I am writing this on November 30th and it is cold and foggy outside - we are entering the season of "dreich" (a Scottish word pronounced...

After an unforgivable delay here is an update on what to do each month in the garden.... November is when you start to put much of the...

And still we swelter in this exceptional weather - temperatures in the low 30s at the beginning of October in SW France means that some...

It's August - usually hot and dry and the month that is traditionally seen as the French holidays. However - there are still things that...

I love June - the start of summer and the weather is starting to feel hot but not, usually, unbearably so. Flowers are at their peak as...

Tender edibles can go out into the garden now - tomatoes, chillies, basil, aubergines, peppers, courgettes can all be planted outside...

TS Elliot called April "the cruellest month" and, although the context is different (he was writing about Europe in the wake of the first...

I always think that Pope Gregory Xlll must have enjoyed a joke when he created February. It is the shortest month, but it is one of the...

I write this on New Year's Eve (sad person that I am) having come inside from a glorious afternoon outside. Today we saw temperatures of...

I know this is late and there has been significant radio silence from the blog for the last six weeks, but activity is resumed and, if...

What needs to be done in the garden in September depends so much upon the weather. It is one of those change-over months which can mean a...

I have never known heat like this. It has been sustained for week after week and we find ourselves in the third official "canicule" -...

I write this on June 30th as we approach sun baked July (it is currently raining heavily). At least that means that I should not have to...

And now it is summer…expect rain imminently. Or possibly. Despite a very wet early spring already there are water restrictions in France....

Apologies for the late arrival of May's to do list, but I have been busy catching up on things that I should have done in April. It is...

April is out to fool us - watch the weather. It is capricious at this time of year. It has been an odd start to the year - most things...

March is busy and there can be a lot to do in your garden, depending on what you grow., so here is a selection of the most important jobs...

Every year, in February, I feel compelled to start sowing seeds – vegetables and flowers – and I have to rein myself in from starting too...

At some point in February the weather starts to warm up and plants start to move - sometimes at a terrific pace. Crocus bulbs can develop...

January is the month for being kind to yourself - it is usually cold and dark and I am usually overweight and feeling broke, and I get...