An organised start to the New Year - read more about getting my flower plot onto the straight and narrow.
Getting organised for 2019
The flowery life - a dream or a nightmare?
From time to time I receive emails from people who remind me of myself. People who love gardening and/or flowers, who dream of leaving their current jobs behind, and plunging themselves into a new career in growing or floristry. When
After the Beast’s departure….
The Beast from the East has blown its way across the British countryside, leaving thigh high snowdrifts barring paths and roads, and my workshop with iced buckets holding their few flowers in a cement-like grip. I’m normally crouched in my
Ranunculove
I’ve got things sprouting in the porch. Little alien claws which swelled when soaked are now layered in a pot, hopefully doing their rooty thing - but I guess I’ll find out in ten days time when I tip them
Another growing season finishes (and another one begins)
When you get to this stage of the growing season and the flowers are starting to flag in the face of murk and drizzle (and that was just August this year…), the time for much clearing and resolving draws nigh.
Out with the old
My hands are battle scarred from DIY this week, having just about recovered from the wear and tear of wreath making over Christmas. Stem scratches are replaced by sanding grazes, and pine resin by the whiff of turps. I’m making
Love the tulip
Tulips: Twisty, unruly and generally misbehaved when you put them in a vase. Turn away from them for a minute and they start doing a good impression of a croquet hoop and impose their own deliberate take on any arrangement into which
Dreaming of dahlias
My house is about to be invaded. The first scouts have already gained a foothold in the living room, and reinforcements are mustering their forces in the porch. Yes, the dahlias have arrived. Those unprepossessing salami tubers in their dusty
Are we nearly there yet….?
Now that Valentine’s Day is over, my thoughts are really turning towards the growing season and Spring. A big box of dahlia tubers arrived yesterday and they’ve already populated my imagination with diva style blooms in a kaleidoscope of colours.
I dig no dig
For those of you who followed my old blog over at Tuckshop Gardener you may remember me describing a ‘no-dig’ experiment at a similar point in the season last year. This month, when I’m starting to clear flower beds and prepare for