Caisson Gardens

We are so looking forward to hosting a garden writing course with Noel Kingsbury AKA one of Britain’s most experienced and prolific writers. He’ll discuss the basics of how to write about gardens, plants and garden techniques. Attendees will be given some tasks beforehand so that they come prepared, to discuss favourite texts and some samples of their own work. During the course they will be expected to do some writing and be prepared to share with the rest of the group.

Garden Writing Course (2 days)
12 & 13 March 2024

Happy 2024 !
These Paperwhites didn’t make it to the Christmas party ! Whoops…planted them a bit late. They are now bursting into flower, filling the house with incredible scent. An uplifting start to the year during these rain drenched days.
They take 4-6 weeks from planting the bulbs to flowering. After taking them out of the cellar they start photosynthesising in the light & greening up so quickly. Never fails to delight !

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Tulip planting is finally finished for 2023!Total amount of ALL bulbs planted this year is about 10,000 - an epic effort for a small team. I have great fun in designing my pot displays each year. If you are looking for inspiration always have amazing displays. Also I went to a talk on Monday with Harriet Rycroft the queen of fabulous pots. She has written a book ‘Pots’ a good little Christmas gift. We are new to opening our garden and shall be doing pop up days for individuals to book, starting early spring. Keep a look out in January for those dates. I shall send reminders…
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Bulbs, bulbs and more bulbs. Tristan has been heroic in planting so many in the new grassland areas. I promise every year to buy fewer next time but I cannot resist the alluring pictures in the catalogues! This image is from Spring this year, planted autumn’22.
Photo @ jasoningram.

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It’s that time again for picking the olives in France. AH-MAZE-ING bumper crop this year! 200 kilos from 20-25 trees. Hoping to get 30 litres of olive oil from the first cold pressing. Utterly delicious & healthy too! #

Recently visited Yews Farm, Somerset. Absolutely fabulous. A real gem of a garden with wonderfully creative and clever topiary clipping. .


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Thank you Annie for a wonderful day, a event, set in Jo Mc Kerrs beautiful garden. Thank you to for a truly stimulating and inspiring day. .

Topiary and Tulips amid the bluebells.
Photo by

Deadheading today this richly coloured Tulip Mascara. Photo by .
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Bit of a blousy combo ! Tulips are fading fast now …. Photos by .
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A super star and all time favourite Tulip ‘Exotic Emperor’ photo by .

This is another little patch that we have added this year to our unmown grass areas in the garden. I am loving the opportunity to experiment with different colour combinations of successional spring bulbs & perennial species tulips. A fresh zingy and zesty colour combo as it sits close to the kitchen terrace, our haven of tranquility being white & green planting. This feels good & the right thing to be doing for regenerative gardening. Excited to see how it mingles and naturalises next spring. Photos by

Forever a favourite Tulip ‘ La Belle Epoque’ Photos by .

My favourite new tulip this year is Tulip ‘Brown Sugar’ , tall and statuesque, I am hoping it is a good candidate for returning next year. Photos by . .

We have recently renovated the walled garden. I slightly panic at this time of year with so many empty beds however before we know it, it will be brimming full with an abundance of flower, fruit and vegetables. If we can keep the slugs and snails away from our seedlings ! Photos by . .

Immersed in the heady scents of Pittosporum tobira and this fab scented blush pink climbing rose that fades to a buttery cream. Does anyone know what variety it is ? . .

NO MOW MAY !
Back to our little piece of heaven in where we really like to just let things in the garden go wild. We have been doing the on the olive terraces and the rest of the summer for the last 25 years. It has undoubtedly paid off as it is absolutely BUZZING and teaming with wildlife. This is all to help bees, pollinators and to boost biodiversity. We are sharing with you a few things in the garden today. To find out more about no mow may see their bio link . Beautiful to hear the turtle dove which we rarely hear in England. The cuckoo singing all the time and lots of bush crickets flying around. In the long grass there are all these and many more, wonderful to see. Lithodora rosmarinifolium, Cynoglossum creticum, Silene vulgaris, Echium vulgare, Eruca sativa, Vicia hybrida, Lathyrus annuus, Lepidium draba, Tetragonolobus purpurea, Erodium malacoides, Tragopogon porrifolius, Allium roseum. . .

I feel so lucky to have been part of such an amazing weekend in Cornwall. Full of fun and creativity, immersed in floristry, art and photography, with a bunch of talented and wonderful women. I have come away inspired, nourished and energised ! Thank you Jo for her vision and creating the Beltane retreat. Thank you to her fantastic team and the very talented Katie, for feeding us the most wonderful food. It was brilliant to meet you and share this incredible weekend with you. Love to see you all again. Amanda # # #. .rose.florist #. beltane

A dream Christmas present. This gorgeous collection of vintage hyacinth vases. During December I was banned from the cellar, thinking Phil was brewing something, lo & behold he was secretly amassing & forcing these bulbs ready for Christmas!

One benefit of waking up at 5am to fill the biomass boiler is seeing unusual sights like this moonbow!

Wonderful winter food store for blackbird, mistle and song thrush, fieldfare and redwing.

This morning

Inspiring art seen today !

Fabulous art !

Love this !

Love these.

I love these

Giacometti Sculpture and my Mum, a farmer of 84, ever determined to do all the stairs, to see it all and not miss anything! Amazing woman, always encouraging me with creativity, design and observing the natural world around me.