Blake June

7 results

As long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged, March is a good time to plant lily bulbs. Photograph: Richard Johnston
Supergrass: transform your patch into a prairie with these elegant grasses

If I had to single out a particular group of plants that shouts 21st-century gardening, it would be ornamental grasses. Just think of all those dreamy(...)

Wicklow gardener and nursery owner June Blake planting up a vintage cast-iron pot with a selection of choice summer-flowering perennials
A foolproof planting recipe for the perfect summer container

Tired of the same old ideas as regards the perfect summer container? Trying to think of a more perennial, sustainable solution to the challenge of pr(...)

Edible rose petals and lemon verbena leaves crystallised by Ballymaloe House’s head pastry chef JR Ryall. PHotograph: Richard Johnston
Grow: brighten up your diet with edible flowers

I’ve spent the summer eating flowers. Sweet William, aquilegia, cornflowers, elderflowers, scarlet broad bean and runner bean blooms, peppery nastu(...)

The ‘smarties bed’ in June Blake’s Co Wicklow garden last year, filled with ‘Burgundy’, ‘Ballerina’, ‘Negrita’, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Bastagne Parrot’ tulips. Photograph: Richard Johnston
Grow: Wade into a sea of vibrant spring flowers

There are moments, such as in the middle of an ice-cold, stone-hard winter, when it feels as if time has slowed to a frozen standstill in the garde(...)

Omphalodes ‘Starry Eyes’. Photograph: Paddy Tobin
Anything but the shamrock: gardening experts name their Irish favourites

What is your favourite Irish plant? And no, you’re not allowed to say shamrock … Instead, I’m thinking of the thousands of wonderful garden plants (...)

Tulips growing in dustbins
Grow: Time for tulips

It’s the flower that was introduced into Europe by the charismatic Flemish diplomat Augier Ghislain de Busbecq, the flower that supposedly almost b(...)

A bench by John Bielenberg based on a painting by Neil Shawcross. Photograph: Richard Johnston
Seat success

What a wonderful summer it’s been for sitting outdoors, savouring the almost forgotten feeling of warm sunlight on our faces. But the next time you se(...)