Author: tessaparikian

I’ve been thinking about Gardens. At this time of year, although there is still work that can be done in the garden, and at the allotment, it feels like a time for reflection. To think back over the gardening year and review what has worked and what not. This reflection allows me to plan ahead… Continue reading Garden Memories

I am by nature an optimist. A very glass half full type of person. When things are going wrong around me I will find the positive in the situation. I am sure that I am one of those people who can be a little annoying in my cheeriness. I blame my mum. She was a very… Continue reading The Autumn Pessimist

I have a garden which, if you have read any of my posts, you will know I love. When we first moved here 9 years ago Olli was four and a half and it was a perfect garden for a little boy to play in. It was one of the main reasons we bought the… Continue reading My Own Little Patch of Land

The family has just spent two weeks at the cottage in the Isle of Wight. We rent it out to other people most of the year and our two week sojourn in the summer is looked forward to. The weeks 'til we go are counted down with bated breath or perhaps to be more accurate… Continue reading Two Weeks Without a Garden

I have always had a problem with the New Perennial Movement. It has always seemed like the 'emperor's new clothes'. I never got it. It always seemed a bit lazy - large swathes of tall perennials in a naturalistic style where you couldn't see anything properly. Maybe it was because I didn't understand what I… Continue reading Hauser and Wirth, Somerset

This amazing public space in East London will always be just the 'Olympic Park' for me. My first views of the park on a balmy summer evening when I went to one of the final dress rehearsals for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony stays in my mind all these years later. Swathes of beautiful wild… Continue reading Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park