Newsletter
Dear Alan, I won't lie to you - you aren't my favourite all time presenter of Gardener's World, that badge goes to Carol Klein 'das Gritmeister' (sorry Monty, pipped to the post), but you were at the helm during seven critical years
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...and looking lovely. Not quite a carpet of blue yet, but well on their way. If you're coming this weekend, the short walk to the woods is well worth it. Almost as good - Cathy and team are here with home-made cakes this weekend. Scrumptious.
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The first tulips have opened and the gentle greens and pastel colours of early spring have been cut through with their bold show. I can take tulips as bold as you like, provided that in any one vista they complement one another. And I don't like more than
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I've had so many positive comments about the garden today, I thought I would make a real effort to note what's actually in out in flower now. So, in no particular order, I make it 65, counting all the different Narcissus as one, and ignoring the
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The plum tree and the damsons are in flower, the Pulsatillas are ablaze on the scree bed and we spotted the first swallows further up the lane last night. The days are mild, the evenings scented and long. It feels like a proper spring. The mild weather and recent rain
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The days are flashing by faster than I can think, let alone stop and write everything down. I know it's not right - to only glance briefly at the first perfect purple Pulsatilla, to note that our big cherry is in flower in passing, instead of standing still
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We are being outwitted by a small furry creature with a brain smaller than a pea. Our resident mole has been meandering around near the cottage for a couple of years, throwing up mounds of soil and dislodging paving slabs in an area that visitors don't tend to
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Ten days ago 56 cardboard boxes packed tight with bare root plants arrived and, for lack of a better home, were piled up in the tea room. After a few sprint potting sessions, mostly by Janet and Sally, with fitful contributions from me and Ewan, there are 12 full boxes
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I spent all of December and much of January with my newly-rearranged foot propped up on the sofa (it's perfectly functional now, thanks for asking. It's not yet ready for 4" heels but frankly never was). On the plus side a horizontal life gave me
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The new 2011 plant list is on the website! Click here to find it. I can't guarantee we'll have everything in, all of the time - it is my entire forecast list for 2011. So do email me or phone first to check if you want
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This is my fourth New Year at Bluebell Cottage. I spent the previous three champing at the bit to get on with major structural changes to the nursery, the gardens or both before the spring opening. But this year I decided that we would make our major changes in the
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The snow kept my parents in Eastbourne for Christmas, so while they enjoyed a brisk stomp along a snow-free seafront, Dave and I shut the doors on the subzero weather, lit the fire and settled in for a quiet, candlelit, Christmas on our own. Dave eschewed turkey for one and