Time for a change in the garden

We have been in this garden now for over 6 years it was a complete jungle when we moved in the first year was spent just clearing levelling and digging out unwanted shrubs.

The only bit of clear ground was a small square lawn 3mx3m and a path around the outside which you had to fight your way down until you got to the back of the garden. Where it was not so overgrown it took a lot of work to clear it all the only original plants that survive are a conifer more out of laziness as the one that was next to it nearly killed me trying to dig out the tump so I thought it will be happy where it is. There was also a miss shaped Bay tree this has romped away since it was freed from the shrubs around it that where slowly strangling the poor bay tree.

But like lots of gardens they become due for a change as plants grow out of their allocated space or as the use of the space changes over time. When we moved in our girls loved there slides, swing ball and paddling pools so a large lawn was needed to fit everything on it but now they are teenagers they no longer want their slides and paddling pools. They really venture outside as the Wi-Fi only reaches 6ft into the garden at this point they go into panic mood and retreat back to the safety of the house.

 I neglected the garden last year for various reasons so this year not only do I want to get it back to a nice tidy garden I also want to make a few big changes to the place. It is always fun to be able to make a change to the garden whether big or small every so often it keeps you keen.

Do keep on popping back to see what changes we have made to the garden and how we get on making the changes through the coming year.

Fashion from Flowers

I popped over to Holland this week and payed a visit to Keukenhof gardens in Lisse, Keukenhof has to be the best spring garden in the world.

There is so much to see and it's not all about bulbs one of the highlights to a visit to Keukenhof this year is a visit to the Beatrix Pavilion. Apart from the fantastic orchid show there is the Flowers and Fashion show which is a fantastic display of couture fashion either made from or adorned with flowers.

The exhibition has been designed by Ronald Kolk, Philip Treacy, Jan Jansen, Janne Kyttanen and Maria Marcus. Now I am not much of a fashion lover but even I was amazed by the beauty of these dresses and the skill that has gone into making them.

The pavilion is so colourful filled with some of the most wonderful orchards you will ever see and the way they have combined the clothes with the same colour flowers is fantastic. If every fashion show was like this I may be tempted to get into fashion, as gardening and fashion really do go together as they are both arts.

The show is on from now until the 16th May and is a must see for the gardener and fashion lovers I have also added lots of pictures of the exhibition on Instagram.
See there website for full details http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/

They have shoes and handbags too.

Like an expectant parent

Once you have carefully sown your seeds you have covered them up with the last thin layer of compost then there is the wait. It seems forever but really it's only been a week a gardener is like an expectant parent waiting for there child to appear for all the world to see you are constantly telling everyone what you sowed. Even if they are not the slightest bit interested you still tell them you even tweet a pic of the pot full of compost all your gardening followers like or comment on the pot full of compost. (we are a strange bunch us gardeners) Then there is the checking you are looking at the pots daily even several times a day willing them to grow making sure the temperature is right and that they are not too wet or dry. After several days you then start poking the compost with the label just to see if they are begging to grow. But then the day arrives when you notice a slight bulge in the compost finally they are growing the new plant is pushing its way out of it's seed shell and compost. You are then off to tell everyone again that all those seeds that you sowed a week ago have germinated they are still not interested but you tell them anyway. You take another pic and tweet it and every one congratulates you on the germination of your new plants (as I said we are a strange bunch) some folk even have a celebratory drink to wet the seedling's head. But then why not as it is a new life being brought into the world and it will have to put up with a lot during it's lifetime how ever long or short it will be.

Wordless Wednesday

Last poppy of the year

Malvern Autumn Show 2015

It was the Malvern Autumn Show last weekend so I had to go and have a look to me it is one of the highlights of the Horticultural calendar. Especially for the amateur vegetable grower this has one of the best shows in the country and always attracts growers from all over the country.



It was another great show as always there was rows and rows or perfect vegetables and flowers as far as the eye could see. In the Harvest Pavilion this is where amateur growers from all over the country come together under one roof to battle it out to see who wins the sort after red cards.





 One of the bests exhibits for me was the British Trug Championship it is amazing how many vegetables you can squeeze in to a trug and defiantly deserved the title of reserve best in show.

The National Vegetable Society's championships was also taking place in the Harvest Pavilion and the collections of vegetables where superb and showed some almost perfect vegetables.

Over in the good life pavilion not only was there lots of great talks and demonstrations through out the day. It was also where the 20th giant vegetable championships where taking place and there was certainly some big vegetables on display. Three new world records where broken the heaviest leek weighing in at a staggering 10.6kg that's a lot of leek soup grown by Paul Rochester from Sunderland. A 12.9kg cucumber the Queen would only need one of these to feed her guests cucumber sandwiches at her garden party and still have cucumber left over.



But the world record I do not understand is the longest beetroot in the world 7.21m long the reason I do not understand it is that only the first 2 foot is actually beetroot and the rest is just fine root hair. But putting that aside it is very impressive to grow a root to such a length and get it out the ground with out breaking it. 

There was also a few flowers too but it is the vegetables that I am really interested in but there was lots of fantastic flowers on display.

 As well as lots of great fruit it would not be Malvern without the fruit and hops on show.

Can not wait till next years Malvern Autumn Show 24th - 25th September 2016.

Church stowe early flower show

Yesterday I had the honour to judge Church Stowe early flower show which is a small village show that takes place in the old school rooms.

There was some lovely flowers unfortunately there was only two soft fruit entry's as a lot of soft fruit is still not ripe. But the roses where out in force and you could smell them as soon as you stepped into the room.

 There was some lovely blooms on show but it is not just about the roses there was some lovely sweet peas as well as Delphinium's, foxgloves and mixed perennial's.

It was a lovely little village show I am already looking forward to judging there show in September.



The Great Chelsea Challange.

With Chelsea just around the corner the BBC have come up with a new series to wet your appetite before the main event.

The Great Chelsea Challenge 2015 where six amature garden designers go head to head to win the prize of getting to build a garden at Chelsea flower show.

Starting on Monday 11th May at 8pm on BBC 2 this new 4 part series where the amateurs are mentored by Jo Swift as they build there show gardens over the four days. In several styles including cottage gardens, formal gardens and conceptual gardens on a very tight budget.  The finished gardens will be judges by RHS Judge James Alexander Sinclair and a Gold medal winning garden designer Ann-Marie Powell. With the winner winning the ultimate gardening prize a chance to build a garden at Chelsea Flower show The Great Chelsea Challenge was filmed at several locations RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Sudeley Castle, Painswick Gardens and RHS Garden Wisley. The contestants taking part where selected after several hundred keen amateurs applied to take part they are Gillian Potts, Jo Manfredi-Hamer, Paul Harris, Rob Dawson, Sean Murray and Steph Humes.

It will be interesting to see who is crowned the winner and what there garden will be and look like at Chelsea 2015.



Greenhouse is beginning to get full

It is at this time of year it dose not mater how much greenhouse space you have you never seem to have enough room for everything. Especially now that the weather has turned cold again can not even put stuff outside for fear of it getting wind burn during the day.

As we pot all the plants up into bigger pots we get to bursting point where there is just no more room. I can not even sow another seed so weather please hurry up and get a bit wormer so we can get planting outside.

The only orchid i have never killed

Me and house plant don't go well together they generally end up dead within a short space of time. The best successes with house plants to date is the Money tree we have it has even survived several house moves. Although it is a cactus and will happily go weeks with out a water which is probably more the reason it has lived than my horticultural skills. I'm great in the garden but give me a house plant and it is doomed so when we where given a Orchid at the end of last year it was a great plant but I new it would not survive long in my hands.

Orchid came into flower after feeding with Seramis Orchid Plant Food

After we had it a week the first of the flowers started to wilt and it was not long before the flowers had all gone. Soon just the plant was left now this is the point that I have got too with every orchard I have ever grown. I have never managed to get one to flower again until now Westland kindly send me some samples of there new Seramis Orchid fertilizer range. So I gave my poor little Orchid a feed with Seramis Orchid Plant Food and also a spray with Seramis leaf spray after a couple of weeks the plant certainly did look healthier. Then out of no where I noticed a flower shoot coming out of the side of the plant fantastic I thought not only have I not killed the thing but I have managed to bring it back into flower. I am now even tempted to buy a couple more orchids for the house now I know that I can not kill them and also with the help of Seramis even get them to flower again.

Wordless Wednesday

The Mediterranean Biome in full flower at The Eden Project.



It's all getting a bit seedy

It's seed swaps I am talking about there are lots taking place this month up and down the country. The home of seed swaps is in Brighton over 14 years ago and has now grown into a massive event. Thousands of keen gardeners, growers, and food lovers come together to swap seeds share hints and tips and make new friends. This Saturday was the first one to take place in Northampton it was held in The Looking Glass Theatre in the centre of Northampton.

The event was run in conjunction with Fruitful Abundance which is a Northampton based group which was set up to prevent food waste, encourage more people to grow there own food and generally live a more healthier life style.

The event opened it's doors to the public at 11am there was a steady flow of public all day all where heading straight to the seed swap tables with hands full of there own seeds eager to swap. The way it works is you hand over the seeds you want to swap to one of the lady's they then put them in the different category's Cabbage, Beans etc. Then just help your self to the new seeds you want to grow this year and if you haven't any seeds to swap you just give a donation for what you take. 

There was lots of seeds available to swap thanks to the generosity of Thompson and Morgan, Suttons Seeds, Unwin's Seeds and Marshalls Seeds. Also some local growers donated lots of heritage variety's so there was a good choice of variety's on offer something for every one.

There was lots of talks taking place through out the day on seed saving, urban gardening, bees and eating weeds

Seedy Saturday also saw the first opening of Elsie's Café which is a pay as you feel Real Junk Food Café. There was lots of cakes, biscuits and light lunches all made from food that would have other wise ended up in land fill. So why feed the tip when you can feed belly's come the end of the day there was just a few crumbs left so the food must have been good.

It was a great day and I'm looking forward to next year's already.



Book Review - The Flower Farmers Year

There is nothing more cheerful than a bunch of flowers and it's even better if you have grown them your self. Everyone considers growing flowers for the garden to give pleasure outside but not many people grow them to cut for the house. When most people think about getting a bunch of flowers there first port of call is the local florist or worst of all the garage forecourt. But most of these flowers have been flown from all over the world traded at markets up and down the country. Creating a massive carbon foot print not to mention all the chemicals and artificial fertiliser that was thrown on them as they grow. Many years ago every town and city had several flower farmers producing all year round and there produce never travelled many miles from where it grew. But now there is a great new book to help get you started growing your own cut flowers in your own garden and even turn your garden into a business. The Flower Farmers Year by Georgie Newbery is a new inspirational book that by the time you have read it you will want to get outside and plant up a cut flower patch of your own.

Georgie is an Artisan flower farmer and florist she grows all her flowers from her small holding in Summerset and delivers them all over the UK. Everything is covered in this book from starting your first cut flower patch to going in to business Even the Tax man gets a mention. I have always planted and grown flowers in the garden and cut bunches for the house. But never planted any with the intention of cutting them for the house. But after reading The Flower Farmers Year this is going to change next year I am going to select several variety's to cut for the house.

 

This is a great book for the budding flower farmer, florist or even the seasoned pro will learn a thing or two. With Christmas coming up it will make a great present for any gardener it's only £19.99 available from all good book shops or direct from Green Books

 

Georgie also has a website where you can buy her flowers or even book one of her workshops. 

 

ISBN: 9780857842336

 



Malvern Autumn Show

Malvern Autumn show has become one of the annual highlights of the gardening year for me and the family. I have been going every Autumn for years now and it seems to get better every year i go.

Medwyns seeds gold medal display

There is always something for all the family even if you are not the slightest bit interested in gardening. There are vintage cars, animals, lots of shopping to be done some great entertainment in the arenas and of cause all the flowers and veg. Some of the country's best Vegetable growers come to Malvern every year to battle it out for the most wanted red card or the ultimate accolade best in show. One class that I'm always impressed with is the collection of five veg and they did not disappoint this year. J Thompson was the winner of this class The collection had some fantastic blanch leeks on it.

Collection's of veg

The Wye hall is always the place to find the best plant nursery s from around the country the amazing floral displays are fantastic. Even if you where blind you would know where you are as soon as you walk in to the hall you are hit by the heady aroma of all the flowers jumbled up into a sent you only get at a flower show. The highlight for me this year was Medwyn's of Anglesey with his gold medal winning display which was also awarded best display in show. The display shows how colorful vegetables can be whether it be from the roots, leaves or fruit and can beat any floral display for colour.

Chrysanthemum display

Now Malvern would not be Malvern with out fruit lots of fruit and there was plenty on offer. RV Roger's from North Yorkshire. Had a lovely display of apples and pears the quality of the fruit was superb and really shows off what good nurserymen they are. The perry pear was being highlighted with the Festival of Perry showing off how good real perry is compared to mass produced pear cider. There was also the annual Apple and Pear show where commercial growers compete against each other to see who has the best fruit this year.

A new addition to Malvern this year was pumpkin carving Simon Mcminnis. Who is said to be the UK's best pumpkin carver was there all weekend carving several pumpkins. It was certainly the best pumpkin carving i have ever seen on the Sunday he was challenged to carve a likeness of Joe Swift from Gardeners World. By the end of the day he managed to get a very good likeness. The only problem i have now is the Girls now want a bit more carved into there pumpkin than the standard triangle eyes and mouth.

Simon Mcninnis Pumpkin carving

My daughter Gwyneth was very pleased to see the Dahlia that is names after her had won first prize. My dad bred this Dahlia many years ago now and names it after my daughter when she was about two years old. It is a water lily type that has become quite popular over the years and is a regular prize winner.

Gwyneth stood next to her Dahlias

Malvern is such a big show and you really do need both days to get to see it all properly there where lots of parts of the show that i never got to see. It would have been nice to have had time to watch some of the entertainment in the arenas and do a little shopping. by 5 o'clock the legs and feet where aching and it was time to go home. Eleanor had already given up while i was talking to Medwyn and parked her self in front of the display next door.

I am already looking forward to Malvern next year and the date is in the diary 26th-27th September 2015 but we still have the spring show before them to look forward too.

 Eleanor had had enough by the end of the day