Hobbies and Crafts

A week later and I still haven't got to the garden centre to spend my vouchers.

I think we will have to remove some of the lavender from our garden. At our old house I had a long bed of lavender under our dining room window. It must have been there 20 years and really looked great with not too much care from me, but I don't think lavender really likes our soil here. There is a patch round the base of a hawthorn tree which is not very happy so I might look for something to replace that. We have a low growing evergreen grass which is a sort of variegated green and gold. It has done well here so I might try that round the base of the tree.

The winter aconites have finished now but I have some chiondoxia (not sure of the spelling) and little white anemones coming out now.

Everything seems to be standing up to these dreadful winds OK and we haven't had any pots blown over but everything is waterlogged at the moment. Still, one good thing about the wet, windy weather is that Mr Crewcut hasn't ventured out with his trusty shears :-D

I’ve to have vouchers to spend Vera, hope you find something you like. Pity they didn’t have the ones you are looking for.

Sorry Ann I somehow missed your second post on 2 March. I’ve looked at that website now and they had a couple of hellebores from Harvingtons which is the company that produced the ones I saw. Unfortunately they didn’t have the ones I want :-(

The company I contacted was called something like Twelve Nuns and I got the impression they may have been owned by Harvingtons. They have still not responded to my email.

I’ve got £20 worth of garden vouchers to spend so I am hoping to look around the garden centres tomorrow if we can find time.

We are just back from Dobbies. We already had joined their loyalty scheme when they took over our biggest Wyevale last year. However today we paid £12 to update to the premium loyalty scheme. By doing this we get 2 free cups of coffee a month and 10% of plants, seeds, bulbs etc. (well that is what it said but today we got 10% off everything we bought which even included a reduced book). So far we have saved £3.40 but didn't have the free coffees as we had already had coffee before we joined. that doesn't matter because we will go down there again before the end of the month.

today we bought some purple gladioli corms, 16 basket plug plants and a pack of lobelia seedlings to pot on. couldn't get any more plug plants as we don't have enough room in the conservatory for them (greenhouse heaters are full) we have one more heater that can go in the conservatory. After we come back from our weekend away we will be able to buy the remainder.

What a shame you couldn't order more than one at a time Vera. I don't think much of their customer service though, what's the point in saying contact them if they don't get back to you. I hope you manage to find what you want at a good price.

When I bought my Hellebore's they were £6.99, it was an accident really as I ended up in a section of the garden centre that wasn't open to the public, I'd cut through somehow and that's where I found the plants, it wasn't until I noticed the proper way in that there was a sign saying no entry. I think it's where they store the plants they are going to put out later in the year and probably had last years prices on them. I took a chance and went to the till, there was a young girl there who was more interested in her mobile phone so she didn't notice what the plants were and let me buy them. Unfortunately they weren't the penny pinks ones, but white but they are very pretty and stand out in the darker area at the bottom of the garden, so I'm pleased with them and of course the price as I had noticed another garden centre selling them for £12.99 each.

It sounds like your OH is going to be busy with the seeds Ann. Our bulbs are starting to flower now, so we finally have a bit more colour in the garden.

Vera have you seen this site (hope it is not the one you have tried dealing with) https://www.plantsforshade.co.uk/acatalog/info.html

That is frustrating Vera especially as they sound pretty and I'd like to know how you get on with them. However, if you don't hear anything you can't buy from them can you? If they are so lacksidaisical about responding to customers, I wonder what their plants are like?

Decent sized hellebores usually are expensive Ann. I remembered the name of the company that produced the yellow hellebore I liked at Anglesey Abbey and googled to see where I could get it. Crocus Nurseries have that and some others from the same company varying in price from £17.99-£19.99. Too pricey for me.

Then I found a nursery that I think is run by the people producing the hellebore I want and found they do smaller plug plants for £4.99. Postage was £4.99 but free if you bought £15 worth, so we chose four. We like singles better than doubles so decided on a plain yellow, the yellow with the dark eye that I had seen and liked, a lime green one and a red one.

I clicked on the first one and added it to my basket, did the same with the next one and it went in the basket but removed the first one. Whatever I tried I couldn't get more than one plug in the basket. Then I saw a bit of print that said to contact them if you wanted multi-colours. I emailed two days ago but haven't even had an automated "email received" response :-| I think this company need a lesson in customer service. If I don't hear tomorrow, they won't be getting my custom :-|

Moan over. It's a chilly grey day here with one or two showers and tomorrow is expected to be much the same. I think we've been so spoilt with the sunshine and warmth over the last few days that normal February weather is coming as a bit of a shock!

The conifer had begun to be a nuisance as it grew quickly and always wanted trimming. It was also taking up space while not adding anything to the garden

today we have been to Evesham country park and garden centre. It was a lovely day. Very tempting to buy the small plants for baskets etc but much too early. I did buy a packet of Cosmos seeds to try (well for OH to try). We looked at the yellow Helebores as OH wants one but they were £12.99. Hopefully towards the end of their season they will reduce them. This was in a Blue Diamond Garden centre.

Happy belated birthday wishes Vera, it sounds like you had a lovely day out at Anglesey Abbey.

I'm like you and if I don't buy plants when I see them I regret it later, I hope you manage to find the yellow hellebore. Thanks for letting me know where I can buy a penny's pink from, I'll Google it to see if we have one near us.

I don't let my OH anywhere near secateurs, I did once and he killed everything he cut, thankfully he lets me do it now. Mind you a couple of years ago OH bought me some hedge cutters, lobbers as I call them, and I was only suppose to trim the hedge with them, but after cutting away a couple of inches I noticed everything had died back behind it as the hedge hadn't been touched for a number of years, so I cut everything off all the way around the whole garden, we ended up gaining around 6 to 8 foot of garden, we have now put screening up and I laid some patio flags along one side, the space we gained enabled us to have a shed and greenhouse put there. The following year we had the garage taken down and screened that area to, the garden looks massive now, so I'm pleased I got carried away with the lobbers ;-) ;-)

We put a water feature in our garden just before the new year and that looks lovely now the sun is out, it's a cascading water fall which I've wanted for years but could never find the right one, now I have it I love it.

I noticed this morning that some of the bulbs I planted last year are starting to flower, the front and back gardens are starting to look lovely now. I took the bulbs I had in pots out of the greenhouse the other day, but had a fall and hurt my ankle and knee so I can't do much in the garden at the moment, I couldn't of timed it more wrong as the weather is lovely, luckily OH has been moving some of our pots around so we can see them better now they're nearer the property.

I watered our two planters in the front today, I think the wind and cold snap of weather we had the other week got to the climbing bluebells as some of it had died, so I've cut the dead bits off and hopefully the rest will be okay. I put two of those plants in the greenhouse in pots and they are massive now, so they seem happy where they are. Maybe they prefer to be in a warmer place.

It sounds like your OH got carried away with the conifer like me Ann, you're right though it does make more space for other things, so it's not all bad.

We went to Anglesey Abbey today. The weather was wonderful, it’s not too far from us and it was my birthday so we decided to make the most of the day.

It was so busy, the sun had brought the world and his wife out and it was the last day of the half term holiday so lots of children as well.

Anglesey is quite well known for its snowdrops. There were still a good few out but most were finished. However the winter gardens were so colourful with lots of shrubs with coloured stems, lots with blossoms on different shrubs, cherry trees with the lovely bark and everything underplanted with a variety of flowers, including lots of hellebores. There were also quite a few tiny irises that I haven't seen before. They were the same sort of colour and with the same markings as the tall pale blue ones but they were only 3 or 4 inches high.

I nearly bought some in the plant centre there but couldn’t think of a suitable spot in the garden for them. Of course when I got home without any I regretted not buying some as they could have gone in pots.

I also fell for a yellow hellebore but stupidly didn’t get one :-(. I think they ran out of names as this one was just called Yellow with Dark Eye. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it elsewhere.

Happy gardening folks :-D

That Helebores was at Batsford Vera lovely isn’t it?

Oh dear, take the secateurs with you next time Vera.. mine was let loose with a pruning saw as we had a conifer type tree that we wanted to lose. He is down to the twin trunks which are not very thick but the roots are huge. He is going to chop them off and hope it doesn’t grow again as he won’t be able to get it out. It has opened up that part of the garden anyway.

Thanks Ann. I’ll have a look later. I like the dark red hellebore you have as your avatar.

A lovely day here and Mr Crewcut has been at it again. He said he was going to do some weeding so I stupidly went out shopping. I never learn, do I. Take your eye off him for a minute and he gets busy with the shears. All the grasses have now been cut to about 4” high, regardless of what type they are. I hope they will all be OK but I shall be annoyed if we lose any. They give a bit of winter shape to the garden.

When we planted up the garden I made a chart thing that said what the plants were called, where they were positioned and what happened every season e.g how and when to prune. I hung one up in the garage on the side of the cupboard where we keep the secateurs etc. Does he ever look at it? Does he, heck! :-(

He also divided the heleniums but thankfully seems to have got that right :-D

I have put a few photos from Batsford Arboretum snowdrops on my blog.

Sometimes Helebore revert to the normal darkish pink one but I have no idea of the name, once they naturalise they seem to revert but they still look pretty. the lovely white one we have in the garden we have no idea where it came from. It has been flowering since just after Christmas and looks like going on for a while.

OH has cut the lawn so it looks tidier out there. Quite a bright day with a light wind but not cold.

Gill, OH bought the Penny’s Pink hellebore at this time of year 2 or 3 years ago as part of my birthday present. I just asked him where he got it and he said it was in our local garden centre which at that time was a Wyevale. Of course, Wyevale have sold off a lot of their centres now, including our local one.

He bought me a couple of white hellebores at the same time as I had been saying that I was sorry I had left some behind in our old house when we moved. He really surprised me with them. It must be one of the few occasions he actually took in what I had been saying :-D

What a lovely Hellebore Vera. I've tried everywhere to get hold of a Penny's pink after you told me about it last year, but so far haven't found one anywhere, I might have to take a look further a field. Sorry to hear you've had a fall, I hope you are okay now.

We've had lovely sun all day today, but there is so much dust around from next door it's given me a really bad cough so all the dust is putting me off sitting outside. I tried wearing a mask but with coughing so much it wasn't pleasant, so I had to come back in doors.

I took all the covers off the pots of bulbs the other day and the squirrels made a bee line for them, so they've now been moved nearer the bungalow now. So far they have been left alone, so hopefully I'll have lots of colour when they flower.

OH said he's going to cut the lawns tomorrow if it's dry enough, we haven't had any rain for a while so it should be okay if it stays that way.

Sorry to see you have lost a few plants and cuttings Vera, I hope you don't lose anymore, maybe it was the cold snap we had the other week.

It sounds like you've been busy in your garden Ann cutting back your plants, hopefully they won't go leggy again this year.

Yes we had the fog in our area too, although on Thursday not where we live. We got caught in it on the way to Batsford in the Cotswolds but more towards Oxford.

Yesterday we had some fog and also frost but not a lot.

Buddleias can be thugs if you let them. Our miniature grew very tall last year hence the vicious chop this year. (It is in the ground).

Fairly thick fog early on yesterday, then it cleared and was a beautiful day. Today it was frost first thing but then the sun came out and it was glorious.

I’ve been too busy to get in the garden today but yesterday I managed to cut down our three mini buddleias. They are supposed to be bred to be mini but, given half a chance, they will grow big so I am containing them in large half barrels. I see that one of them is bursting the barrel so I might have to get OH to do a repair job on it.

I also checked over all the plants in the mini greenhouse. Most of the cuttings I took are fine, though one or two have died, but I seem to have lost a few geraniums - mother plants that I had lifted.

No daffs in bloom yet. I think I shall have to rename our February Gold ones as there’s not a lot of February left :-)

Lovely day here today, frost early on but lovely and sunny now. Temp says 7 degrees outside but it did still feel a little chilly when I went out to put some mealy worms out for the birds an hour ago. OH gone to golf so no gardening for him today I think.