Flowers, borders & lessons from experience
South coast UK · Growing zone 8/9
Flowers, borders & lessons from experience
South coast UK · Growing zone 8/9
Welcome
I'm Alexandra — a finance manager by day, chaos gardener by heart. In my 80-square-metre patch in Emsworth, Hampshire, I've spent seven years turning a bare, square plot into a tranquil woodland corner brimming with colour.
I grew up in Sweden, where midsummer wildflowers and my grandmother's kitchen garden first planted the seed. Now I grow dahlias, sweet peas, roses and far too many tulips — all self-taught through trial, error, and a fair bit of optimism.
"My garden reflects my life: busy, colourful, sometimes full of surprises, and always evolving."
The Garden
A cottage gardener's collection — heavy on pinks, purples, and anything that makes you stop and stare.
The summer showstoppers. Grown from both tubers and seed, they fill the borders from July until the first frost.
An annual tradition. A whole wall of sweet peas climbs the fence every summer, filling the garden with scent and colour.
A devoted David Austin collector. Each rose was chosen for scent and romance, planted where they can be admired from the patio.
Spring's main event. An ever-growing collection of varieties fills pots and borders with every shade of pink, peach and plum.
Crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths — layered in bulb lasagnes and tucked into every available pot for the earliest colour of the year.
The unsung late-summer heroes. Reliable, elegant, and impossible to beat for a graceful end to the season.
"A tranquil but slightly chaotic woodland garden full of colour"
From the Garden
Real advice from seven years of trial, error, and the occasional triumph.
Real decisions behind building a border that holds its colour from spring to autumn — aspect, palette, plant list, and the things I had to learn by getting wrong.
Read moreAn honest guide to growing ranunculus in an ordinary garden — the soaking, the waiting, the failures, and why they are still worth every bit of effort.
Read moreThe hardy annuals I keep coming back to, how I get them through winter without a greenhouse, and why autumn sowing is worth the effort.
Read moreGarden Journal
Seasonal jobs, honest updates, and the small victories and failures that never make it into a tidy how-to guide.
March always seems to be the point when the garden suddenly starts asking a lot from you all at once. There’s still winter tidying to finish,…
Read more
Looking through old family albums made me realise my love of flowers and gardening probably did not appear out of nowhere.
Read more
Early February in my garden is mostly rain, stalled jobs and trying not to lose momentum while the cornflowers, ranunculus and dahlia tubers all wait for a drier spell.
Read moreAs Featured In
In September 2025, the garden was featured in Modern Gardens magazine's Garden Makeover section — proof that a little chaos, a lot of colour, and zero grand plan can produce something worth writing about.
From a bare patio to a magazine spread. Not bad for a self-confessed chaos gardener with a wonky shed and a serious dahlia habit.
Stay in the Garden
Seasonal tips, behind-the-scenes updates, and honest garden chat — straight to your inbox.