Veg Plotting

We often think of the phrase Flaming June to mean a period of good weather resulting in a great show of growth and flowers. As a gardener I feel it has a double meaning: the aforesaid good weather, or a polite way of swearing about the opposite reality. Of course, we should now be in that lovely period of frost-free gardening where tender plants can be left out without fear of punishment and the Clematis are really showing themselves off in my garden as pictured. It's also a month of many and varied events, so let's see what the You Ask, We Answer team have found for us: 1-7: National volunteer week . Lots of information available for you to find a voluntary activity to suit you. Happily my post last year inspired several of you to get out there and do something rewarding :) 5th until October: Future Gardens opens to the public. This is an exciting new garden festival which continues until 4th October. You'll find lots more information over at Zoe's plus...

Oh me, oh my - it seems like only 2 minutes ago we were in March and Out on the Streets ! But no, it's nearly June and time for another look at public planting in your neighbourhood and/or on your travels this year. It's entirely up to you to decide what to show us, it just needs to be in the public eye like the pictured bright planters (and a rather nice tree lined avenue behind don't you think?) I found in Cardiff recently. We had a wide variety of contributions in March which you might like to look at for inspiration, or here's some further ideas: Choose a site, perhaps the one closest to where you live and show us how it changes through the seasons. OR perhaps you have something to say about the way plants are used in the public area of an office or another building you visit frequently Write about a community project that's happening in your neighbourhood, maybe one you're involved in yourself The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - contrasting examples you...

Brunnera 'Jack Frost' - a spectacular introduction to my shady border in 2008 Say the word shade to a gardener and you're likely to get a long face and a pitying look in return. Yes, the planting palette can be a little tricky in a shaded situation, but it doesn't mean that the border can't look spectacular. I've still to get it totally right, but I treat shade as an opportunity to have a different look to part of my garden. And in the height of summer, a shady spot can be rather a relief can't it? I have 2 shaded areas as both the front and back of the house is bordered by public land, which has a native hedgerow and trees planted along its entire length. This gives us privacy of course, but it does mean my Eastern facing borders are shaded for much of the day. The trees are deciduous, so at least there's a fair amount of constant light in late autumn through to late spring. I garden on a clay soil (and in Zone 8), so at least moisture isn...

Last Friday I found a long brown envelope addressed to me in the kitchen. Hmm , I thought, it's a handwritten address, so it can't be anything nasty like a tax demand or bill . NAH: What's that? Me (after frantically ripping the envelope open): Um, it's a complimentary ticket to see Dan Pearson at the Hay Festival on Sunday . NAH: Who's he and how did you get that? Me: He's a hot shot garden designer and I entered a Wiggly Wigglers' e-mail competition, ages ago, thinking in the unlikely event I won I could go whilst you're working on your steam engine at Midsomer Norton. I'd totally forgotten I'd entered, so what a nice surprise! NAH: Slight problem. Your car's just failed it's MOT and the garage can't get the part needed until we're on holiday. Your car's not safe to drive long distances. Me (absolutely gutted): Oh. NAH: Well, I could go to Midsomer Norton on Monday and we go to Hay on Wye for our day out together ...

...Snails It seems even Chelsea isn't immune from pestilential ravages such as slugs and snails. But in keeping with being one of the world's biggest flower shows, their problems are of course on a much larger scale ;) For further S uper posts on the theme of S , do visit the ABC Wednesday blog .

Right, that's Chelsea done and dusted, apart from a couple of snippets to follow shortly. Of course what most of you have been waiting for is how I got on at Victoria's . I have teased you rather haven't I? I've been selfishly hugging my delicious visit to myself just to make everything last that little bit longer, but now it's time to tell you all about it. It never ceases to amaze me how generous people are in the blogosphere and how they're not complete strangers when you meet them for the first time. Victoria and I were nattering away from the word go and we hardly paused for breath until Emmat arrived for breakfast on Tuesday morning. Of course the first thing we did when I arrived was to have a long look at the garden. The view I'm showing you is from one of the two huge sets of patio doors across the back of the house. This is a garden which can't be ignored from there and rightly so. Of course I was already familiar with it, but in the form of...

To complete all the floriferous and designer gorgeousness I've shown you over the past few days, here's a few snippets and lessons learned I must tell you now before I forget them. That way you and and I are guaranteed a tippity top time when we next go to Chelsea... I must cross entire continents to go and hear Roy Lancaster - thanks for the tip James , but sadly I was too late. Gnomes and all sorts aren't hidden on just Jekka McVicar's stand, lots of the nurseries do it. I'm now imagining they all have a subversive competition every showtime to see who can outwit the RHS by hiding the largest and most tasteless object on their stand and not get caught. Shall we play a game next time and see what we can find? It's great to go with someone to compare notes. It's even better when that person produces a packet of biscuits at just the right moment. Lots of ordinary mortals like me go to Chelsea and if you wear your usual comfortable gear, you can nip in a...

The real awards have been handed out and the People have also made their choice . Now it's time for me to consider the more sought after obscure prizes for this year's show gardens at Chelsea. Ladies and Gentlemen, please don your tuxedos, tiaras and gladrags for the most exclusive awards ceremony of them all. Beamed live into your home from Chippenham at a mere click of a mouse, please welcome the inaugural lighthearted Vivacious Perennial Prizes . Note: the gardens highlighted in yesterday's post are excluded from these awards as I've already written about them in some detail. The Barbara Cartland: Most creative use of a single pink cultivar - Quilted Velvet for their 1000s of Busy Lizzies ( Impatiens ) Fork to Fork : Best display of vegetables in a show garden - Freshly Prepared by Aralia , especially for their yummy kitchen splashback living wall Hide and Seek : Worst plant:hardscaping combination - The Japanese Tranquil Garden for their innovative use of mauv...

If you read my Anticipating Chelsea post, I expect you're not surprised that Future Nature was my favourite show garden. It doesn't look much like a conventional garden does it? But it's much more than just a garden: it's packed with lots of research (15 years worth) and ideas on how to tackle our really big gardening issues like climate change, coping with periods of flash flooding and drought, gardening for wildlife etc. etc. Whilst the garden's rectangular in shape, within that there's a spiral design which deals with water entering the garden just like it drains out of your bath's plughole . At the top of the garden are areas representing green rooves which soak up the rainfall like a sponge, below that are planters and water pools which take up any runoff from the roof. Thus periods of intense rainfall can be coped with without overloading our drains and the water can be stored away to be used during times of drought. Everywhere there's a lo...

Come with me for a wander around the Great Pavilion at Chelsea in just 34 slides. Such wonders and colours are there to behold and people to meet, but sadly I can't waft the scent at you which was wonderful. Except for the roses, surprisingly - did anyone else find the vast stands of them were curiously lacking in scent? I'm a useless pap though. Whilst I managed to capture Jekka McVicar , Chris Beardshaw (especially for Arabella ) and Christine Walkden, I totally failed to with the very orange Alan Titchmarsh, plus James , Lila das Gupta, Bunny Guinness, James Wong and Wayne Hemingway :( James as usual was a delight though I did tease him rather about his new role as TV's royal commentator. My friend H now calls me a garden tart because I was forever going off and chatting to people, but that's the best bit of the show! I was expecting to be disappointed at not being able to buy plants, but in reality I found the stands were much calmer places than usual with plenty...