There, I've said it.
Many of you may already have known it.
Over the years, family and friends have encouraged and cajoled, but still my fingers remain decidedly un-green.
But I love beautiful gardens, I ooh & aah over them and dream of borders and beds and perfectly manicured lawns. But then my two bouncy most-adorable-pups-in-the-world run straight through my dream, chasing each other at high speed and digging mahoosive muddy holes as they go.
Sigh . . .
And I also love myriads of pretty flowers, and believe it or not we have a little "cut flower patch" in our back garden. It's a result of one of my erstwhile brilliant ideas of what to do with the space when we were having the garden landscaped a few years ago. In the interluding years it's been filled intermittently with beautiful Spring tulips, lovely daffs, pretty petunias. . . and annoying wild-growing weeds.
So, when a friend signed us both up for the "Cut Flowers Masterclass" at lovely Hidcote Manor Garden in the Cotswolds, I thought "yeh, that'll be fab". And of course it was. (Thank you, HH)
We spent the day with the Assistant Head Gardener, learning all about what there is to know when it comes to planting a cut flower garden, and did some bulb planting and seed sowing before we got to play with all the beautiful flowers grown at Hidcote and make up two pretty posies each to take home.
Of course there was a yummy lunch followed by a wander around the gardens, in the mix too.
It was such a lovely day out, and just for those few hours I almost felt like a gardener.
Happy weekend all,
ooh and a big welcome to my lovely new followers - do say hello if you have a moment too.
'til next time
xoxo
ps. in case you're wondering, or indeed concerned for the welfare of the bulbs and seeds I sowed: fear not, they are safely ensconced in my friend's greenhouse for nurturing and safe-keeping until they can be safely planted in the ground ; - )
Your gardening experience sounds similar to mine, Gilly. I have visions of creating an English cottage garden brimming with blooms of all sorts, but as yet my vision has never been reality :) Recently some of my adult children have been reworking the front flower beds trying to improve the soil quality and find plants that can be happy in a good amount of shade and improved water drainage. My youngest daughter and I planted fuchsia hanging baskets for the front porch last weekend. Everything is still alive! I hope you and we enjoy seeing our gardens thrive on both sides of the pond :) xx
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose that you are anything like as bad as you imagine you are in the garden. Annual seeds are good, sprinkle them around, they come up and do their thing and there is no need to worry that they don't live from year to year as they are only meant to do their thing once! I am no gardener, but just keep going is my advice!! Glad you had a good day, I hope that you enjoyed Hidcote! xx
ReplyDeleteLove Amy's advice but I am in the remedial gardening class too. Anything that survives counts as either a miracle or an accident! I dream and hope and intermittently give it a go which is probably why it goes wrong. Tonight I bought a little honeysuckle with the shopping and we'll see if it goes crispy like its predecessors. Your class sounds like a fab day and good luck with the seeds and bulbs.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a gardener either, Gilly, and I freely admit that part of that is laziness. I mean, this afternoon was lovely and I could/should have been weeding or doing some such stuff out there. I was out there ... reading my book! :oD
ReplyDeleteSounds like you enjoyed your time at the garden. Hope your seeds grow well!
ReplyDeleteLiz @ Shortbread & Ginger
Haha you sound a lot like me I too am a wistful gardener. I am going to turn a blind eye to the pots of dead stuff outside my home and admire my ever so green fingered neighbours garden instead....much better! Ali x
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful day! I love Hidcote! I hope your flowers grow and you enjoy your gardening this season :)
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend.
Helen xox
IT sounds like a lovely day out with a good friend. I went outside today with my cup of tea and glanced at my flowers. I actually saw some purple beauties peeking up among the massive amount of weeds that are reproducing at the speed of light. I need to weed, not my favorite part of having a garden.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
Good Afternoon Gilly, What a fabulous way to spend a day, especially with your friends.. I love gardening, and I find there is always something new to learn. Amy mentioned sprinkling seeds in the garden and this is what I am going to do this afternoon. My daughter sent me some seeds which she bought at the V&A Museum to attract bumble bees so I need to be in the garden when the wood pigeons are not around, because as soon as I leave the garden and go indoors they will be swooping down to pick up the seed. Wish me luck.
ReplyDeleteBest Wishes
Daphne
I am so on the wrong continent....or wrong end of the correct one! I would sign up in a HEARTBEAT! sounds like massive fun!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great day out. My dogs are brilliant at digging holes in the lawn too I am constantly throwing grass seed down to no avail.
ReplyDeleteI am so not a gardener either; as I keep telling my husband, he needs to have somebody to appreciate all of his hard work and I think that's where my skills lie. Occasionally I've gone out in the garden armed with a hoe (yes - doesn't that make me sound experienced) only to come back in after about 15 minutes because I don't really know what I'm doing. Very soon we will be moving to a very small house with an extremely small garden so I imagine we will be doing lots of planting in pots. Just remember - there's no point in people making beautiful gardens if they don't have anyone to pat them on the back!
ReplyDelete