the blackberry garden

Skip to main content

the blackberry garden

A blog about my garden, my inspiration to garden and things about gardening that make me happy. UK No: 1 Garden Blog 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 (Vuelio). Garden Media Guild Blog of the Year 2019

Search This Blog

Home
Introduction to the garden
Book Reviews
Product reviews
My writing for other sites
The Questions
Nice mentions
Irritating Plant of the Month (IPotM)
The Blackberry Garden Plant Of The Year Award
YouTube Channel

Showing posts from March, 2026

Posts

Three new clematis and handful of house plant seeds

ad Clematis Garden Press Event gifted growing from seed Guernsey Clematis houseplants houseplants from seed new plants Ray Evison Unwins

+

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

End of Month Review February 2026

Daphne Jacqueline Postill Edgeworthia chrysantha End of month review End of month view ginkgo tree Magnolia Genie Magnolia Jade Lamp my garden Narcissus Telamonius plena

+

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Garden Media Guild Blog of the Year 2019

Alison Levey: I have been writing about my garden on ‘The BlackberryGarden’ blog since 2011. I am an amateur and somewhat obsessed gardener and I am based in Leicester. I write about my own garden and what inspires me to garden: gardens I have visited, plant fairs and garden shows. I also review garden related books and products. The Blackberry Garden is not a ‘how to’ blog, the aim is to talk more about the enjoyment of gardening and it is read by people who garden and people who do not, all readers and followers are very welcome.

Join me on Substack

The Blackberry Garden Substack

Followers

Follow me on Twitter

Follow @papaver

Please use the Contact Form below to get in touch.

Media Pack available on request.

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Feedspot Top 100 UK Gardening Blogs

Vuelio 2020

Popular Posts

End of Month Review November 2025

and then December started knocking on the door. Winter is coming, it feels like it has already arrived though the weather has oscillated between mild and sunny to cold frosty and rainy. November has been an all weather month. All weather apart from snow so far I suppose. The garden is cold and wet and thinking about Spring. I look at the colours of the emerging cyclamen leaves and love the glitter of their silvery finery. Every year more and more pop up in the garden. From a few pots planted over a few years there are now so so many. It is a joy. I can wait for Spring but seeing these now gives me real hopes for it. A couple of limp, soggy looking snowdrops keep appearing. They don't look hugely happy which is a bit of surprise as snowdrops expect to be cold and a bit soggy. Maybe they are awake just a little too early and not prepared for Winter yet. I am not sure I am prepared for Winter either. The lawns also hav...

The Blackberry Garden Plant of the Year Award 2025

Here we are in year 12 of this annual award. This totally subjective, non-scientific and no pretense of objectivity award is not even slightly competed for by the plants in my garden. The criteria is made up and there is no distinguishable judging process - its my award, my rules - get over it. So where do we start this year..... oh I know.... Chrysanthemum Mavis Smith. A fabulous name for a fabulous large-flowered chrysanth. She's relatively new in the garden yet made a big impact on me so a good runner up. Rose Sweet Honey is also a worthy runner-up. This rose was Rose of the Year 2020 and has been in my garden since, well, 2020. I always really liked her and thought from the get-go she is very pretty with a great form. Over the last couple of years she has really settled in and she has become my 'late season rose' delight. Slower to start flowering than many of the other roses in my garden, but flowering well the late summer and a...

Gone over, but not forgotten

There are still buds on some of the roses, I doubt they will come to much, but there they are, clinging on for every moment that they can. Meanwhile in the lounge, the last cut of the roses are looking a little, erm, dry. I keep walking past them and thinking 'I must deal with them'. I keep walking past them and thinking 'for heavens sake chuck them on the compost and clean out the favourite vase ready for next year'. Does this happen? It does not. Instead I start to walk past, pause and step back and look at them and think that in this dried state they have beauty. Of course dried flowers have great beauty, this is not news, but these are accidental dried flowers and are the product of inactivity rather than deliberate choice. Y et now they have become a deliberate choice. Now I look and make sure I notice them and they make me smile. I am not casting them out as I see their new beauty. This is not the beauty of them forming from buds, this is not the beau...

Copyright

©Alison Levey and Blackberry Garden, 2 February 2011 to 31 December 2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Alison Levey and Blackberry Garden with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Pageviews last month

Archive

2026 12

2025 62
- December 3
- November 6
- October 7
- September 5
- August 9
- July 5
- June 7
- May 5
- April 3
- March 4
- February 3
- January 5
2024 91
- December 5
- November 4
- October 6
- September 8
- August 9
- July 8
- June 8
- May 9
- April 8
- March 9
- February 9
- January 8
2023 103
- December 9
- November 9
- October 9
- September 7
- August 9
- July 9
- June 8
- May 9
- April 9
- March 9
- February 8
- January 8
2022 103
- December 8
- November 9
- October 9
- September 9
- August 8
- July 9
- June 9
- May 9
- April 7
- March 9
- February 8
- January 9
2021 135
- December 9
- November 10
- October 9
- September 11
- August 14
- July 11
- June 14
- May 16
- April 12
- March 11
- February 9
- January 9
2020 130
- December 11
- November 12
- October 10
- September 11
- August 10
- July 10
- June 12
- May 10
- April 13
- March 12
- February 10
- January 9
2019 130
- December 10
- November 11
- October 11
- September 11
- August 12
- July 11
- June 11
- May 13
- April 9
- March 12
- February 10
- January 9
2018 132
- December 12
- November 12
- October 12
- September 9
- August 11
- July 9
- June 10
- May 13
- April 14
- March 11
- February 10
- January 9
2017 147
- December 11
- November 11
- October 13
- September 11
- August 13
- July 13
- June 10
- May 14
- April 13
- March 14
- February 11
- January 13
2016 187
- December 14
- November 15
- October 13
- September 15
- August 19
- July 17
- June 22
- May 17
- April 15
- March 14
- February 13
- January 13
2015 183
- December 15
- November 17
- October 16
- September 16
- August 18
- July 17
- June 15
- May 15
- April 14
- March 15
- February 13
- January 12
2014 166
- December 14
- November 13
- October 14
- September 13
- August 13
- July 15
- June 12
- May 14
- April 17
- March 14
- February 13
- January 14
2013 161
- December 14
- November 12
- October 16
- September 13
- August 12
- July 14
- June 13
- May 14
- April 14
- March 13
- February 12
- January 14
2012 156
- December 13
- November 13
- October 13
- September 13
- August 13
- July 13
- June 13
- May 13
- April 13
- March 13
- February 13
- January 13
2011 120
- December 13
- November 13
- October 13
- September 11
- August 12
- July 12
- June 12
- May 10
- April 10
- March 8
- February 6

Show more Show less

Privacy Notice

The Blackberry Garden does not collect, process or store your data. Your data will not be processed or used by The Blackberry Garden and therefore will not be shared with anyone else by The Blackberry Garden.

Data about webpage traffic is collected by Blogger, but it does not identify individual users toThe Blackberry Garden and The Blackberry Garden does not store or use any individualised data relating to traffic.

Netgalley

Ace Media

Lazy Susan Furniture

Top 25 Gardening Blogs

iVisa Global Blogger Award

Vuelio 2019

Vuelio 2018

vuelio 2017

AVS Fencing Top 10 Most Influential UK Garden Bloggers

https://www.avsfencing.co.uk/news/the-10-most-influential-garden-bloggers-in-the-uk/

Top 13 Gardening Blogs

WhatShed Top 13 Gardening Blogs

Fennel and Fern

tree following

Wayfair

Back To My Garden

Guest spot on BTMG Podcast

Paperblog

Posts

Posts

All Comments

All Comments

Report Abuse

Powered by Blogger

©Alison Levey and Blackberry Garden I confirm the subscription of this blog