So the weather continued to confound in the early days of May and weeks that were forecast as settled delivered surprises, with several frosts landing from nowhere. The shops and centres had been full of plants for weeks, but the public confidence waived. Then suddenly in the middle of the month there was an urgencyRead More
And the craziness continues… What a frustrating season, with gardens and gardeners all out of step. In mid-April the consensus was that we were three weeks behind with our planting and before much could be planted there was still the preparatory stuff. Every hole filled with water, so many of us have only just putRead More
Hooray, the clocks have changed and we can garden in the evening (if it stops raining). It’s actually good to see the back of March, what a month that was. The snow was totally disarming and the cold nights have been a test. Of course the thaw and the heavy rain has made the groundRead More
The spring draws ever closer and hopefully we leave behind the bleakness of recent weeks. It has been a curious winter, with some very precious sunlit days, but the treacherous scything wind has never been faraway and the cold has bullied joint and muscle. How I ached some days. Still we are on the turn,Read More
Hooray, I can see the light. With January behind us, the spirit starts to rise, the extended days just 8 weeks away. The winter has been, well, wintry with a treacherous mix of conditions, changing by the hour. Every second person nursed a cough or a sore throat and whilst there were outdoor jobs thatRead More
Happy New Year! Yep, it’s the start of another one. December was a bit of a mischief wasn’t it? A few thumping cold nights and the first end of year snow for a while. Our big Christmas seller was fleece. It was at close, an interesting year. I always think January is an exciting month,Read More
How mad this shrinking calendar! I remember clearly the conversation that I had with my Dad, the one when he told me that ‘the years would fly by’. He wasn’t wrong, this year the nursery is 70 and I have worked the site for almost 44 years. Is it really July already? Of course itRead More
April bounced along, in fact it flew once Easter had arrived. The late Easter was the starting pistol and we had the benefit of a few weeks of light evenings ahead of it to prepare. So many people use it as the start time for gardening, so there were many lined up for the chargeRead More
Hooray, the clocks have changed and April is upon us. The last month seems to have flown and a few balmy days really brought life swiftly to the hedgerows. Catkins came from nowhere and the land was suddenly alive. The trees were full of bantering birds, of males showing off and jostling for attention andRead More
So February carried on where March left off and the teeth were bared to remind us of the treacherous unpredictability of our winters. Snow flurries punctuated the month of February and night temperatures teased around freezing. Life is returning though and a couple of warm afternoons brought midges out across the pond and one orRead More