The Garden Log

In this post-rain episode of cult gardening podcast The Garden Log we say goodbye to the universal uncle Monty Don who is to retire from Gardeners' World.
But our Gardeners' World keeps turning, so also enjoy introductions to the gorgeous autumn snowflake (Acis autumnalis) and the Corsican knotweed (Polygonum scoparium) a must-have evergreen perennial for the dry garden.

In this late summer sunset of an episode Ben visits Down House, home of Charles Darwin, considers the hybrid geranium and praises the Michaelmas daisy.
Any emails to thegardenlogpodcast@gmail.com

Are the best gardens designed or created? Why are there beetles crawling on my World of Interiors magazine? What cut flowers would go with my collection of pornographic postcards? These and other important questions answered in the guide to effortless good taste.
For more of this sort of thing join me at https://www.thegardencollective.uk/ben-dark/

Two very different 3am trips to the garden this week as heat gives way to rain. Also, using soft cuttings and plastic cups to make plants from plants, some Musa basjoo, some Clerodendrum trichotomum, some Solanum laciniatum and some flower crab spiders, plus of course, aspidistra: ‘They’re a dashed important subject,'
And here's the link to the How to Academy event: https://tickets.howtoacademy.com/the-epic-family-history-of-plants-tickets/worldwide-live-stream/2026-10-27-18-00
Love to all you gardeners and gardening people

How will our gardens look in the future? Ben visits the new garden in Grosvenor Square with its Nigel Dunnett planting to find out.
Also featuring: tragedy at bathtime; some borrowed seedlings; a 4000 year old stumpery and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York Theatre.
And if you enjoyed any of that then of course you must pre order my book
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/463428/green-kingdom-by-dark-ben/9781847928337