In a Vase on Monday ….. er Wednesday.

/ karen

Defeated by torrential rain, I’d given up on gardening until today. Here’s a brief glimpse into my day.

A quick peek in the greenhouse before I go off to work. And it’s sunny in here. At last. Yippee!!! Windows opened. Wonderful scent. Just love primulas. So cheerful.

Second year hyacinths are never as good. But they still have a value. I love the intense blue of this one, set against the yellow of the dwarf daffodils. I’m growing Tete-a-tete in pots for picking. And in honour of my wonderful Welsh grandmother, Tenby daffodils, which grow wild in Wales.

Love my newly acquired plant pots. The green one on the left is from Burgon and Ball , and the one on the right is from new company Plant Furniture.

After a quick snip of flowers for the show, I’m off to Radio Leicester for the Gardeners’ phone-in, 11-12 on a Wednesday. A fun place to work. Sophie and Jack the producers look after me. I’m always so grateful for all the encouragement and support they give. I probably couldn’t do it without their kindness to be honest.

We chatted about growing tomatoes. I’m growing bush tomatoes in containers and hanging baskets alongside programme host Ben Jackson. We’ve got cherry tomatoes from Mr Fothergill’s, Suttons and Thompson and Morgan to try out. And we’ll be growing them in Dalefoot sheep wool and bracken compost as an alternative to peat. It’s always more fun growing something with another person. I haven’t got an allotment, for example, where you would have neighbours to chat with and share hints and tips. so I’m going to grow along with Ben, and we’ll share seeds and compost and compare results. It will be a fun project to do over the summer.

We always have a laugh on the gardeners’ programme. If I see something a bit unusual, I’ll take it in to show the team. Today I took in these Badger Paw gloves. I spotted them at the Garden Press Event a few weeks ago and thought they looked interesting. The event showcases new ideas, new seeds, tools and machinery, containers and plant pots- all heading for supermarkets, garden centres and nurseries this summer. The Badger Paw is said to be perfect for preparing soil, planting, weeding and clearing roots. It’s made by Creative Products and has breathable stretchy fabric. What we couldn’t work out though was why the claw is only on one hand. It’s an interesting concept and I’ll let you know how I get on with it.

My posy of flowers this week also contains hyacinths – which just seem to keep on flowering. They love the cold weather. Tucked inside my paper wrapping are iris reticulata, hellebores, snowdrops, and dogwood twigs from my new florists’ “Hedge-in-a-Box” kit from Hopes Grove Nurseries. I spotted their ingenuous hedge kit for gin makers at the GPE. On the stand there was a sign saying make any suggestions for new hedge kits. So I asked if they could design a hedge for florists with coloured stems and flowers for all year round picking. And my wonderful “hedge-in-a-box”arrived on Monday! I’m really thrilled with it.

Thanks for joining me today. Thanks also to Cathy for hosting this meme and kindly allowing me to join in later in the week when either the internet – or the weather – has let me down.

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28 thoughts on “In a Vase on Monday ….. er Wednesday.”

    • Thank you Cynthia. It’s a lot of fun, although I had a disaster this week when I tried to sow seeds and speak at the same time. I got in a terrible muddle. Never mind. It was edited and all the unprofessional mumbles were deleted. Thank goodness :)) x

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  2. Your second year hyacinth are more impressive than our would be if we bothered to grow them anymore. I actually think that they look better and more ‘natural’ (except for their bright colors) in their second year (for those who get them to bloom again). Is you climate too mild for them to bloom densely?

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    • I think forcing them to flower early weakens the bulb and makes them just produce the spindly single stem the second year. But like you, I love them anyway. Thanks for reading and getting in touch.

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      • Even without forcing, and just allowed to do their thing in the garden, they still come back a bit leaner if they come back at all. I do not grow them because it does not get cold enough for them here. I think they bloom so plumply in their first year because they are grown in ideal situations and then chilled perfectly; but I really do not know.

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  3. I always enjoy reading your varied and informative posts, Karen. Thank you for allowing to share your Wednesday – and introducing us to these new products and your lovely potted blooms. I have never thought of primulas having a fragrance so I need to remember to stick my nose into them in future! The hedge in a box kit is a wonderful idea!

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    • Thank you Cathy. So sorry it’s a few days late. I’m so delighted with that hedge in a box idea. Thrilled they are taking up my suggestion to sell the kit for florists. Thanks again. Karen x

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    • Thank you Mike. Thanks for your kind comments. Those primulas have an amazing scent. Some of them don’t have a scent any more, so it’s nice to find ones that do.i just need I to stop raining now so that I can plant my hedge. Thanks again. Hope you are having a good week. We had some sun, and since then, torrential flooding rain.

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    • Thank you Eliza. I must admit, I had to wait until I as feeling cheerful before I wrote that piece. The weather has been truly awful with rain rain rain. Our veg plot is flooded and the front garden is a foot deep in water at dip. Still I’m sure spring will eventually arrive and I’ll be able to get out there and get cracking in the garden. So much to do. Thanks again for your encouragement and kind comments. Hope you are having a good week.

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  8. A range of lovely blooms and other interesting pictures.

    The badger gloves could become like the interminable argument over scone, cream and jam, or, jam and cream, (just so as not to offend anyone)! Best to get a second pair of Badger gloves in case one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing…..

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  9. Karen is glad that you can finally open the windows of the Greenhouse because the weather is fine. Yellow primroses are beautiful. The blue hyacinth accompanied on each side by yellow dwarf daffodils is a really lovely set. How wonderful that wild Tenby daffodils grow in Wales; and how you cultivate them in honor of your Grandmother are even more beautiful. All the photos are magnificent and beautiful the flowers. I’m glad you’re on Radio again: you know I’m your fan even though I do not know very little about it. Karen you also take your sweet mates made by you and flowers and all your wisdom. It is an original and great idea to grow tomatoes in sheep’s wool and fern compost: it is a very rare crop mixture. I hope with all my heart that Ben Jackson and you will do very well. I beg you to tell me the results if you can. Thank you. The badger leg gloves I think they should wear claws on both gloves. Please tell me how you find them after trying them. Your bouquet of flowers is magnificent just by listing the flowers you carry and the art you have to make them: Jacintos, Iris reticulata, Hellebores, Bells and branches of Cornejo from the kit “Hodge-in-a-Box”. All very beautiful, wonderful and with perfume. By the way is curious about the Cornejo kit. Give your Mother memories and love from me. Karen love for you and take care of yourself. Greetings from Margarita.

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  12. I love your spring blooms! They’re so cheery and they make me happy! I have a pair of those badger paw gloves and I’m not completely sold on them yet. I’ll give them another go this year though.

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    • Thank you for your lovely comments Joanna. What do you use your badger paw gloves for? Will give them a proper trial tomorrow when I’m clearing some weeds. Thanks again for commenting. All the best. Karen

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      • Karen, we have lots of rocks in our soil and I was using them to dig rocks out of holes when I’m planting. They are very cumbersome though.

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