tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48390313692279481612024-03-13T18:50:48.435+00:00REAL CUT FLOWERScut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.comBlogger376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-36124871431595385322016-02-28T07:59:00.001+00:002016-02-28T07:59:18.540+00:00Midsummer memories on Love My Dress BlogHappy reminders that we do have lots of utterly beautiful flowers - at this time of year floral abundance is less obvious!<br />
<br />
Many stunning pictures on:<br />
http://www.lovemydress.net/blog/2016/02/english-country-garden-wedding-elegance.html#more-410998<br />
<br />
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-65842168482087784302016-02-19T11:53:00.003+00:002016-02-19T11:53:51.432+00:00Weeding weather
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<span lang="EN-US">Winter 2015/16 has gone on too long. I
believe we have had about 5 days in three months when it hasn’t rained or blown
a gale. My gardens are at sea level on heavy Dorset clay, so there is nowhere
for the water to drain and it sits, and sits, and sits. Usually I have been
able to work the beds and get them ready during the winter for spring sowing,
or at least to mulch the perennial areas. This year even mulching has been
difficult as the wheelbarrows sink into the grass leaving muddy ruts, and
collecting the composts has been tricky for a ratphobic as even the rotted
leafmould heaps are full of rodents who have been using them for warm and dry
bed and breakfast accommodation. The little devils have also taken up residence
in the raised and covered ranunculus beds, enjoying the crumbly soil and warm
dry plastic roofing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I know it will all come right, things will
eventually dry out because they have to, seeds will eventually get into the
ground to sprout grow and bloom, and it is not worry about that that makes me
gloomy, but the lack of opportunity to get out there and weed. I love weeding,
for me it might even be the most satisfying bit of gardening – which probably
sounds bizarre when I consider the thousands of beautiful flowers I grow, the
bountiful harvests of home grown blooms, the scents, colours, textures,
shapes…. I only get to know the flowers through weeding, only by working among
them can I see what’s going on, check their health, their state of growth, see
what unexpected treasures are springing up among those that are eagerly
anticipated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I weed most beds on hands and knees, bum up
and head down. I may approach a weedy patch reluctantly but within minutes I am
right in there, enjoying the challenge of teasing out the miscreants and
freeing the wanted plants from the greedy little interlopers. There is such
satisfaction in managing to winkle out some little buttercups from a just
shooting astrantia without damaging any of the new growth, or from a patch of
Trollius or Maids of Kent. I almost feel joy when I successfully unearth trails
of couchgrass from where they are happily disguised in patches of small iris or
tiny blue flowered Sisyrinchium. I become obsessive about couch, carefully
trying to trace each length back to its roots, and I admit that I lay out
particularly long lengths and have been known to measure them – my record still
standing at over 17 feet from my previous garden! I obviously fail to clear it
in some areas as every year considerable time is spent carefully removing
lengths from large clumps of pinks, with a necessarily delicate touch and a
very sharp pointed copper trowel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">That is another point of obsession, the
right tool for the job. For handwork I will only use the copper trowel, it fits
my hand perfectly, is balanced just right, and the blade is sharp if you need
it to be and slices through ground with ease in any condition. It will also
slice through fingers when weeding too quickly in well crumbled soil but apart
from that caveat it is the perfect tool. I also have a hand fork from the same
stable, and a scratcher, but in practice I all but never use them and weeding
is all about me and my trowel. And my waterproof trousers, the other essential
– I don’t choose good thick padded trousers but keep several pairs of thinner
ones that are easily hosed down then hurled into the washing machine and dry in
no time. I think I’ve had two pairs for at least eight years and they are still
hole free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I’ve tried all manner of kneeling pads,
those attached to the knee and freeform, but I find them universally annoying
and would rather have dirty knees or trousers in summer, or go for waterproofs
at other times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In one of the annual beds the first job of
the year is always removing seedlings of a decorative little grass called
Frosted Explosion. Its seedheads are delicate ephemeral fluffy wands that add a
summer fairy’s touch to bridal bouquets, but the name gives it away, if not
picked in time these seed heads disperse in an explosive way to colonise
whatever ground they land upon. Why oh why don’t all the annuals that I want to
self seed enjoy the same productive habit? Quaking grass is another spreading weed
in this garden, and I can spend hours happily attempting to remove all traces
from a bed only to find more seedlings appearing a few weeks later. I don’t
mind either of these grasses, and I do indeed use them, but they do try to
colonise ground that really should be home to others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Bindweed is less benign and refuses to disappear
from some beds but it also presents a very satisfactory weeding experience, the
challenge of detaching those tiny young shoots that so often start in the
centre of established shrubs and perennials, the joy of unearthing a long
multi-rooted length. It has taken me three years to get on top of bindweed, and
I know there will be more this year. It doesn’t appear in the first flush but
waits to take you by surprise when you think the bed is weed free, I shall be
watching!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This winter there have been so few weeding
days. Usually a good clear up means there shouldn’t be much to do over the
winter but this year the rains came too early before all was cleared, and it
has been so mild that growth has continued so there will be a huge amount of
necessary weeding action once the weather does finally clear. The perennial
field beds are filled with giant buttercups that need to come out and will take
more serious attack than a trowel offers, but to come at them with a border
fork will do no good to the soil where standing water scarcely disappears before
the next downpour. Earlier this week beautiful frosts gave way to a couple of
clear days but the wet ground was first frozen then cold cloddy and sticky, I
could only manage a couple of hours otherwise I would have done more harm than
good on ground that will turn into a hard crust when the rain stops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Until the ground improves, I wait, but I am
impatient now. After a long mild spell it has been colder this week so does not
feel the right time to start sowing under cover. I sense a huge rush coming on
in a few weeks, but somehow I have to bide my time till then, weeding must
wait, and so must I.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-66698794359095814462015-04-01T17:29:00.007+01:002015-04-01T17:35:58.930+01:00Hosts of hellebores<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One reason I hardly ever blog is because my broadband makes it bloody difficult. It can take around 25 minutes to get logged on, write something upload some photos, have the photos deleted for no reason, lose the text, lose everything....... 25 minutes is several bnarrows of compost or manure, a lot of weeding, or planting, or picking, or arranging, or mailing. </div>
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I keep getting emails about superfast broadband coming my way one day. The look again and one day is by 2020. O.62 Mb speed is scarcely functionning.....</div>
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There was some text with this, but I can't take the time to do it again. But here are some pretty pics of some of the many hells in the garden, it refused to upload any more for some unknown reason... and a glimpse of the magnifcent magnolias, and some pretty little windflowers now carpeting the wild garden among the primroses and daffs.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1GIcn_zZ1m4/VRwWXYN42TI/AAAAAAAAC9E/4gYPa5doFj0/s1600/hell%2Bdouble%2Bpink%2Bmar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1GIcn_zZ1m4/VRwWXYN42TI/AAAAAAAAC9E/4gYPa5doFj0/s1600/hell%2Bdouble%2Bpink%2Bmar.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-88199279996568281992015-02-11T18:08:00.002+00:002015-02-11T18:08:19.612+00:00How long?Note to self in November didn't seem to work. Hey ho. Current note in Into Gardens explains current love of the quiet of winter before the rush starts.<br />
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http://into-gardens.com/feature/shhhthe-silent-joy-winter-garden/</div>
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An advertisment for a part time wild floristry assistant has just garnered 42 replies. I don't know how to sort them all out as so many sound delightful.</div>
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-47558186582344977972014-11-27T16:01:00.003+00:002014-11-27T16:01:35.317+00:00REQUEST PLEASE Photos of cut flower growing in 2014 Note to self. Must resurrect this blog now the main season is over and there is a little more time (in theory!) Three months since the last blog is not satisfactory...<br />
Now I'm tapping the keyboard in the hope that some of you cut flower growers (experienced or complete beginners) may be interested in participating in a photo archive project.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">I’m trying to collate photos to show what’s happening in cut flower growing in the Uk today.
Please can you help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’d like to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I’m looking for photographs of the widest
possible range of cut flower gardens/ small scale cut flower businesses which
will show various approaches to cut flower growing – and the reality of the
hard work and the mercurial weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Photos don’t have to be glamorous, I’m not
looking for perfection, I’m not looking for photos of beautiful flower
arrangements, just glimpses of different situations at different times of year.
I’d really like to see some pictures of gardens at the down times as well as
bursting with flowers. It would be great to see some gardens preparing for the
season as well as in full swing. I feel that people will be just as interested
to see the nuts and bolts (sowing, planting, weeding and more weeding) as much
as the beautiful rewards. I would like to show different ways of cut flower
gardening, on different types of sites, with different approaches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There are two reasons for trying to collect
varied images, one is for some online teaching about cut flower growing – I want to broaden this so although I'm the one with the mouth it's not just about me and my style but to show how there are many many ways to pursue cut flower growing, so everyone’s photos will be credited with your website details to provide a
resource pointing to the current crop of UK growers . The other reason is to try
and get a picture of what’s going on in the cut flower growing world in 2014,
partly because it would be interesting to get the broad picture, and partly
because there’s a possibility of a collaborative ebook including features about
different growers round the UK. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Photos need to be reasonable quality, but
if you’d like to mail me some snaps first to take a look at that would be
fantastic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I look forward to hearing from you as soon
as you have a chance. Preferably sooner! THANK YOU!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-62801146892633206242014-09-01T12:14:00.002+01:002014-09-01T12:14:48.294+01:00August passes 2....and judging by more August hanging decorations and garlands, things just keep getting wilder<br />
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-70510704186876660572014-09-01T12:12:00.006+01:002014-09-01T12:12:58.613+01:00August passes.....Weddings, courses, bouquets, bunches, churches, tents, roses, even vegetables and another month in flower world has flown by. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ymiGNFOGhQU/VARS5xTfoeI/AAAAAAAAC4c/u2lVDP-dR_g/s1600/devon%2Btable%2Bflowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BfMQQy8bngM/VARS51RDGII/AAAAAAAAC4A/mSkx_bGpY1M/s1600/devon%2Bwedding%2Bmarquee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BfMQQy8bngM/VARS51RDGII/AAAAAAAAC4A/mSkx_bGpY1M/s1600/devon%2Bwedding%2Bmarquee.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ymiGNFOGhQU/VARS5xTfoeI/AAAAAAAAC4c/u2lVDP-dR_g/s1600/devon%2Btable%2Bflowers.jpg" height="213" width="320" /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HcF6Pnlo80g/VARS4oWt8oI/AAAAAAAAC3o/jrxdhBm-BE4/s1600/devon%2Bflower%2Bjug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HcF6Pnlo80g/VARS4oWt8oI/AAAAAAAAC3o/jrxdhBm-BE4/s1600/devon%2Bflower%2Bjug.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s0enadH4v58/VARS44X3dpI/AAAAAAAAC3s/jqM_U9hgE98/s1600/devon%2Bflower%2Bjug2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s0enadH4v58/VARS44X3dpI/AAAAAAAAC3s/jqM_U9hgE98/s1600/devon%2Bflower%2Bjug2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-86159365715868636422014-07-30T12:12:00.001+01:002014-07-30T12:12:44.212+01:00A perfect day in the officeIf only every day at the office looked like this<br />
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<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/qfd6wt0bbzd9zjl/BFS_FINAL.mov">https://www.dropbox.com/s/qfd6wt0bbzd9zjl/BFS_FINAL.mov</a></span></div>
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garden and office envy anyone?</div>
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Apart from days at the BFS, there have been weddings, parties, large funeral, sunshine and more sunshine. No time to weed so lots of them too....</div>
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A brief flavour in pictures:</div>
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-32556351530762269362014-07-14T23:17:00.002+01:002014-07-14T23:17:22.583+01:00Weddings, courses, summer....So busy there's just no time to blog..... a brief preview below of last Saturday at Symondsbury, the new Tithe Barn, a lovely new west Dorset venue<br />
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://helenlisk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/tithe-barn-symondsbury-wedding-dorset.html">http://helenlisk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/tithe-barn-symondsbury-wedding-dorset.html</a></span></div>
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Gardens are blooming, lots of lovely people on courses at The British flower school, and a fun day with Boden on the road last Friday, here's a snap of my wonderful helper Jessies Booth putting the bags out containing all the bouquets the Boden crowd made in a quick workshop at Mapperton, and typical scenes in the flower studio ...More soon I hope.</div>
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-74173828628632624272014-06-12T12:38:00.002+01:002014-06-12T12:38:41.983+01:00Rock My WeddingCheck out the beauties of our home grown flowers on the current RMW....<br />
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http://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/a-pre-raphaelite-love-affair/cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-8409444423930594462014-06-01T22:32:00.003+01:002014-06-01T22:32:41.282+01:00Where are British flowers heading?<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
There's a bigger than ever buzz about British flowers, it's not just the noise of bees, but the noise of hundreds of busy small growers. But where's it all heading? </div>
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There are too few traditional commercial growers of favourite blooms left in this country, we all know how the industry has declined, how the government are happy to support for example Colombian flower growers to encourage them to plant something other than poppies, to support Kenyan growers to encourage economic self sufficiency etc etc but meanwhile no support is given to traditional excellent British growers who are allowed to slip out of business while cheap imports slip in. </div>
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At Covent Garden market last week Helen, who heads the team running the market for the owners, bemoaned the difficulty of getting good British supply. it is not just that market traders are set in their ways of doing business (they are, it works for them) but that they can't get a reliable British supply chain, or, when they can (there are still some wonderful commercial growers in this country) they can't get the flowers at a competitive price compared to imports. Helen recognises that there is a huge growth in interest in British flowers, and a huge growth in small scale producers but most are, as she put it, hobbyists, rather than potentially commercial suppliers. </div>
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Now many of today's small growers may feel that "hobbyist' is an unjust label. And it cannot be applied with a broad brush. And everyone has to start somewhere. But it does seem to be the fact that most of the new breed of small scale growers are working for themselves and direct selling rather than supplying florists or anything resembling the wholesale market. I too am guilty as charged. From our larger gardens in Herefordshire we were producing some spot crops for florists as well as direct customers, and sold many later summer and early autumn crops wholesale as well as direct, but we started the business specifically to sell direct, setting up deliberately to deliver flowers by mail order as a) no one else was providing entirely home grown mixed bouquets at that time and b) geography. And that has always been what our business has been based on.</div>
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But it doesn't help the wider British flower "industry". Where are the suppliers coming from to make sure there can be an effective supply chain to provide British flowers for eg contract florists and general florists. And if there isn't an effective supply chain how can it become realistic for British flowers to be preferred to imports?</div>
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It is no longer difficult for a flower buying customer to find British bouquets, there are hundreds of companies now offering mail order British flowers and some supermarkets have deals with larger growers to take all their stock to provide British blooms on their shelves. (which means they don't h8t the wholesale market as they go direct to the supermarkets) So the awareness and expansion of choice for the customer is good. But how are British flowers going to get into florists buckets at a reasonable (by which I mean realistic) affordable price?</div>
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In setting up The British Flower School I have had many conversations with different scale growers as well as flower enthusiasts. Of the dozens of small growers I have contacted disappointingly few feel able to supply us with any good flowers for courses (I don't want only to use flowers we have grown ourselves as that is not sustainable in that they cannot be available to everyone, I want to provide choices and recommendations for participants from different parts of the country so I can tell them where they can get good British blooms from), and disappointingly few have even expressed an interest in being recommended as possible suppliers to the florists and individuals who have so far been on our courses. </div>
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I realise that it's early days for many newish growers, but I want to be able to point to a good network of reliable British flower providers so that people who come on our courses can go away knowing they can get hold of the type of flowers they want. It is adamantly not about keeping business for The Real Cut Flower Garden, it is about finding a good supply chain. Luckily I do of course have several amazing colleagues round the country who I happily recommend to anyone, and I have found some brilliant commercial growers of particular blooms, but a handful is really not enough. </div>
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And there's the question of price. Growers who are wholesaling sell at a very reasonable price but others don't. Over and over again I hear "Well I would buy British but they are just so expensive." We've all got to get over this somehow. There may be comparisons with early days of the organic movement when only elite customers could pay the premium, and comparisons also with quality - just because something is organic does not always make it better than something non organic, it depends on when it was picked, where, how long it's been hanging around, how it was grown etc. In the same way British grown does not, sadly, automatically mean it is therefore better than something grown elsewhere. Those of us who grow do need to step up to the mark so that British can mean better in all ways, or we have to market ourselves so that customers realise they are buying something different rather than comparable to trad imported florists blooms. </div>
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Everyone has to try to make a living. Most of us have mortgages and or rents to pay, ourselves and others to provide for, bills to service, staff to pay so that our businesses can thrive. We have to put a realistic price on what we produce to pay our way. But that is just it, realistic. Not extortionate. There's some funny pricing going on, from tiny bunches to big bouquets.</div>
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So where is it all going? Gill Hodgson has a full house for the Stoneleigh British Flowers seminar in June, and hopefully some of these questions will be raised and solutions proposed.</div>
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Meanwhile, if anyone wants to be on the list of recommended suppliers for The British Flower School, do <a href="mailto:charlie@britishflowerschool.co.uk">get in touch</a></div>
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-77692706433619710412014-06-01T21:50:00.002+01:002014-06-01T21:50:36.680+01:00May Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The end of May has to be one of the most exciting in any garden, so much arriving, so much more to come - the palette in the mixed cutting beds here currently includes nigella, pinks, mints, aconites, delphiniums, campanula, pinks, astrantia, salvia, lysimachia, hesperis, nepeta, alchemilla..... an embarassment of subtle and scented riches such as could not be found in a conventional florist mixture. The bling of ranunculus is over here but bright colours are emerging in cerise sweet peas, knautia, gladioli, bright tradescantia, flouncing peonies, a vast range of roses opening daily. And that's not counting the annuals, blue and black cornflowers, ammi, bupleurum, larkspur, clary, corncockle, snaps, stocks (sorry, no pictures as I'm afraid the annual beds are really rather too weedy as yet, been too busy to get quite that far, that's next week's job!)</div>
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So it's a good time of year to be a flower grower. Lots happening, myriad blooms to come.</div>
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-57226579167295673582014-05-11T23:39:00.002+01:002014-05-11T23:39:45.000+01:00Slugs. Solutions?Two weeks ago field beds were striped with lines of pale green seedlings.<br />
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I sowed into a few beds that I confess I had round upped as I was too late to sort them out and cover them as per usual before the hideous rains came and came and came. I sowed others into beds that had been weeded and sown in autumn, had large crops of seedlings in waiting which then sat with standing water on them for weeks and weeks and weeks and drowned. So there was nothing in them and I just rotovated them and had to start again.<br />
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So the beds were clean to start with.<br />
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Now there are all but no seedlings out there. Literally. 90 per cent have been wiped out. Presumably it's those little slugs that have had such a joyous wet winter and damp spring.<br />
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But beds at the other end of the gardens are fine - there I weeded roughly and rotovated and I knew there would be masses of weedseed and self seeders coming up but I was late sowing and decided to sow thickly then weed later. For the last couple of weeks they have looked disastrously weedy but I finally got to them over the last couple of days and there are masses of healthy flower seedlings, and it hasn't been hard weeding out the rest.<br />
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So perhaps that's one answer, don't worry about clearing the beds too carefully, then even if there is a slug problem there's plenty of other vegetation for the slugs to eat and plenty of chance for the seeds you want to come through.<br />
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I use municipal compost round perennials such as echinacea and delphiniums as it's gritty enough to deter all but the more determined sluggy visitors. But can't use that for seed sowing. And besides, I think all the slugs in the field are those little tiny soil dwelling ones, not the big ones that wander over the surface.<br />
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The next question is, how to replace the earlier field sowing. I think timing is going to be everything as apparently it's going to get hot again soon and send the little blighters down deep, but needs to be damp enough for germination first.<br />
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Sometimes I wish for more raised beds. They raise seedlings slug free.<br />
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<br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-38390068021355759522014-05-07T18:05:00.003+01:002014-05-07T18:05:42.319+01:00The British Flower School at MappertonThe day arrived, we opened the doors, courses began. We started with floristry on the wild side, a walk through the gardens looking at shapes structures colours and form, then made generous arrangements using lots of wild and hedgerow materials as well as cultivated flowers. I think you'll agree from the tiny selection of pictures below that we had a grand day! Even the wisteria had come out on the wall of our basem The North Stable Block at Mapperton, to greet everyone.<br />
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Course places are filling up fast, do go onto the website and check us out<br />
www.britishflowerschool.co.uk<br />
We are also doing bespoke days and half days for groups - so far including small tour groups and gardening groups. We only have 8 people max per course.<br />
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<span id="goog_967746913"></span><span id="goog_967746914"></span><br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-75599438498390601022014-05-03T06:31:00.002+01:002014-05-03T06:31:29.924+01:00the first May wedding May arrives for the bride called May, and lovely May garden flowers..... as ever I forgot to take pictures of most of it! I used masses of lilac, solomons seal, rosa banksia, ranunculus, rosemary, stocks, lily of the valley, Aztec pearl, phlomis, honeysuckle, willow........<br />
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<br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-43135179932789988462014-04-30T06:25:00.001+01:002014-04-30T06:25:26.851+01:00irresistible April<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="goog_678728105"></span><span id="goog_678728106"></span><br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-12866097343012497892014-04-25T18:40:00.002+01:002014-04-25T18:40:38.938+01:00Mail orderLook out for an exciting new mail order development. Enough said. For now!cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-6854721729532127262014-04-25T18:38:00.002+01:002014-04-25T18:40:06.034+01:00The British Flower SchoolMapeprton is a truly beautiful place to be hosting this flower school. I am so very delighted that the Earl and Countess of Sandwich are up for it. We opened the doors two weekends ago, just to show off the space, and since then I have been working on what is really going to go on there! And I already have two fabulous florists from the States booked for next year, and two of the UKs most prominent garden designers signing up wanting to come and host events. Hoorah. All I can really say is watch the website<br />
britishflowerschool.co.uk and all may gradually be revealed.<br />
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cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-36167853517276140342014-04-25T18:29:00.001+01:002014-04-25T18:29:24.756+01:00What's been happening?The main preoccupation since returning a month ago (really? a whole month ago?) has been getting everything organised for the opening of The British Flower School at Mapperton Gardens. I believe we're getting there, and I believe it's going to work. It's certainly going to be huge fun and a wonderful place to be.<br />
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And there have been weddings, and hellebores and anemones and ranunculus galore and tulips tulips tulips. I never have been able to resist a tulip. And my own new gardens to sort out (complete with tulips, ranuncs etc). These are also getting there, plants that were planted or re-planted last year are bulking up and there is virtually nothing left in the acre and a half original gardens that cannot be cut, from akebia vine to cherry blossom at the moment, with lots of narcissi, tulips, cilla, camassia, tellima, phlomis, honeysuckle, clematis, lysimachia, lily of the valley, nepeta, solomon's seal and now early annuals such as love in the mist all crying out to be picked and made into beautiful bouquets. All good fun.<br />
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<span id="goog_3895208"></span><span id="goog_3895209"></span><br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-52416419286515138652014-04-25T18:18:00.002+01:002014-04-25T18:18:40.713+01:00Shamed! and BurmaIt's shameful that I haven't posted anything for two whole months. I have reasons but none are good enough...<br />
So, back for a moment to Burma, which is where I was going when I last posted. A marvellous, curious, heartwarming country where the wonderful people deserve better than they've got. Interesting growing too. We took some time out of the blistering heat and universal dust of Yangon (though a fascinating brilliant city nonetheless, and wonderful flowers stalls, all home grown of course, nothing imported) and went to the slightly cooler climes of central Burma and Inle Lake, which I decided is a cross between Venice and Evesham. Watery, houses built on the water but more interesting for me the fact that the gardens are also on the water, captured pockets of land a metre deep that are anchored to the bottom of the lake with giant bamboos, compost is lakeweed and silt captured from the lake and taken back in boats to spread.This is where they grow the tomatoes for Burma, plus cucumbers, gourds, some flwoers.... tomatoes are the main crop, 3 months to grow and 3 months harvesting, then another crop.<br />
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And not just practical but also utterly picturesque. I m wondering if it could be a way forward for the Levels, with different plants, and using willows instead of bamboos as the staples?<br />
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<span id="goog_698211272"></span><span id="goog_698211273"></span><br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-66028457822227409172014-02-25T14:37:00.004+00:002014-02-25T14:37:53.980+00:00Floating gardensMaybe the lake gardeners of Myanmar/Burma have something to teach us over here - new possibilities for the Levels? I'm just off to check them out......<br />
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and will return with photos to make you all want to go there I hope!cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-84664735926245609402014-02-22T21:00:00.001+00:002014-02-22T23:04:52.059+00:00The British Flower Schoolis on line<br />
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www.britishflowerschool.co.ukcut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-23321927257103571472014-02-19T15:55:00.002+00:002014-02-19T15:55:39.981+00:00Brown spots and BTA horticultural question: After fantastic health and an initial flush of great productivity many hellebores are browning on leaves and flowers. Is this just the prolonged weather or is it something more serious? I have not seen it before and feel a little anxious as it seems to be sweeping through most hellebore areas, affecting old plants as well as new. Two beds are still completely fine and the new plants started off in gleaming superb health, the established ones have never shown problems before.<br />
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The usual BT problems have been occurring with monotonous regularity here - and I know it's wrong to complain because loads of people lost their services completely with all the stormy weather and flooding, but this is normal hassle rather than storm induced. I have suggested they just come clean and tell me they'll never manage to get it right because of geography, distance or whatever but they refuse to go down that route, instead I get threatened with having to pay because it must be my fault somwhere, and endlessly kept waiting for visits that make things no better.<br />
So far four engineers visits for this particular issue. Each one saying something different. Each one blaming the other for not doing the appropriate job and saying I need to see another engineer. I got a letter from BT today about the latest engineer visit which was yesterday (and sorted nothing).<br />
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The letter today told me that I was expecting a visit from an engineer yesterday, but if I couldn't make the appointment I should ring them by lunchtime the day before yesterday or pay for a wasted call out. Could I ask them to pay me for time wasting I wonder?<br />
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And if they don't confirm by letter they send a message to my landline which a) hasn't been working and b) I don't know how to retrieve them as they don't leave a message on the anserphone but send some voice recognition texty thing and when I punch in what I am told are the relevant numbers for retrieving messages it tells me I don't have that service. Or sometimes they send a text to my mobile. I have no reception here so I don't know they've texted me - the joys of modern communication! It does seem rather unreasonable that those of us with dire service out in the sticks have to pay the same as those with efficient full connectivity.<br />
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<br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-48878942914726053792014-02-14T13:33:00.003+00:002014-02-14T15:40:15.428+00:00weathering the weatherA very pretty little greenhouse, one of my favourite structures here which is attached to the original outbuildings, has stood here for many decades. When my mother moved here in 1978 she had it rebuilt. Almost ten years ago she had it rebuilt again as the cedar wood was beginning to suffer and panes to slip and she didn't want to lose it. I was pleased to have the glass replaced and nails made shipshape on Monday after storms took them out before christmas. On Wednesday gales were so fierce more panes blew out again despite new nails and silicone... Then half an hour ago<br />
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and now there is almost nothing left but I can't go out to take a photo let alone clear up as the wind is so fierce round the yard I can't stand up, and fear to be hit by glass or tiles. BASTARD WEATHER<br />
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And I've discovered another good reason to paint your walls good colours - it means that those of us who are not flooded from the ground up can see where the wet has poured into the house from the roof down. I had been feeling smug about still having power, then the rain got in.<br />
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<br />cut flower gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18373846927570744826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4839031369227948161.post-56712259688762445062014-02-14T08:48:00.001+00:002014-02-14T08:48:37.759+00:00A boxing dayI had hoped to send out loads of hellebores for Valentine's Day (with paperwhites and other narcisissi and the few forced tulips plus anemone posies) but picking proved difficult in the torrential downpours and winds. However, there were flowers, they looked and smelt lovely and went out, and I am grateful to any flowers that manage to smile through the current patch of weather.<br />
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I am not well set up for bulk here as I left my large purpose built packing shed at the last gardens, and my current studio is a bit cramped on big mail out days but all is possible - though yesterday reminded me of those early days of sending out about 50 parcels at a time to the Jigsaw stores before I built the packing shed.....<br />
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It is rather disappointing that all the halfhardy annuals that were in waiting in the field have drowned, covered in water since well before christmas. It would have been pleasing to have some early blooms out there, but also I do hate wasting those seeds and seedlings that did so well to germinate and start growing. Many many years ago I went with a botanist uncle to a research lab where he showed me a lettuce seed under a strong electronmicrosope (sorry can't remember the right term!) and it was utterly amazing to see, in the centre of this tiny dry speck of a seed, a beam of flickering light. Life. So I do so hate extinguishing that little spark of life when growth is wasted.<br />
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This little clematis has been flowering bravely for about 8 weeks now. Others on the front of the house have finished and formed seedheads before being blown away from the wall, but this one is sheltered and just keeps giving. Subtle but oh so pleasing.<br />
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