the seeds direct into the garden. However, it is apparently much favoured by slugs, so you must be prepared to sacrifice many of the plants. It enjoys shade, which is just what  I have in abundance in my garden, so t

 A few years back, I was given a single Nemesia Wisley Vanilla. I jokingly call it my "Nemesis" (it helps me to remember its name) but it is anything but an enemy. It may be one of my best friends. This is because it is such an accommodating plant. Every year I have taken cuttings - simply snipping off a bit of stem below a pair of leaves - and all of them have rooted. The babies never demand special treatment. I just do the snipping in autumn, shove them in a plant pot filled with leftover compost and leave them in the greenhouse. This is what a couple of autumn 2020 cuttings look like now: Yes they are flowering away in January, oblivious to the cold and dark! They don't care! Other new plants have been shoved into outside hanging baskets for a bit of greenery and they're not even sulking.  I now have several plants, all in pots, dotted around the garden. I prune them in the spring but that is all they seem to want. Each year the sweet, faintly tobacco scented flowe