Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ Forgive me please because I have, in my youth, been a bit sneery about mahonias. I recognise that this was a mistake as they have an awful lot in their favour: colour at a

Winter is for restoration. The garden is pared back and elemental: everything is visible and in its stillness there’s time to reflect on the preceding year and to imagine and plan the year to come. Ye

Winter may well be the most overlooked season of them all when it comes to appreciating nature’s joys. While it’s easy to take pleasure in the budding blooms of spring, summer’s resplendent blossoms a

Create beautifully scented, long-lasting indoor arrangements using winter greenery and flowers from your garden. Choose fragrant blooms such as viburnum, witch hazel, Christmas box and wintersweet, an

There is no doubt that 2026 will be different. As the year ends in the garden that I’ve created and tended over the past 23 years, a new challenge is waiting in the wings. We are moving from the chalk

Mike Palmer explains how to prune, plan, polish and prepare for 2026