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Elspeth Scott

Elspeth Scott

Lily of the Valley

Urban Fox: My windowsill resembles a mini nursery

This is a very busy time for planting and my windowsill is now looking like a miniature nursery, with an array of pots bunched up together in the small space behind the window boxes. Read

The daffodils are now in full bloom, adding their radiant colour and shoots from other bulbs are starting to appear here and there.

Urban Fox: Daffodils are in bloom

As the weather warms up and plants start to grow, refreshing shades of green begin to predominate again at the allotment site. Read

Urban Fox: Planning for spring

A brief visit to the allotment in biting winds displayed little change since my last visit although the daffodils are now showing a few inches above the ground. Read

Urban Fox: Creatures unmasked

All was peaceful under a clear blue sky and the pond was slumbering beneath a thick layer of ice...Read

Urban Fox: Red Mason Bees

The lively activity of the past months has come to a standstill now that winter has truly arrived Read

Urban Fox: Wintry beginnings

The lively activity of the past months has come to a standstill now that winter has truly arrived but, amongst the bare branches, a rambling rose bush is still producing bunches of elegant white blooms that have not yet been affected by the cold weather and frosts.Read

Urban Fox: Preparing for winter

Bramble picking season is one of the signals of our shift into autumn and we are fortunate to have blackberries rambling through the hedgerows surrounding the allotment site. Read

Urban Fox: Blight attacks

This year I grew a range of unknown varieties of tomato plants ...Read

Urban Fox: Attack of the wasp spider

It was whilst clearing a little ground around the base of the blackberry that I noticed a very large spider that I had never seen before. Read

Urban Fox: Time for harvesting and reaping

The general hum of nature and the sound of cricket being played on a pitch adjacent to the plots helps to give a true sense of our English summer. Read

Urban Fox: My apple tree

Charles Ross is a Victorian apple named after the head gardener at Welford Park in Berkshire in the late 1800’s. Read

Urban Fox: Fennel and newts

The allotment site is now largely a mass of greenery displaying a wonderful variety of shapes and sizes of plants and leaves intermingled with the odd burst of coloured flowers. Read

Urban Fox: The hard work of the last few months is now paying off...

After a few weeks away, our gardening columnist Elspeth Scott begins a weekly web column - new every WednesdayRead

Urban Fox: Pond-ering the season

The transformation that takes place from week to week at this time of year at the allotments is so rapid that it is hard to know what to expect.Read

Author Profile

If you think nature is confined to the countryside, think again. Elspeth reports on the changing seasons, and the richly diverse bird and animal life right in the heart of the capital. The Urban Fox column recently won a prestigious award for the high quality of its writing. Contact Elspeth at newshounslow@trinitysouth.co.uk, write Elspeth Scott in the subject line

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