In The Backyard

My garden is looking quite lush now (thanks to my daughter's hard work clearing up) so I've been spending some time repotting plants and sowing seed for dwarf French beans and foxgloves. This corner is mainly herbs and bee fodder: lavender, sweet peas, apple mint, rosemary, violas, oregano and buddleia, with climbing rose Spirit of Freedom and a particularly graceful little clump forming bamboo at the back.

At the other side is the glorious Ispahan scrambling over my new garden arch. I love to go out there on a still afternoon, stand underneath it and be enveloped in its swoon-worthy scent. It is an old damask and so non-repeating but the few weeks of spectacular flowering are well worth the anticipation! Filling in the background are a Boston ivy and the instant sunshine of yellow leaved jasmine which needs a good summer to flower here but is also quite intoxicating when it does. As you may have guessed by now, scent in the garden is vital and I try to have as much of it going on as possible!