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<dc:rights>Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated compa ...
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<dc:date>2014-08-02T23:05:34Z</dc:date>
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" version="2.0"> <channel> <title>Vita Sackville-West | The Guardian</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/profile/vita-sackville-west</link> <description>Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voice</description> <language>en-gb</language> <copyright>Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2024</copyright> <pubDate>Sat, 04 May 2024 11:19:59 GMT</pubDate> <dc:date>2024-05-04T11:19:59Z</dc:date> <dc:language>en-gb</dc:language> <dc:rights>Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2024</dc:rights> <image> <title>The Guardian</title> <url>https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png</url> <link>https://www.theguardian.com</link> </image> <item> <title>From the Observer archive, 5 August 1951: Britain blooms again with the return of the village flower show</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/aug/03/better-days-back-village-flower-show-returns-observer-archive</link> <description>Handsome exhibits, floral frocks and geniality rekindle the spirit of prewar summers<p>In the summer days before the war, the village flower show, which would be better called a produce show, was quite a grand affair. There were two large marquees. The supper-dish for five people did not necessarily have to be meatless in 1939. The local nursery-men staged handsome exhibits.</p><p>Those good days disappeared for a time. The village could no longer afford marquees, and had to arrange its show more modestly, in any shelter it could get: the corrugated-iron shelter of the women's institute, or the parish room, or a barn borrowed from a farmer. It had to be staged somehow or somewhere, to keep the show going and prevent interest from dying out.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/aug/03/better-days-back-village-flower-show-returns-observer-archive">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Sat, 02 Aug 2014 23:05:34 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/aug/03/better-days-back-village-flower-show-returns-observer-archive</guid> <media:content type="image/jpeg" width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Observer/Columnist/Columnists/2014/7/31/1406824209183/Vita-Sackville-West-009.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=40506d0139390deb59b515c956c9a70a"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Jane Bown/Observer</media:credit> <media:description>Village flower show enthusiast: Vita Sackville-West, shown here in her garden at Sissinghurst in 1960. Photograph: Jane Bown for the Observer</media:description> </media:content> <media:content type="image/jpeg" width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Observer/Columnist/Columnists/2014/7/31/1406824209183/Vita-Sackville-West-009.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=11799ad7bb76e82a7c9f1cc4eb799243"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Jane Bown/Observer</media:credit> <media:description>Village flower show enthusiast: Vita Sackville-West, shown here in her garden at Sissinghurst in 1960. Photograph: Jane Bown for the Observer</media:description> </media:content> <dc:creator>Vita Sackville-West</dc:creator> <dc:date>2014-08-02T23:05:34Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on stopping sparrow attacks</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/apr/23/gardens</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on April 23 1950<p><em>Soft soap, saffron and flowers of sulphur are all recommended as sparrow deterrents. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/147403164/"><em>quinet</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>Thanks to all those who have written about remedies against the attack of sparrows on primroses. For the benefit of other sufferers, of whom there appear to be many, I append a list of recommendations, which of course would apply equally to attacks on other flowers, such as the yellow crocus, a particular victim. Pepper seems to be the favourite deterrent, though rather an expensive one; but dry mustard, flowers of sulphur, Keating's powder, soot, powdered naphthalene, quassia, soft soap, paraffin-and-water, saffron, Jeyes' fluid, Izal, and basic slag are all mentioned. Earthenware saucers sunk into the ground and filled with water find great favour. Wire pea-guards (to be removed daily after breakfast), wire netting to be bent into the shape of a mob-cap over each plant, fish-netting, the old nursery fire-guard, old hair-nets, sprigs of holly, and 'an ordinary dark glass bottle on the ground,' have all been found helpful. Some handfuls of confetti have also been found to do the trick.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/apr/23/gardens">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:32:13 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/apr/23/gardens</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Environment/Pix/pictures/2008/11/19/sparrow4.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e30f1dcf471ce953d53699b17f72326f"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Mike Read/RSPB</media:credit> <media:description>House sparrow in a quince bush in Hampshire. Photographer: Mike Read/rspb-images.com)</media:description> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Environment/Pix/pictures/2008/11/19/sparrow4.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=7558a8e15e501cd63e5e04c26b29ae0b"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Mike Read/RSPB</media:credit> <media:description>House sparrow in a quince bush in Hampshire. Photographer: Mike Read/rspb-images.com)</media:description> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-04-23T16:32:13Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on sowing summer annuals</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/apr/16/sowing-annuals-vita-sackville-west</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on April 16 1950<p><em>Linaria associates well with fellow summer annual Leptosiphon. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainmish/3131971208/"><em>Captain Mish</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>When I was small I had a book called Flowers That Do Not Disappoint. They nearly all did, but that was probably my fault so far as the annuals were concerned. Hardy annuals should not disappoint, and there is still time to sow them in April, so useful for filling bare patches or for making a display in the window-boxes of town houses.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/apr/16/sowing-annuals-vita-sackville-west">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:20:00 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/apr/16/sowing-annuals-vita-sackville-west</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/4/16/1239877555435/A-field-of-marigolds-002.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=3d886687043d44238210f52bee753df0"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian</media:credit> <media:description>A field of marigolds Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian</media:description> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/4/16/1239877555435/A-field-of-marigolds-002.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a90f57cd03558a30be8ee28025da9630"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian</media:credit> <media:description>A field of marigolds Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian</media:description> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-04-16T10:20:00Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on pruning roses</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/26/roses</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on March 26, 1950<p><em>Let your rose bush grow up and throw her head about, counsels Vita Sackville-West. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74528046@N00/1016806103"><em>Er.We</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>We now approach the time of year when the thoughts of Man turn towards the pruning of his roses. Knives and secateurs are now at their sharpest. Brandishing these objects of destruction, battalions of professional and amateur gardeners advance, prepared to do their worst, as they have immemorially been taught. The word of command has gone out: 'Cut almost to the ground; cut down to the second or third bud; cut till nothing is left except a couple of inches sticking up. Be pitiless, be ruthless; prune for fine blooms, exhibition blooms, even if you don't intend to exhibit. Never mind about the appearance of your garden, or the natural alacrity of your roses. Snub them as hard as you can, even as Victorian parents snubbed their children.' It rejoices me to see that different ideas are creeping in. The rose, even the hybrid Teas and the hybrid Perpetuals, is no longer to be regarded as a stunted dwarf, but as a wildly blossoming shrub. Let her grow up, even to three or four feet in height, and throw her head about as I believe that she was meant to. This truth first dawned upon me during the war, when as a Land Army representative I have occasion to visit many small gardens in pursuit of owners who had been called away. Their gardens were turning into a sad disorder of weeds, but the roses reared themselves up, superb and proud, just because they had not been interfered with for two, three, four, five years. Then in the well-kept garden of a friend I saw similar rose bushes which, she assured me, had scarcely been touched since she planted them thirty years ago. She had merely snipped the tips; had taken out the dead wood and the weak growth; and for the rest had left them to their will. The result was lavish and surprising.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/26/roses">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:39:19 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/26/roses</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2009/2/9/1234193904136/Bunch-of-red-roses-003.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=bda5fad0bdf89afb12f704d1ffcd589d"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Josh Westrich/© Josh Westrich/zefa/Corbis</media:credit> <media:description>Bunch of red roses. Photograph: Josh Westrich/Corbis Photograph: Josh Westrich/© Josh Westrich/zefa/Corbis</media:description> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2009/2/9/1234193904136/Bunch-of-red-roses-003.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=68046f2afd90f9a9c42107fbd04b919b"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Josh Westrich/© Josh Westrich/zefa/Corbis</media:credit> <media:description>Bunch of red roses. Photograph: Josh Westrich/Corbis Photograph: Josh Westrich/© Josh Westrich/zefa/Corbis</media:description> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-03-26T17:39:19Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on hellebores</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/20/gardens1</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published in March 1947<p><em>Hellebores like a cool place shaded by shrubs. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/geishaboy500/100028091/"><em>geishaboy500</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>There are several kinds of Hellebore, but the two varieties usually seen in English gardens are more familiar under their prettier names of Christmas rose and Lenten rose, Helleborus niger and Helleborus orientalis respectfully. Why the Christmas rose, which is white, should be called black in Latin I could not imagine until I discovered that the adjective referred to the root; but I still cannot imagine why people do not grow both these varieties more freely. They will fill up many an odd corner; their demands are few; and they will give flowers at a time of year when flowers are scarce.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/20/gardens1">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:02:00 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/20/gardens1</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/3/19/1237483554334/Hellebores-002.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=99056214858987ae7c657a0d7d62f2d0"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: geishaboy500/Flickr</media:credit> <media:description>Hellebores Photograph: geishaboy500/Flickr</media:description> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/3/19/1237483554334/Hellebores-002.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=400ac716ac357d2bf46e11a28e031f19"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: geishaboy500/Flickr</media:credit> <media:description>Hellebores Photograph: geishaboy500/Flickr</media:description> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-03-20T09:02:00Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on how to coax cyclamens to flower again</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/09/gardens</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on March 9 1947<p><em>Cyclamen persicum. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jam343/2402464/"><em>jam343</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>A pot of cyclamen is a favourite Christmas present, and very nice too, but this time (March) some recipients may be wondering what to do with it. Don't throw it away. It will repeat its beauty for you year after year of you treat it right. Treating it right means (1) keeping it moist so long as it continues to flower and to carry leaves; (2) letting it dry off by degrees after the last buds have opened and faded away; (3) keeping it, still in its pot, unwatered, in a frost-proof place during the remaining cold weeks, and then standing it out of doors, still unwatered, still in a shady place; (4) starting it into life again in July or August. Starting it into life again merely means giving it water again- very simple. It will begin, quite quickly, to show new buds all over the corm; but to get the best out of it you ought then to re-pot it. It likes a rather loose soil, made up of fibrous loam, some gritty sand, and a handful of bonemeal, all mixed well together. Do not bury the corm; it should sit on top, three-quarters visible. Do not water too much at first, water more generously when autumn comes and you bring your pots into the shelter of a warm greenhouse if you have one; or on to a warm window-sill if you have not.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/09/gardens">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:09:00 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/09/gardens</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/03/05/cyclamen3.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=355c71161a69281e207556c4e8c66879"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: jam343/Flickr</media:credit> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/03/05/cyclamen3.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c5980b4a724921509fb9e20080aa3541"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: jam343/Flickr</media:credit> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-03-09T10:09:00Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on spring blooms for small gardens</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/03/gardens</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on February 26 1950<p><em>A purple anemone. Vita Sackville-West recommended Anemone × fulgens Saint Bavo Group. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/distill/427195796/"><em>Antediluvial</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>A dear neighbour bought me a tussie-mussie this week. The dictionary defines tuzzy-muzzy, or tussie-mussie, as a bunch or posy of flowers, a nosegay, and then disobligingly adds that the word is obsolete. I refuse to regard it as obsolete. It is a charming word; I have always used it and shall continue to use it, whatever the great Oxford Dictionary may say; and shall now take my neighbour's tussie-mussie as a theme to show what ingenuity, taste, and knowledge can produce from a small garden even in February.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/03/gardens">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:38:00 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/mar/03/gardens</guid> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-03-03T12:38:00Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on Iris unguicularis</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/19/gardens-iris-unguicularis</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on February 19 1950<p>A correspondent writes to suggest I should supply 'a few extra tips' on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/29/gardens-scented-plants">growing the Algerian iris</a>. It seems a good idea. They are most obliging planters, even if maltreated, but a little extra kindness and understanding will bring forth an even better response. As is true of most of us, whether plants or humans.</p><p>Kindliness, so far as the Algerian iris is concerned, consists in starving it. Rich cultivation makes it run to leaf rather than to flower. What it really enjoys is being grown in a miserably poor soil, mostly composed of old lime and mortar rubble and even gravel: a gritty mixture at the foot of a sunny wall, the grittier and the sunnier the better. Sun and poverty are the two things it likes. To give it the maximum of sun to ripen itself off during the summer, you should chop down its leaves in May or early June and let the sun get at it for so long as our climate allows. There is no more that you can do for it except to guard it against snails and slugs. It is vital to do this if the flower is not to be nibbled and tattered by these creatures, which hibernate so happily within the leaves and in the cracks of the wall. Any proprietary slug-bait will do the job for you, or you can make your own mixture which is far cheaper and just as efficacious, with Meta tablets, smashed into a fine powder and mixed with bran, tea-leaves, or even sawdust. It may be unkind to the snails, but one has to make one's choice.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/19/gardens-iris-unguicularis">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <pubDate>Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:07:00 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/19/gardens-iris-unguicularis</guid> <media:content type="image/jpeg" width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/02/18/irisU2.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=c64de783836aad4c9c28bddbccb6f579"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Pat Jerrold/Corbis</media:credit> <media:description>Iris unguicularis thrives in a stony, sunny plot. Photograph: Pat Jerrold/Papilio/Corbis</media:description> </media:content> <media:content type="image/jpeg" width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/02/18/irisU2.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=addfc86b3148cc1da620106933150332"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: Pat Jerrold/Corbis</media:credit> <media:description>Iris unguicularis thrives in a stony, sunny plot. Photograph: Pat Jerrold/Papilio/Corbis</media:description> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-02-19T10:07:00Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on flowering trees for front gardens</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/11/front-gardens</link> <description>Celebrated gardener Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on February 11 1951<p><em>In a 1951 column Vita Sackville-West exhorted gardeners to spruce up their gardens in time for the Festival of Britain. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/terry_wha/167027651/"><em>Terry Wha</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>With the <a href="http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/archive/exhibits/festival/index.htm">festival of Britain</a> approaching, many people will be thinking how to make their front gardens as attractive as possible for the passing motorist. An English village street, gay with flowers, can be pretty a sight as anyone could wish to see; and, moreover, is not to be found elsewhere in just that way, thanks to our climate and to the Englishman's passion for gardening. Most of these small front gardens are already well furnished with beds, but it would be pleasant to feel that something more permanent was also being planted, to commemorate the Festival year, as things were planted to commemorate the Coronation in 1937.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/11/front-gardens">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <pubDate>Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:23:28 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/feb/11/front-gardens</guid> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-02-11T17:23:28Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on sweet smells for winter months</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/29/gardens-scented-plants</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on February 2 1947<p><em>Wintersweet's scented blooms are worth waiting for. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogachin/3202901683/"><em>gtknj</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>In response to many requests, I pursue the subject of plants that will flower out of doors during the winter months. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/179.shtml">Chimonanthus fragrans</a>, in English the Winter-sweet, should have a place of honour. Although it was introduced from China as long ago as 1766, it is not often seen now except in the older gardens, and in honesty I should warn purchasers of young plants that it will not begin to flower until it is five or six years old. But it is worth waiting for.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/29/gardens-scented-plants">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:55:00 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/29/gardens-scented-plants</guid> <media:content width="140" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/01/29/wintersweet2.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e9f43474cf2e9a1400d107b007fffb94"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: gtknj/Flickr</media:credit> </media:content> <media:content width="460" url="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/01/29/wintersweet2.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=a44eb8efdabc9c9fa7936e0232881aa7"> <media:credit scheme="urn:ebu">Photograph: gtknj/Flickr</media:credit> </media:content> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-01-30T11:55:00Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on her grey, green and white garden</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/22/gardens</link> <description>Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on January 22 1950<p><em>Now known as the White Garden, Vita Sackville-West's 'grey, green and white garden' at Sissinghurst Gardens in Kent. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/smudge9000/2403994972/"><em>Smudge9000</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>It is amusing to make one-colour gardens. They need not necessarily be large, and they need not necessarily be enclosed, though the enclosure of a dark hedge is, of course, ideal. Failing this, any secluded corner will do, or even a strip of border running under a wall, perhaps the wall of the house. The site chosen must depend upon the general lay-out, the size of the garden, and the opportunities offered. And if you think that one colour would be monotonous, you can have a two- or even a three-colour, provided the colours are happily married, which is sometimes easier of achievement in the vegetable than in the human world. You can have, for instance, the blues and the purples, or the yellows and the bronzes, with their attendant mauves and orange, respectively. Personal taste alone will dictate what you choose.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/22/gardens">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardens">Gardens</category> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:49:15 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/22/gardens</guid> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-01-22T17:49:15Z</dc:date> </item> <item> <title>From the archive: Vita Sackville-West on sweet-briar</title> <link>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/15/1</link> <description><p>From the archive: Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column for the Observer for 15 years. This column was published on January 15 1950</p><p><em>Sweet-briar, or eglantine rose. Photograph:</em> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderferret/296310944/"><em>wonderferret</em></a><em>/Flickr/</em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en_GB"><em>Some rights reserved</em></a></p><p>Someone has been pleading with me to put in a good word for sweet-briar. I do so most willingly, for a hedge of sweet-briar is one of the most desirable things in any garden.</p><p>... through the sweet-briar or the Vine,<br>Or the twisted Eglantine ...</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/15/1">Continue reading...</a></description> <category domain="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lifeandstyle">Life and style</category> <pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:01:42 GMT</pubDate> <guid>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2009/jan/15/1</guid> <dc:creator>Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive</dc:creator> <dc:date>2009-01-15T17:01:42Z</dc:date> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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