Going to the dogs

Firstly, let me apologise. I know when I posted The Return of Mystery Guess I said I’d reveal the answer the next day. Well, as you can see, it’s only taken me over a week to provide the answer. Ah well, better late than never. Thanks to all who guessed their hearts out, but in [...]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the return of Mystery Guess, the blogospheres must irritating gardening quiz. If you’ve never played before, let me quickly explain the rules. I post a close-up picture and ask you to guess what it is. Simple. There are no prizes, medals or fanfares for winning, [...]

Greetings. Many thanks to everyone who took part in Mystery guess #18. Some said the close-up pic was a mahonia, while another blogger thought it might by Primula denticulata. Well, I’m delighted to announce that Joseph Tychonievich at Greensparrow Gardens blog was bang on the money with his mighty guess of Petasites japonicus. This answer [...]

Happy New Year!!! What’d ya mean it’s February already? Why didn’t anybody tell me? Ah well, since I haven’t posted anything since mid-December, I thought it best to offer you my best wishes for a great year ahead. Anyway, enough of the salutations. I’d like to announce that I’ve finally woken from my non-blogging slumber [...]

Aren’t you sick of Christmas TV specials? I know I am. I’ve just been flicking through the pages of the festive Radio Times (aka The Legendary Christmas Issue, according to its strapline) and have found the listings crammed with special editions of family favourites, such as Cranford, Dr Who, Outnumbered and The Royle Family. Well, [...]

If you’ve ever been to RHS Garden Wisley you’ll know that it’s a most dangerous place. The 240-acre garden is the haunt of several gangs of young mums, who use its labyrinth of paths as a race track to show off their wheels (umm, buggies, strollers and prams). Yesterday, while trying to avoid a head [...]

Some said it was a hebe, others that it was a eucalyptus, while one even suggested it might be the gaping maw of one of those giant sand worms from Dune. Alas, your guessing was off the mark – bagging the top spot is Ryan, whose answer of callistemon or bottlebrush, hit the bullseye of [...]

You may have hoped you’d seen the last of it, but due to popular demand (well, one other blogger says he likes it) I have resurrected Mystery Guess after a lengthy absence of 17 days. If you don’t know how to play the web’s most infuriating gardening quiz, here are the rules – I’ve taken [...]

How good is your eyesight? Well, if you’ve got eagle eyes then you may know what this strange ‘thing’ is that I spotted on a tree at Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent a few days ago. The branches of the tree were littered with these teeny weeny growths, which were largely hidden by its evergreen foliage. [...]

While I was wandering around Westonbirt Arboretum last Friday I spotted this star-like seed pod under a small evergreen tree. Aha, I thought, the perfect thing for Mystery guess, the interweb’s favourite close-up picture guessing quiz. So, do you know the name of the tree this seed capsule fell from? If you do post your [...]