Later-ish summer perennials that go on flowering and flowering are a bonus for the gardener and for the wildlife feeding and foraging in our green spaces. The light begins to change a we head towards Autumn and the golden hues are embellished by the shift in light quality. Richer, a bit more saturated, a touch…
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TODOS – May
Yet another frantic month, but soon we can sit back with a glass of something cool and admire the results of the last couple of back breaking months. May however is not that month…. Even though a tad on the chilly side this month is a frenzy of annual flower seed planting and planting out…
Continue ReadingGrowing a Cutting Garden – WK4 Arranging
On paper, having grown enough flowers to fill several small shops we now need to know what to do with them. This for me has always been one of the hardest jobs, I love flowers and the house is full of bunches through spring and summer but artfully arranging them?, well that’s quite another thing….
Continue ReadingGrowing a Cutting Garden – WK3 Maintenance
The most challenging week of the course so far. Maintenance and planning are crucial to this type of gardening. Miss a sowing period and in some cases you’ve had it for that year. Interesting to find out that most of us start too early, I am guilty of this in my enthusiasm to get going…
Continue ReadingGrowing a Cutting Garden – WK2 Plant Palettes
I had forgotten how much time these information packed courses demand if one is to make the absolute most of the teacher and their time. Unplanned interruptions for me in week 2 made it a rush to complete in the given timescale, although Charlie is so charming going over a few days wouldn’t be a…
Continue ReadingGrowing a Cutting Garden – WK1 Planning
Week one of the The Cutting Garden course from My-Garden-School went well. I find I am working for myself, out on a freezing morning surveying my current plots. Being a designer is a bit like being the cobblers children (no shoes!). You almost never have time to plan, in entirety, your own plot. Sections yes…
Continue ReadingCut Flower gardening
Keeping to the ‘Slight Edge‘ approach, continual study, expansion of personal experience and knowledge is vital as a designer. This January I’ve been asked to follow, and blog about, another great course from the My Garden School Team Growing a Cutting Garden. I experimented a good deal last year with a dedicated patch for growing…
Continue ReadingLanguage of Flowers
I just read a wonderful fiction novel called the Language of Flowers. So captivating was the storyline that I stayed up half the night and lounged in bed the following morning. Manuals and text books don’t invite this level of commitment very often but an enticing novel does, on occasion. I think Harry Potter might…
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