Blog Posts

  • Wine Choice Summer 2014

    Pecorino – Terre di Chieti   For my wife, Alison and me, a real treat is to go out for a meal to our local Italian restaurant, the award-winning Osteria in North Berwick. To accompany our recent meal we chose a Pecorino wine, a grape we were hitherto unfamiliar with. I was accused of getting […]

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  • Classical Music for the Summer

    Johann Baptist Georg Neruda Trumpet Concerto in E flat It is disappointing that relatively little is known about the classical Czech composer Neruda. It is recognised (Wikipedia) that he lived from c. 1708 to 1780. He was born in Bohemia to a well-respected music family. Following his early years as a violinist and conductor in […]

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  • Campanula ‘Joe Elliott’

    From time to time in the history of modern alpine gardening, an artificial hybrid of outstanding beauty is created either by chance or by careful hand-pollination. Many of the finest plants are created by chance and it was by this method that one of the finest of all hybrid campanulas was raised. Of greatest concern […]

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  • Classical Music Choice – Spring

    Rossini – The Six String Sonatas The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini lived from 1792 to 1868, born in Pesaro and is of course best known for his operas, including The Barber of Seville. In 1806, at the age of fourteen, Rossini was given the opportunity to study Counterpoint (the simultaneous combination of two or more […]

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  • Spring Wine Choice 2014

    Soave Classico 2012 Inama DOC I have to say that this Soave has always been one of my firm favourites, a truly fine wine from this celebrated region of Veneto. This is an area steeped in history, with the Garganega grape, from which this famous wine is made, being first planted here by the Romans. […]

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  • Plant of the Season – Spring

    “Snowdrops” Galanthus ‘Gerard Parker’ I’m often asked, “Which are the ten snowdrop cultivars one cannot do without!”  My choices have remained pretty static over a number of years, however, I do occasionally have to make some alterations/additions. More recently I have added the magnificent form of Galanthus plicatus, ‘Gerard Parker’. I have not yet managed […]

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  • Iris winogradowii AGM

    For many years I have grown this exquisite subalpine iris species belonging to the Reticulatae section, but I never feel as if I have found it easy or have I grown it to a sizeable clump. Right now it is increasing well! This is a rare species in nature, native to a few stations in […]

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  • Plant of the Season – Autumn

    Sternbergia sicula I have to say that, over the years, I have been fairly unsuccessful with the cultivation of Sternbergia species in the open garden. I had always felt that the bulbs, despite being planted in an open, well-drained position did not receive sufficient heat and summer ripening, so often a handicap of gardening in […]

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  • Autumn Wine Choice 2013

    Terrazas de los Andes, Malbec 2009 Now that we are well into the autumn, I am sure I am not alone in making a notable switch in choice of beverage! A beefy red wine that has been allowed to breathe properly can lift the soul as a relaxing drink, while a serious red grape variety […]

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  • Classical Music – Autumn 2013

    William Boyce 8 Symphonies Whilst I openly admit to routinely listening to non-English composers by choice, I often return to some favourite native composers, most notably from the Baroque era. My current choice and recommendation of music is composed by William Boyce (1711-1779) and while fresh, bears the influence of his great contemporary Handel. When listening […]

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