Alan Titchmarsh

grow your own fruit and veg

The kitchen gardener

***More information coming soon*** In the meantime, there's an Alan Titchmarsh novel for every mood! If you're looking for . . . An enthralling wartime mystery, head over to THE SCARLET NIGHTINGALE 'A perfect love story' (Katie Fforde), search for THE HAUNTING An uplifting, enchanting novel about second chances, dive into MR GANDY'S GRAND TOUR An absorbing family saga, head over to the page for FOLLY An escapist family mystery, read BRING ME HOME Praise for Alan Titchmarsh: 'The story brims with intrigue' - Daily Express on THE HAUNTING 'A pleasurable read which fans will lap up' - Daily Mail on MR GANDY'S GRAND TOUR 'It's just brilliant - full of poetry' - Jilly Cooper

The Gift

Timothy Gandy has kept his lifetime's ambition secret for forty years.Now, suddenly (if tragically) released from the hen-pecked tedium of his ordinary existence, he is unexpectedly free to realize his dreams.He will embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, following in the footsteps of the aristocrats of the eighteenth century.He anticipates high art, culture and pleasant weather. He never expected to encounter new friendships - and possibly even love - along the way. It seems that Mr Gandy has embarked on the journey of a lifetime...

Mr Gandy's Grand Tour

According to their friends, Tom and Pippa Drummond have the perfect existence - a great lifestyle, a lively marriage, and a great kid in Tally. In their late thirties, living in a converted barn on the edge of the Sussex Downs, Tom is a partner in 'The Pelican', a restaurant in Axbury Minster, and Pippa, after a short career as a cook, grows herbs for sale locally and brings up sixteen-year-old Tally - a lively blonde with her head screwed firmly on to her shoulders. A rare summer holiday is planned - an idyllic retreat in the Italian hills. Tom takes time off from the restaurant, Pippa leaves her herbs in the charge of a dotty neighbour, and Tally takes a break from the two men in her life - fast-living Alex and the plodding, persevering 'Blip'. Tuscany is everything they hoped it would be - cicadas in the trees, the scent of sage and citrus and suppers under the stars. But their joy is short lived. Overnight their lives, their circumstances, their very identities are suddenly altered, and life will never be the same again. From being the envy of their friends, the Drummonds are plunged into a world that nobody would wish upon them.

Only Dad

How can the mysterious disappearance of Anne Flint and the drowning of a young girl in a chalk stream in 1816 possibly affect the life of schoolteacher Harry Flint some two centuries later? With a failed marriage and no job, Harry begins to research his ancestors. The deeper he digs, the more he realises that the past is closer than he had ever imagined. The Haunting is a story of love, betrayal and intrigue. Where people are not what they seem, and the past is no more predictable than the future...

The Haunting

Jonathan Buckley

The Gardener's Year is not about quick fixes, design makeovers or hard drudge, but simply about knowing what you should be doing in your garden, when, and why. Month by month Alan gives us the low-down on how to keep your garden looking its best. In-depth and packed full of useful tips, it includes advice on everything from what seeds you can plant out in your vegetable plot in May, to how to keep your hanging baskets looking stunning in September.

The Ultimate Month-by-month Gardening Handbook

The Gardener's Year

The Queen’s life is dedicated to her public – every move is scrutinised, every word noted. But her homes are havens where peace can be found, away from watchful eyes; sanctuaries of private calm in a whirlwind life of public duty. In The Queen’s Houses, Alan Titchmarsh takes us on a tour of the royal residences, examining the personal family stories behind these magnificent buildings. Through personal reflections, interviews with royal staff and meticulous historical research, Alan looks beyond the formal grandeur of Buckingham Palace, the imposing structure of Windsor Castle and the private escape offered by Balmoral and others. Illustrated with intimate family photographs and evocative memorabilia, The Queen’s Houses offers a glimpse of life behind the state banquets and sovereign duties – a respectful study of the royal family at home.

The Queen's Houses

Vertical gardening adds an extra dimension to gardens and this book will cover the ins and outs of growing climbers and wall plants to get the very best in terms of cover, cropping and flowering. It will look at flowering plants, fruit and some vegetable plants, and how to make the most of every available space in your garden. Includes: * creative ideas for using climbing plants and wall shrubs effectively in the garden * quick lists of climbing plants for specific purposes, conditions or effects * A-Z profiles of recommended plants * practical advice on training, pruning and propagation * illustrated step-by-step guides to essential techniques Alan Titchmarsh imparts a lifetime of expertise in these definitive practical guides for beginners and experienced gardeners. Step-by-step illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the basic gardening skills and on to the advanced techniques, providing everything you need to successfully grow climbers and wall shrubs.

Alan Titchmarsh How to Garden: Climbers and Wall Shrubs

Knave of Spades

Flowering shrubs can be the most dramatic and beautiful features in a garden. This book gives Alan Titchmarsh's expert advice on selecting the right plants for you, looking at colour, size and aspect to create stunning effects and healthy, happy plants. Includes: * guidance on choosing flowering shrubs for colour and situation * practical advice on planting, general care, propagation, pruning and renovation * illustrated A-Z profiles of recommended plants * detailed planting plans for using shrubs in borders * step-by-step illustrations showing essential techniques Alan Titchmarsh imparts a lifetime of expertise in these definitive guides for beginners and experienced gardeners. Step-by-step illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the basic gardening skills and on to the advanced techniques, providing everything you need to enjoy flowering shrubs in your garden.

Alan Titchmarsh How to Garden: Flowering Shrubs

Discover Jane Austen's real-life inspiration for Darcy's Pemberley. Follow Alan into Chatsworth's irresistible world of visionaries, pioneers, heroes, villains and English eccentrics, and celebrate the men and women who have shaped the history of the estate over five centuries. With his passionate knowledge of both the house and gardens, as well as his long-established relationship with the Cavendish family, Alan is the perfect guide with whom to explore the Palace of the Peaks. Featuring stunning, specially commissioned photography of the gardens and parkland, alongside long-forgotten images and memorabilia newly unearthed in the estate archives, this vivid companion, crowded with character and colour, is a book to treasure and revisit over and over again.

The gardens and the people who made them

Chatsworth

In When I Was a Nipper Alan Titchmarsh goes on a personal and nostalgic journey through post-War Britain in search of treasured values and traditions that were once the soul of society. With characteristic wit, warmth and humour he draws on the experience of his own childhood, and also takes a broader perspective, creating a wonderfully detailed and evocative portrait of a way of life that is fast disappearing, and asks what can we learn from this era of austerity to make our lives better today? Born in Yorkshire in 1949 and brought up in a Britain still recovering from World War 2, Alan remembers a time of relative calm, when it was enough to return home at night knowing that the house would still be standing. We were known throughout the world for our patience, resourcefulness and resilience. 'Mustn't grumble' was almost a national catchphrase, and queuing was second nature. Peppered with wonderful archive photographs and advertisements, When I Was a Nipper takes us back to those days, down high streets and through farmyards, on to trolley buses and into local pubs. As we move towards a global economy, as communities fragment and customs are lost, When I Was a Nipper captures a world that is fast receding into history. It's powerfully nostalgic for those who remember those days, but it's also Alan's timely call to all recession-hit Brits to heed the lessons of austerity Britain: 'make do and mend'; 'look on the bright side' and 'take the knocks on the chin'.

The Way We Were in Disappearing Britain

When I Was a Nipper

Expert advice on hanging baskets, window boxes, patio pots and sink gardens. Advice on compatibility of containers and plants such as bulbs, climbers and fruit and vegetables, and how to arrange them for maximum visual and olfactory impact. Includes: * style solutions for all types of garden * comprehensive advice on plant selection * guidance on seasonal care, repotting, watering and feeding * tips on how to achieve year-round colour and scent Alan Titchmarsh imparts a lifetime of expertise in these definitive guides for beginners and experienced gardeners. Step-by-step illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the basic gardening skills and on to the advanced techniques, providing everything you need to create and maintain your dream garden.

Alan Titchmarsh How to Garden: Container Gardening

Will Elliott is out of a job. The lighthouse he's been manning on Prince Albert Rock, off the wild Cornish coast, is about to become automated. So Will decides to fulfil his lifelong ambition - to sail round the coastline of Britain. Determined to continue his solitary existence, Will begins his preparations for his epic voyage. But before he has time to so much as paint his hull, he meets Amy Finn - a beautiful artist and fellow loner. And as if that isn't distraction enough, suddenly his sleepy Cornish village is rocked by the biggest scandal to hit Cornwall since Guenevere ran off with Launcelot. It seems as if Will will never get away, and even if he does will his journey be solo or is there hope that he and Amy could be embarking on a two-man voyage of discovery?

The Last Lighthouse Keeper

Nick Robertson thought he'd gotten used to his grandmother's behavior. At 87, Rosie's determined that before life passes her by, she will live a little. Or, preferably, a lot. It wouldn't be so bad if Nick had nothing else to do. But with a living to make on the Isle of Wight, two warring parents on the mainland, and a love life in terminal decline, he would prefer his grandmother to get on with things quietly. But there's no time like the present, insists Rosie. She'll help Nick find the soul mate he clearly lacks, and he can help Rosie make the most of her few remaining years.

Rosie

Daffodils and tulips herald the arrival of spring, but from the earliest snowdrops to autumn crocosmias, bulbs bring colour and interest to gardens all year round. They can be naturalized in lawns, planted in containers, fill gaps between shrubs or form the basis of stunning borders. This definitive guide gives you Alan Titchmarsh's advice on how to plant bulbs for best effect in your garden. * A-Z directory of Alan's recommended bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes * Easy-to-follow plans show how to use bulbs in various situations and at different times of year * Practical tips for growing bulbs in grass, rockeries, containers, indoors and for cutting * Planting and growing techniques * Seasonal planting for year-round colour and scent

Alan Titchmarsh How to Garden: Growing Bulbs

Alan Titchmarsh turns detective to unravel an epic story in this, the first complete history of the landscape and wildlife of the British Isles.

A Natural History

British Isles

It's not easy being a doctor. Ask any GP. The profession may have a glamorous image, but there is little real glamour in haemorrhoids and hernias, athlete's foot and dermatitis. So when retirement looms for Christopher Devon, he is only too happy to shake off the aroma of antiseptic and look forward to a new life. More time to travel, more time for his orchids, and time, perhaps, to meet a new woman. But how to find one? There is no shortage of female patients fluttering their eyelashes (and even the odd male), but what Dr Devon wants is a soulmate as much as a bedmate. Perhaps the internet can help? He seeks and he finds - sometimes with disastrous consequences. But, eventually, love comes to Dr Devon. And then his troubles begin. His former wife has problems of her own, soon to be visited on her ex, and his two grown-up children do not take kindly to the changes in their own circumstances that will be the likely outcome of Dr Devon's dalliances. One gold digger is all that a daughter with a large family and a gay son with a high standard of living need to sever them from their inheritance at 'Bedside Manor'. And passion in retirement? Oh please! Will Dr Devon find true love and live happily ever after? Or will the bitter pill of reality prove a fly in the ointment of his dreams?

Love and Dr Devon

On 2 June 1953, 27-year-old Princess Elizabeth of York was crowned Queen, the eyes of the world upon her as she dedicated herself to her country. It is fascinating to look back over the sixty years since then and see how this remarkable woman, decade by decade, has brought the monarchy into the modern world, earning admiration and respect for her unerring sense of duty, her determination to innovate, her tremendous dignity, integrity and wisdom. Drawing from his own experience and time spent with the royal family, alongside additional meticulous research, Alan Titchmarsh observes the woman, the mother and the monarch. He explores key moments in her reign, both personal to her and in a wider historical context, and traces how our relationship with the royal family has developed and morphed, gone through ups and downs, but is arguably now stronger than ever in this very special anniversary year. Featuring wonderful memorabilia and rarely seen archive photography, Elizabeth II: Her Life, Our Times defines an era, pays tribute to our inexhaustable Queen and celebrates the example of responsibility, loyalty and patriotism she has set for generations past, present and future. She is an inspiration to us all.

Alan Titchmarsh

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