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I rarely leave this place now that the nursery is open, except for the odd errand. Even on days that we are closed I'm in the garden or the nursery, planting, weeding, propagating or catching up with admin. So it was a real treat to have a proper
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The apple trees are in blossom and it's good to see that I got the pruning right, since there is plenty of flower quite evenly spread, despite fairly extensive structural renovation. Thankfully the cold spell is over and fruit set should be good. Bramley flower buds, fat, pink
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10 days ago the whole place was cold and windswept, with the occasional well-wrapped passer-by dropping in, mostly for a hot drink and shelter. But May has arrived, the temperature has climbed past my t-shirt threshold of 16C (61F) and the place has gone mental. OK, it was our NGS
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Sunday 4th May is our spring NGS opening day. What to expect? We had 150 visitors last year, this year we are one of only two gardens in Cheshire open on that day, the forecast is warm, it's a bank holiday weekend... Your guess is as good as
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... but I'm not going to show you them yet, not until the Angelique tulips are out, because there is not a lot to see yet since all the plants are young perennials or bulbs. But it's a huge relief to have finished the first main round
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Two days of warm sunshine and the world has changed. The swallows are back and the bluebells have just started flowering. We sat by the pond last night in t-shirts watching young fish shimmer in the warm surface water. And below me in the reed margins I saw a very
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...put up a chicken shed? Answer, five: three to move it, another to bolt it together and one more to make us all a mug of tea. And very grateful I am too. Not only do we have a palatial home for the yet-to-be-acquired chickens, but the potting shed now
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This morning's much needed sunshine was swept away once again by more cold thundery showers this afternoon. Fat, soft hailstones like white marrowfat peas exploded on the greenhouse roof above me and filled the emerging primula flowers with ice. The accompanying lightning brought the power down for a
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Yesterday was my parents' golden wedding anniversary and we travelled south to Sussex for the weekend. 50 years ago, they woke up on the morning of their wedding to an unexpected 4" of snow in South London. 50 years later, April brought them snow again, thankfully one day
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Finally, I have published a plant list for 2008. Everything listed is either out on the nursery, growing on, or in propagation and will be ready this year. I may have just a few, or 100's and they may be fully grown or just babies, so please don&
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Ok Dad, the long awaited tea room picture. There's still a bit of finishing off to do around the edges, but it's clean, bigger and operational. Outside has had one rough coat of paint - all we need now is a consistently dry, frost-free spell(!) and
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The slight improvement in the weather brought a welcome stream of visitors and family today - hello especially to the London and Manchester Flears who braved the cold and warmed up the tea room wonderfully with laughter and family tales. And another warm 'hello' to several people who