Went Out For a Pot, Came Home With a Plant

Just typical isn't it? Especially if you're a plant lover and spot a bargain! So today we went out in search of several tall glazed pots to go on the top patio. Not finding any suitable ones at a couple of garden centres near us we went further ahead to Savin Nurseries to see what they have at the moment. Now this nursery we enjoy visiting regularly for their reasonably priced plants and ability...

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Time to Be Creative

One of the things I look forward to at the start of the summer season is the stage dressing of the garden. This is such a fun thing to do and an opportunity to slightly vary the look of the garden from year to year by just a few modifications here and there. Changing accessories, a few rearrangements, new bedding plants among others can make a difference and freshen up a familiar looking place. Playing...

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Hail and the Jumping Agave

Do you have any gardening superstition? I don't but I think I'm starting to develop one. That is that I must be careful when cutting and repotting Agave attenuata for doing so brings hail! It started last year when I chopped two Agave attenuata living in our conservatory that were leaning at an acute angle which I then repotted upright. One detail that I forgot to mention on my post about it...

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Win Tickets for Gardeners World Live

Gardeners World Live is on again at Birmingham NEC from 11-14 June. We have 3 pairs of tickets to give away, for Thursday 11 June, Friday 12 June and Sunday 14 June. For more information see the Gardeners World website. As well as 3 lucky readers, we also have a promotional code to enter when booking tickets for 15% off. Enter code 2MV4 when prompted  https://www.theticketfactory.com/gwl/online. To...

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Three Days of Bliss

Bank holiday weekend, three days off from work and potentially three days of bliss. And it was especially as we didn't make any plans beforehand apart from mainly staying at home and do as much gardening as we could. Nevermind the hosepipe.... Typical of a bank holiday weekend here the sun barely made an appearance. Fortunately it was still warm and there were long intervals between the odd...

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Chelsea 2015: The Great Pavilion

And to cap off our coverage for this year's Chelsea Flower Show, we give you a few scenes we've captured inside the Great Pavilion - where plants take centre stage over garden design. Sometimes models gets in the way.....

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Chelsea 2015: The Artisan Gardens

Small, very small even compared to the main show gardens but they can still certainly pack a punch! Size doesn't matter when it comes to creativity. In fact most gardeners (and garden designers) say that coming up for a design and plan for a small plot is much harder than a big one. But such is the challenge for those exhibiting under the Artisan Gardens category at the Chelsea Flower Show. Here...

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Chelsea 2015: The Fresh Gardens

Gardens that are conceptual and meant to provoke thought. Gardens that are meant to be looked out and then to ponder upon. But are these gardens fresh as a daisy, or mad as a box of frogs? You decide... Beyond Our Borders by APHA - Gol...

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Chelsea 2015: The Show Gardens

For most visitors the main highlight of attending the Chelsea Flower Shower is to see the exquisite large show gardens on display and this year's selection did not disappoint! The designs this year were more diverse and there were so many aspects to be inspired with. Let's take a look at these beautiful gardens: The Brewin Dolphin Garden - Gold ...

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Chelsea 2015: a Preview

The 2015 RHS Chelsea flower show opens tomorrow, but today ahead of the crowds, Mark and I had a preview of the gardens on show. Our first impression was that there is more variety in the garden styles this year. This has been an improvement from last year with more interest and each garden having something special to offer. Of the hundreds of photos we took today here are just a small sample...

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Beyond Leaves and Flowers

When one thinks about beautiful parts of a plant immediate thoughts tend to go towards the blooms, then a close second are its leaves (inverse if you're a foliage lover like we are). But there are other parts of a plant too that can give so much interest, and for some of them it is neither their blooms nor leaves that make them worthy of growing in the garden. Just a few examples in our garden... ...

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My Favourite Shed

Not that we have many, we only have two. Okay only one proper shed, you know the sort that is a wooden structure that is utilitarian and where you keep your garden tools and other odds and ends. The other shed, my favourite one has the growing on pond in it. And lots of plants too! The plastic box is not normally there but I was using it to keep the hosepipe in place as I do a partial water...

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A Flush Here and A Flush There

Spring is such an exciting time of the year when there's so much growth and activity going on in the garden that one is spoilt for choice on what to highlight. Times like this, instead of only highlighting one it's better to just immerse oneself and enjoy the variety of plant flushes here and there... Lots of flushing going on in the greenhouse and just to highlight a few: Nothopanax delavayi...

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