YAWA: Your Events Guide for April


April's always been tulip month for me - summed up by the Tulip Festival (sadly no more) held annually when I was a child in Birmingham. Cannon Hill Park became temporarily Dutch during the Easter holidays and the park's beds were packed with every conceivable colour and variety. Nowadays, I have to get my annual fix at nearby Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury, where thousands are waiting to greet me at some point over the next few weeks. The other great floral event this month is the fritillaries at North Meadow, Cricklade; a nationally important nature reserve - the site has 80% of the nation's wild population - Wiltshire as a whole has 95% of them. They're beginning to peep through now - the link is regularly updated with how they're doing - and the meadows should be spectacular at the end of the month. Teas will be served in the village hall to raise money for the church - you can't get more English than that.

The presence of Easter also signals the start of the main tourist season, so many gardens and properties will be opening their gates and doors after their winter hibernation. I believe Madame Zelda is also beginning to stir out of her sherry induced slumbers and will be along shortly with her highly individual selection of must-see gardens for you to visit ;)

Dates for your diary this month:

10-13th - Easter. Lots of traditional events, such as egg rolling and the Bacup Nutters Dance: the Common Ground website has full details

17-19th - RHS Show Cardiff - the first show outside London of the year

19th - National Garlic Day - yum!

22nd - Earth Day

23rd - St George's Day - the patron saint of England. Why this isn't a national holiday is a mystery to me. This day also marks the start of the British Asparagus Festival in Evesham, a series of events celebrating this luxury vegetable over its main cropping season from now until 21st June.

25th April - 3rd May - National Beanpole Week. A celebration of all things coppicing - thanks for reminding me Anna!

Here's to a great month - as usual if you've anything to add to April's diary, do let us know here at You Ask, We Answer ;)

Comments

  1. Gardeness2 April 2009 at 21:34

    We have an upcoming tulip festival in nearby Skagit Valley. I hope to make my first trip this year. That's a lovely photo, great color. Now, about this Garlic Day ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP2 April 2009 at 22:19

    Sounds good! Thanks for the photo compliment - the first time I took it I realised I'd left the dustbin (aka Trash can) in the background!

    I believe garlic day is also celebrated in the States on the same day? My first googling had references to it coming from there (and calling it International Garlic Day), but the link I finally chose seems to think it has much deeper roots.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anna2 April 2009 at 22:50

    We have passed Abbey House Gardens a few times on our treks to Dorset - must visit one of these days. Glad to hear that Madame Z is coming out of hibernation - perhaps she could mount a campaign for a bank holiday on April 23rd :) Tis long overdue !

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rob (ourfrenchgarden)2 April 2009 at 22:55

    The Asparagus festival would be the one for me (if I were a little nearer).

    Weren't we at one point the biggest asparagus grower in the world?

    Rob

    ReplyDelete
  5. Linda2 April 2009 at 23:43

    Some fun and unusual days

    April 3 is find a rainbow day.

    April 5 is National read a road map day.

    April 16 is Eggs Benedict day

    April 24 is Pig in a blanket day

    and how about this one ...
    April 7 is No housework day

    ReplyDelete
  6. kate smudges3 April 2009 at 00:16

    Hi VP ~ You live in a wonderful place. All those tulips, all sorts of activities this month and then there's Madame Zelda. Quite the oracle, I'd say!! I'm looking forward to hearing more words of prophecy from here. I hope April brings great weather. It was so good to read your comment!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aunt Debbi/kurts mom3 April 2009 at 03:20

    Aunt Debbi, YAWA A.P.E Texas branch correspondent here. In north Texas this month we have a lot do to including the Kaufman County Master Gardener Spring Seminar on 4/4. Ennis Bluebonnet Trail Festival 4/17-19 and Dallas Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum through 4/12.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hermes3 April 2009 at 06:42

    And the Gardens Open schemes start to get interesting (not least because it is getting warm enough to enjoy coffee / cake on the lawns!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nutty Gnome3 April 2009 at 09:24

    I have to confess a greater fondness for fritillaries than for tulips, but hey....I can't like everything!

    As April 23rd is my birthday, I am all in favour of it becoming a Bank Holiday! - and surrounded by garlic and asparagus would be bliss!

    Have you been to The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight? Fantastic place, well worth a visit. The garlic bulbs I bought there produced my best ever garlic crop - and the garlic ice-cream was....suprisingly nice!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Monica the Garden Faerie3 April 2009 at 14:59

    Your unique place names and festivals really make me long for England. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Deb @ Beholder's Eye3 April 2009 at 17:24

    Good Lord...I'd forgotten about the Tulip Festival at Cannon Hill. You are indeed a mine of flashbacks. Thanks VP! x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous6 April 2009 at 16:52

    It is all so grand. No one is more ready than I am. I plan on spending every dry hour outside from now till Autumn. I love the basket of flowers above.

    ReplyDelete
  13. VP8 April 2009 at 20:47

    Anna - if you find yourself going there, let me know and we can meet up :)

    Rob - it does look rather yummy doesn't it - though I do pity the poor guy dressed as an asparagus ;)

    Crafty - thank you - I especially like the no housework day, though I must confess I have more of those than I have housework ones!

    Kate - it was my pleasure to come on over. It's been way too long. Madame Zelda is imminent ;)

    Deb - those events look fantastic. If only I could go to them...

    Hermes - you're a guy after my own heart. Coffee and cake are compulsory ;p

    Nutty Gnome - happy birthday for the 23rd. And thank you, you've just given me an idea for a post on Garlic Day :)

    Monica - I'm always amazed you know so much about us :)

    Deb - do you know I thought of you when I was writing about Cannon Hill. Sadly I couldn't find any piccies on t'internet so we could have a proper wallow in nostalgia!

    FGG - I'm finding it increasingly difficult NOT to spend every waking hour outside. Something may have to give blogwise at this rate :(

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more