Veg Plotting

I've been to another world! It's probably the closest I'll ever get to time travel... ...Thresholds is the brainchild of artist Mat Collishaw who's recreated the world's first public exhibition of photographs in Virtual Reality (VR). Lacock Abbey is a fitting venue seeing it's where the creator of those images - Fox Talbot - lived and many of the photographs he exhibited in 1839 were of the Abbey or plants in his garden. Here you can see me all kitted up with battery back pack, wired for sound via the headphones, and peering into the blue screen of the VR headset. National Trust volunteer Bill is ready to guide me into the room where the action takes place... to take me over the threshold as it were. Artist Mat Collishaw poses in the room where the VR magic happens. Before you get to this point you're guided up a slope and just as you enter the room, the screen suddenly changes from blue to another world. The room's layout is synchronised w...

I've often wondered whether a visit to GLEE would be worthwhile, so the call for blogger ambassadors at the event was a welcome opportunity. Was the trek up the NEC worth it? You bet - with jazz hands, an energetic dance routine, and knobs on. GLEE is huge. There are 4 halls stuffed with 550 exhibitors showing all kinds of wares aimed at the garden retail industry. Naturally buyers are the key audience for this event, and as a result I feared bloggers wouldn't be made welcome. Happily that fear was unfounded, from the moment I presented my entrance ticket right up to closing time. How to make sense of what's going on? Preparation is key. The GLEE website was an essential pre-read with lots of temptation, then I added some key headings I wanted to explore, such as 'funky pots' and The Great Green Wall Hunt . Finally I added some of my personal garden projects for next year, to see what the industry has to offer. Even with that little lot to get through, I so...

It's official! And yes, that IS a spider at the window - it caught a wasp just after I took this selfie I entered a new world at the weekend, courtesy of my friend Sally who invited me to judge the flower classes at Foxham Horse Show . After I said I'd love to, a little bit of jiggery-pokery ensued and I swiftly achieved promotion to fruit, veg AND flower classes. I was totally unaware this event existed until Sally volunteered as show secretary this year. Not only does it exist, it celebrated its 30th birthday on Saturday. The horse show is the main  raison d'etre with around 300 horses attending this year's competitions of all kinds. The produce classes were added a couple of years ago as a fun way of involving more people. Foxham is a small village around 5 miles north of Chippenham. It's a pleasant drive which follows Maud Heath's Causeway  for quite a way and goes through the hamlet of Kellaways. This is the source for the naming of the Kellaways F...

Looking up the hill on Malmesbury Road   Chippenham has many stately horse chestnut trees, on our side of town in particular. Sadly all the ones I know of are heavily infested with leaf mining moth , and lend an early autumnal air to our townscape from July onwards. As the flowers of Aesculus hippocastanum bloom early enough to be unaffected, their candle-like blooms still make a welcome sight in spring. Looking down the hill with the tree featured in the top photo behind me. All the brown you can see are horse chestnut trees Late afternoon sunshine reveals the problem: each brown spot is home to a leaf mining moth It's a while since I wrote about this problem and at the time there was some hope in the shape of a parasitic wasp. Conker Tree Science led a citizen science project to see if  it could help to control moth infestations. Whilst there was indeed some impact, their results show it was insufficient to make the desired effect. Their research continues, ...

Just about in flower in time for this month's Blooms Day , I'm pleased to find sultry  Clematis 'Polish Spirit' has returned to VP Gardens  after a few years absence. This truly is an Against the Odds appearance because I've given this delicate looking viticella clematis the most challenging of conditions: I'm growing it in a pot I haven't watered the pot this year The pot is hidden beneath the ivy I'm growing along the fence Yet it's managed to pop its head up and stick out its tongue as if to say, 'See? My instinct for survival far exceeds your neglect'. I really must release it from its potted prison and give it proper garden room. From my research for today's post I see I couldn't have chosen a better clematis to survive this treatment. The links I've chosen say viticella clematis tolerate dry conditions and 'Polish Spirit' in particular is a tough cookie. Perhaps breeder Brother Stephan knew this ...

Oops that sounds more serious than it actually is! Let's take a deep breath and drink in the scene at the trials field at Mr Fothergill's* instead. It looked splendid last month, even on a rainy day. There's always lots to learn on a press day at Mr Fothergill's and first up was news of their launch of Seasol seaweed plant tonic. I've used the powdered version of this product before and I'm a huge fan of all things seaweed based. Whilst they're not a feed per se , I've found the extra minerals does help keep plants healthier for longer. I must do a proper trial myself sometime... What I didn't know previously was the potential for a dramatic effect on cuttings. As you can see from the photo, the plants in diluted Seasol, have a more extensive root system, which in turn should help the plants romp away when they're potted up. Looking at a bit of a game changer, methinks - could this be the end of my  parsnip seed chitting ? Anothe...

Only the second recorded sighting of a hummingbird hawk moth in Chippenham this year - exciting! Phew how marvellous that was! Many thanks for all your contributions to #mygardenrightnow last weekend ; we had over 400 posts, around 250 contributors and over 500 photos shared across blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Contributors came from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France and Ireland. As usual there was tons of variety in your posts and I'm sneakily pleased about the number of washing lines included in the real gardens you shared. We spotted loads of garden wildlife too thanks to your posts; with our first sighting of hares and my excitement at finding a hummingbird hawk moth in my garden amongst the highlights. We also had our first barbecue - at last. I declare dahlias and tomatoes as the most popular flower and vegetable featured, though onions and roses came close. Here's a summary collage of some of the photos I ...

Thanks to Lou for letting me use her tweeted selfie :)   When an owner says their garden is 'drier than Jerusalem', the last thing you expect is to arrive in a downpour of biblical proportions. That's what happened when I visited Ulting Wick  recently. 'Third time lucky' I thought when I made the arrangements, as I've tried and failed to visit the past 2 years. That thought was almost my downfall. Almost. The rain was coming down so heavily when I arrived I could hardly see out of the car window and I was deafened by the noise. Bright flashes of lightning made the courtyard stand out in stark relief for a second before fading again into the murk. I was giggling so hard at the irony, I struggled to get into my rain gear. Also which of the buildings I'd glimpsed should I run to for shelter? Luckily owner Philippa Burough quickly came to my rescue and guided me to the potting shed where she and new head gardener Lou Nicholls had taken shelter from the ...