Chelsea Flower Show 2013 - The small gardens

I'm sure that you are all a bit bored of Chelsea now, or have completely passed it by, but with everything else that has been going on I'm so behind in my blogging but I like to write up about my visit for my own memories so I hope you'll indulge me. It was the 100th year of the Chelsea Flower Show this year so was one to catch. I try and get down to visit as often as I can and nearly didn't make it this year but had a lovely day trip with my friend Tracy. We are in our element, a nice catch up of news on the train down, time for a relaxing lunch in Carluccios and then to the show for 3.30 entry. Then leave there at 7ish once we can walk round no more and catch the train back home. A long day but a great one and a much needed break.

First we aim for the small artisan gardens which are normally a bit quieter but I think everyone had the same idea this year and it was packed.

The first garden is highlighting the work of the charity WaterAid.

Awash with the cheery orange of marigolds.

Being an honarary Yorkshire lass, may take me longer than 6 years to get accepted fully, I was intrigued by the Welcome to Yorkshire garden celebrating the exciting news that Yorkshire will be hosting the Grand Depart of the Tour de France. The water feature at the front of the garden is highlighting all the towns that the tour will go through. So a quick skim through and there was Huddersfield!

I was quite surprised to find that this garden won the peoples choice for the best small garden.
Moving onto the Walker's Pine Cottage Garden, which I really liked especially the planting, this is my sort of thing lots of alliums, aquilegias and geums.

Not sure about the gold finials but I did like the cloud-pruned pine topiary.

The Un Garreg Garden, meaning One Stone, was designed by two brothers from Brecon in Wales and was another garden with a gorgeous dry stone wall, there were a few around this year.

There was a lovely oak bench very natural placed between two rocks, the planting was very naturalistic.
A lovely whimsical garden chock full of nostalgia was next, filled with old toys, a nice detail of the conkers on strings and the type of tree house you dream about as a child.

It had a gorgeous shrub which I had to search for when I got home, I knew it was a type of Viburnum and just googled Viburnum pom pom and there it was, the proper name is Viburnum opulus 'Roseum'. There was also one in the Roger Platt show garden on Main Avenue. Think I may have to get one of them!

The Hebridean Weaver's Garden was based on a traditional blackhouse on Lewis which is in the Outer Hebrides, the weavers make the Tweed cloth dyed with plants grown in the garden.

A really popular garden was next, it was almost impossible to get close enough to get a decent photo and I only managed one.

This is the exquisite tea house. Kazuyuki Ishihara is a popular designer of the Japanese gardens at Chelsea and his enthusiasm is so infectious when you see him so excited to get his gold medal as well as best small garden from the RHS judges.
Another dry stone wall was found in the next garden called Get Well Soon and a modern take on an apothecary's garden with lots of medicinal plants. A quirky feature was the pebble path which is supposed to walked on with your bare feet so that it can give you a reflexology massage.

So there is a quick tour of the more traditional small gardens, there is also a second category of small gardens which are the Fresh gardens. These tend to have more off the wall designs. Here are a few, we first found Chris Beardshaw being given a tour of the Massachusetts Garden, which is inspired by the poet Emily Dickinson. I did like the leather panels on the wall that were appliqued with common garden flowers.

The Digital Capabilities garden attracted a lot of media attention as it was an interactive garden in that it responded to online social media activity. The plot was divided into two diagonally by a white panelled screen. Every time anyone tweeted #RHSChelsea then one of panels opened letting you get a glimpse of the garden on the other side. I actually really liked the planting on the outside with some gorgeous dusky apricot Verbascums.

Inside was more tropical planting.

But my favourite Fresh garden was The Mindfulness Garden, designed to suggest the chaos of our busy lives where we should make time for quiet contemplation. The planting was inspired by a Jackson Pollock splash painting with dots of colour all round.

Again some of my favourite flowers, Poppies, Veronica, Geums, Aquilegias and Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve'. A zingy mass of flowers going against all the rules of planting in drifts this was just a jumble but for me it worked.
So there is my tour of the small gardens, I'll focus on the main show gardens in the next post.

Rushing headlong into summer

Where has this year gone to, I can't believe its the 6th month already, its all been a bit of a blur. We had a stunted spring and this week we seem to have rushed into summer with some glorious sunshine and some welcomed warmth. The late cool spring has had some benefits the blossom has been glorious and the bulbs have flowered for ages, my tulips have been out for nearly a month and are only just going over now. I think that has been because it has been quite constant weather,  and probably when you think about it, quite good growing weather, with some rain, a few dry days but quite a steady temperature. Though we remember the cold dull summer, my feeling is that one of the worst things that happened last year was the abnormally warm and dry March which was followed by some snow and frosts which started plants off into growth too early and then cut them down. The blossom suffered the most, this year though the blossom has been glorious, even on the ornamental trees. I've got two quite old apple trees in my garden and one is pretty scraggly now but even that one has flowered well this year. At my allotment last year I planted a dwarf apple tree 'James Grieve' and it has blossomed well this year so I'm hoping for my first crop later in the summer.

I don't want to say it too loudly as this weather may not last and we may have another cold wet summer but so far things are growing well at the allotment, I'm really pleased. Not sure whether that is due to the better weather or the fact that I've smothered my plot in masses of well-rotted manure this year and my plants are noticeably more healthy looking and seem to be getting growing quicker after planting out.

So here's an update. Most importantly I've now got my bench at the allotment. Though so far its not got much use, the odd breather but as soon as I sit down I notice something else I was going to do and up I get! It does need a sand down and a re-paint. Its my old one from my garden. I've put a couple of hanging baskets either side with some strawberry plants and I hope I'll be nibbling some of them soon.

So from the top of the allotment down, starting with the two long raised beds. In the brassica bed I've planted some Calabrese 'Marathon', Broccoli 'Romanesco' and Cauliflower 'All the year round'. This is my first attempt at growing cauliflower so we'll have to see how it goes.

I acquired some blue piping which is much better in covering the plants with netting to stop the pigeons which are a real problem on this site, but it was just a bit left over from a job at the local cricket club so need to get some more.

My bed dividers, the chives are looking fab and the butterflies are appreciating them.

Further along this bed are the legumes, I sowed some peas direct into the soil and they took so long to come up that I'd also sowed some more in modules which I planted in between the direct sown rows, but then they all came up so I've got 4 rows of peas, strictly probably too close. But so far doing OK.

I've got lots of healthy broad beans, some which I sowed direct and some from modules. The wigwam is for some runner beans, I sowed some direct but only one has come up. I've got some that I've sowed in pots to fill in the gaps. I've also sowed some dwarf french beans which will fill the rest of this bed.

My onion bed has been split this year. In this bed are the over-wintering onion 'Electric Red' which was swelling nicely, some garlic (again some direct and some module-gown) and some Elephant Garlic which is a new one for me. There also some Shallots, 3 different types, 'Golden Gourmet', 'Red Sun' and some long thin shallots called 'Longor'.

My maincrop onions 'Stuttgarter Giant' and 'Karmen' are in a different bed as there are plans to make a sort-of greenhouse in the onion bed this year. 

My real disastrous bed last year was the roots bed, no luck with beetroot, the celeriac was completely eaten by slugs, carrots and parsnips didn't germinate. All-in-all a waste of space. This year its looking better. I did try sowing the beetroot direct but again no germination but the ones sown in modules are now growing well. So pleased about that as I need some for the Allotment Show. I will sow some more soon too.

Not only do I have beetroot growing in this bed but also the celeriac seems to be ok now, I did keep some seedlings back in case the first lot were eaten by slugs but they don't seem too much of a problem so far this year. But also have some Florence Fennel and some spinach in this bed so already more successful than last year.

Potatoes growing well now.

You can tell that its not been too bad for slugs and snails as I've also managed to grow some lettuce at the allotment, I usually leave those for the garden where I can keep a closer eye on it but my plot neighbour had some spare seedlings of an iceberg type lettuce so I've had a go and then I've sown some 'Little Gem' and some speckled Cos lettuce 'Freckles' and planted them too which are just getting going.

Elsewhere on the plot, I've planted some sweetcorn 'Lark' and may put another patch elsewhere and I'm busy hardening off my courgettes, cucumbers and squash ready to plant out which I will do the end of this week.

Fruit-wise I've already mentioned the apple tree, my rhubarb has been wonderful and I've had lots from that, the one in the opposite bed which I planted last year is growing well too and I'm hoping I can also crop from that next year. My gooseberries and redcurrants are covered in fruits so I'm keeping an eye on them. The strawberries are also covered in flowers and my 3 patches have now been mulched with straw.

The alpine strawberries which edge the beds had looked very straggly at the end of the winter but a good haircut and they have come back strong.

At the bottom of the plot which is quite damp and a bit shady I've got a thornless blackberry, 3 raspberry canes and a Tayberry. The raspberries I'm hoping for a crop from in the autumn and the Tayberry which languished a bit last year has grown with vigour this year and may need some taming.

Flowers are coming into bloom too, I've got self-seeded Calendula, Cerinthe, Nigella and Borage all over the plot which will add some colour soon. I've also sown some Calendula seed from Flighty which I've kept separate. I've planted out some sunflowers, another thing that was defeated by the slugs last year, and some Echium and Tithonia. I've a few things still to go in like some Dahlias and Cosmos. I've some lovely Camassias, a pale blue' which are loved by the bees.

I picked my first bouquet of the year the other day, the lovely chive flowers, with pale blue Veronica and some bronze fennel which I topped up with some Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' from my garden.

I'm loving the Veronica, I've got a patch at the allotment but I've also got a whole row in my garden at home its so easy to propagate and its spread from a small patch which I got from my mums garden and it has lovely delicate flowers which bloom from the bottom upwards so flower for quite a long while and then the rosettes of the leaves are nice and largely evergreen. I think thats going to spread round my front garden next.

Apologies for the long post but I've had a lot to catch up on.

A Sad Spring

This is such a difficult post to write, I didn't know whether to talk about this here or let it go by, but this blog is not just about my gardening its about my life and life is made up of shades of dark and light. We all have our share of difficult times and my family have had a tough few months. My dad has not been in great health for a few years but this has escalated in the last 6 months, my family and I have been there with him through many hospital admissions. I now know the M62 like the back of my hand.
I'm sad to say that my lovely dad passed away a couple of weeks ago, and though he'd been poorly for quite a while, that never really makes it any easier. He died peacefully in hospital and I have to say the care he recieved there in his last days was impecable, caring and respectful. I'm incredibly lucky to be part of a big family of 4 sisters and a big brother, I'm the youngest, and we are all supporting each other and my mum to get through these sad days.

I won't write much here except to say what a big support dad's been in my life, taking me round to all my activities when I was young, helping me through university, starting my first job and always there when I needed a big hug. I'm incredibly fortunate to say that I know that my dad and mum have always been there for me, not everyone can say that. Dad wasn't a great gardener himself, surprising maybe as his dad was such a keen gardener and Grandad was one of my inspirations for getting into growing my own, but dad helped my mum out in the garden and they loved to spend time out there with their dog.
Having my garden and my allotment has helped me get through the last few months to take time out from all the difficult times and I know it will continue to help me get by. Spring is a beautiful time, with May probably being my favourite time of year, and though things are behind this year its lovely that at last the blossom is out and tulips are in bloom but a sad time for me this year.

Spring has finally sprung

Thought I would try and write a less frantic blog post this time, though I think that will be hard as its such a busy time. I'm struggling to find time to write my blog and I'm behind on reading all my favourite bloggers but I'm sure I'll catch up soon. I've been busy in both the garden and at the allotment. In the garden my spring plants are finally getting going, with masses of primroses and an ornamental cherry blossom whose flowering was short but very sweet.

The daffodils are just finishing but they have been lovely, amongst others I have 'Jetfire' and 'Minnow', the coolish weather has kept them flowering for such a long time. Another plant which seems to have liked the cool weather has been the violas and the pansies which have really taken off again in my garden. My tulips are just starting to colour up.

One exciting sighting has been a flock of birds in a tree in the park near my house, I walk through it on my way home from work and a couple of evenings, at 5.50-6ish, I've walked past and there has been a flock of biggish birds making a lot of noise, I would describe it as trilling, but on mass. The first time I walked past I knew they weren't anything normal but I couldn't really get a good look to see them. Anyway they were there again the next evening and this time I stopped and tried to get a good look, they were the size of a blackbird but sort of plumper and light coloured, plus they had a crest on their head. So I texted my bird guru, my brother Will, and he said they would be Waxwings (this page has a link to listen to their sound, I just played it and confused Bob my cat, his ears were twitching all over the place!), gorgeous birds over from Scandinavia, he thought they were having a pre-roost gathering and would soon be flying back home. Well they've gone again now, not seen them since, but a lovely surprise.

At the allotment my fruit bed is coming on a treat, I've got masses of flowers on my redcurrant, going to be my best harvest yet and my gooseberry bush likewise has lots of flowers and the bees have been busy there. I think I'm going to have to properly net the bush this year, as much as I love the birds, this crop is for me.

Its peak rhubarb season and as with many other bloggers I've just started harvesting mine, my first dish was a rhubarb and ginger crumble which was delicious. I have some plans, if I have enough, to have a go at making some rhubarb wine, following the advice of the lovely John Wright, a recipe he posted in the Guardian in 2011.

I've planted my onions and shallots, which I got going in modules and my garlic is doing well, there are some tentative plans to build a sort of greenhouse in the corner of this bed so I've had to put my maincrop onions in one of the other beds.

I've some broad beans which I sowed in modules, the ones I sowed direct have not come up yet, neither have my peas! I never have much luck with sowing direct.

My potatoes are in and I'm waiting for the first shoots, though we've had a few light frosts this week so hope they will be OK.

I've been trying to finish off the structure of my allotment, last year I divided the big main plot into 3 beds, though the paths at the bottom end of the plot were not finished as this bit was a mass of buttercups and grass. I've been finishing off the ends of the beds and the paths. I can't decide whether to dig up this green path in the picture below and create a woodchip path. It looks quite Ok at the moment, but if you look closely its full of buttercups, though maybe if I keep it short like a lawn the grass will take over. Will leave it for now and see whether it causes much trouble. The patch of earth next to the fence has got my thornless blackberry plant, three raspberry canes, which are just starting to come up and a tayberry, which I'm hoping will get going this year. I've done my final digging of the year digging over these bottom beds, with plenty of muck, this is where my squash and courgettes will go. I'm hoping for better things for these this year.

I've had my first and probably my last crop from the only surviving plant of Purple Sprouting Broccolli. I planted them too late and most got demolished by slugs, note to self, be organised this year.

Finally a quick thanks to Anna at Green Tapestry for the lovely gift in the post, some foxgloves seeds, I'll sow them in a month or so, one of my favourite flowers.