by GillianPolley | Feb 18, 2020 | 2020, Amelanchier, April, autumn, autumn colour, autumn colour in the garden, back gardens, bees, bees and insects, blue, bulb planting for insects, bulbs, Colour, Colour 365 days a year in your garden, containers, Cornus, Cornus 'Midwinter Fire', Crocus, Design, designing your own garden, Edinburgh, February, front garden, Galanthus, garden inspiration, habitat for wildlife, insects, Iris reticulata, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, March, Mixed bulb planting, Narciccus 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation', Narcissus, Planting colour for Dreich February Days, Plants, Polley Garden Design, Ribes sanguineum 'Elkington's White', Ribes sanguineum 'White Icicle', Snowdrops, Spring, spring blossom, spring colour, windy conditions, winter, winter colour, Winter colour and cheer in the garden, winter scent in the garden, winter structure
As the year moves through February and March you can have another layer of colour and interest to your winter planting with additional shrubs and early flowering spring bulbs. Ribes sanguineum is a really tough early flowering shrub (March/April) usually seen with...
by GillianPolley | Jan 27, 2019 | 1930's house, 2019, Acers, autumn, autumn colour, autumn colour in the garden, back gardens, box balls, bulbs, Colour, Colour 365 days a year in your garden, colour in the garden, container growing, containers, Copper Mango Ltd, Copper Mango Photography, cyclamen, December, Design, design balance, designing your own garden, driveway, Edinburgh, Euonymous alatus 'Compactus', evergreen plants, February, Festive plant container, focal points in the garden, front garden, front garden/driveways, garden inspiration, garden transformation, garden views, Grasses, gravel, Hellebores, herbaceous perennials, Iris reticulata, January, Japanese gardens, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, March, Mixed bulb planting, O-Karikomi, O-Karikomi gardening technique, October, outdoor furniture, Polley Garden Design, Sarcococca, seats in the garden, shapes, shrubs, Spring, spring blossom, spring colour, summer flowering plants, winter, winter colour, winter scent in the garden, winter structure
How many plants do you have in bloom in your garden in January? You will be astounded to know Tresco Abbey Gardens in the Scilly Isles had 289 on the 7th January. Aah – to have their climate. But even as winter is upon us, in Scotland it is possible to have...
by GillianPolley | Jun 6, 2017 | 'Lelystad' bulb mixture, 2016, 2017, Anemone, April, bees and insects, bulbs, Colour, colour in the garden, Design, Edinburgh, focal points in the garden, front garden, front garden/driveways, garden inspiration, Holland, insects, JUB Holland, Keukenhof Park, long flowering period, low maintenance plants, Mixed bulb planting, Muscari, Narcissus, Narcissus Topolino, Polley Garden Design, scent, shrubs, Spring, spring blossom, spring colour
Inspired by my visit in Spring ’16 to Keukenhof Park just outside Amsterdam and seeing 7 million bulbs in bloom, last October we planted 1000 bulbs in a plant bed in our front garden under some deciduous shrubs. The bulbs we planted were a special mix called...
by GillianPolley | Jan 2, 2015 | 2015, annual plants, apples, back gardens, Bailey, bare root fruit trees, bats, bees, bees and insects, Birds, Colour, colour in the garden, community gardens, conifers, containers, Design, dogs, Edinburgh, evergreen plants, front garden, fruit trees, garden inspiration, Garden trends 2015, habitat for wildlife, herbaceous perennials, insect habitat, insect hotels, insects, January, outdoor pools and spas, pears, Plants, plums, Polley Garden Design, Raised wooden beds, rural country gardens, shapes, shrubs, Spring, Stepover fruit trees, Top garden trends for 2015, trained fruit trees on walls, trees, Tweed Valley Fruit Trees, urban green spaces, Vegetable growing, wildlife habitats
In the world of fashion for Spring 2015, navy is the ‘new black’, the pattern is gingham and the style of jacket is ‘kimono cool’. A couple of months ago I brought a kimono style jacket for a change and I am delighted to be ‘kimono...
by GillianPolley | Apr 25, 2014 | A Day Out, ancient woods, April, Bluebell Wood, Bluebells, bulbs, Colour, Edinburgh, May, Plants, Polley Garden Design, scent, Spring, spring colour, The Woodland Trust, visit bluebell wood, wildlife habitats
Time to get out and about and visit some bluebell woods – it really is just magical. To find a bluebell wood near you go to The Woodland Trust website at https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/map and type in your postcode. Remember bluebells are a...
by GillianPolley | Mar 26, 2014 | colour in the garden, Edinburgh, front garden, March, Plants, Polley Garden Design, Rhododendron 'Praecox', RHS, RHS Award of Garden Merit, shrubs, Spring
For a really early blaze of spring colour, consider Rhododendron ‘Praecox’. These Rhododendrons has been flowering their cotton socks off in the established gardens in my local area. But you don’t seem to see them often in new gardens, which is a...
