I've never talked so much in my life! Last week, QVC hosted a two day special garden event for lucky ballot winners. Around 400 customers braved the weather and enjoyed private guided tours around the fabulous Birmingham Botanic Gardens.
I did find some time to look over some of their wonderful plants, as the picture shows, but most of the time I spent talking gardening with our lovely customers.
I also had to keep a close eye on Julian who was also there! He was on superb form, although I'm sure I've heard some of those jokes once or twice before!
Well we did need lots of rain, but I just wish it would fall at night rather than during the day! I've been getting soaked the past few days and that's just whilst running down the garden to get to the greenhouse.
There's so much happening in the greenhouse at the moment. I've been pricking out seedlings, potting on tomato and pepper plants and sowing seeds - I've just sown seeds of a beautiful perennial astrantia called 'Ruby Cloud' as well as some pretty blue cornflowers. I've also been cutting the first of my home grown ranunculus and anemones, both of which I planted in the depths of winter.
Easter may be the start of the gardening year but I hope it wasn't a sign ofthe weather to come. It got progressively colder and more miserable! As it happened, I had a few busy days lined up at QVC so I wasn't planning to do much gardening and it was just as well!
I did find time to pot on my Gaillardia Arizona Red and Arizona Apricot seedlings in the greenhouse though. I'm really looking forward to seeing how these colourful perennials perform in my trials plot and I'll know soon as they they start flowering in their first season.
I'd just got back from a visit to QVC US which was a fascinating experience. Whilst over there, I found time to visit Longwood Gardens which was simply stunning. This was my third visit and each time I'm more impressed.
Judging by the incredible sales of our Easyfill hanging baskets, I reckon that the nation is going to be awash with stunning baskets this summer. I've received a number of questions about hanging baskets recently and I've been asked to answer some of them in my blog.
It's just wonderful being out in the garden at this time of year. There's so much to enjoy - from the vivid red shoots of peonies emerging from the ground, to the first tulips bursting into bloom. Mind you, I can't spend that much time wandering around admiring the garden, as there's plenty to be done!
Last weekend I bought some snowdrops in the green, transplanted them in pots around the garden and watered them in with Flower Power to boost their growth. Popping into the greenhouse to do some watering, I noticed my window sill orchids (pleione) had opened up so I brought them indoors to show everyone (pictured).
If you're out and about this week, you might see some odd things happening at the UK's top garden centres. It's all in aid of Garden Re-Leaf Day when the gardening industry celebrates the start of the season with fun, fundraising projects to raise money for the Greenfingers charity who build much needed gardens at children's hospices.
The amazing Red Barrows will be swooping on community gardens in Kent and giving them mini-makeovers. Residents of Chester may well be surprised by Grosvenorman and his team of Guerrilla gardeners while those visiting Ayletts Garden Centre in St Albans will discover a Mad Hatters day.
Part of the joy of gardening is that you're always learning. I've always loved Ranunculus (Persian Buttercups) but until now, I've bought them as pot grown plants in flower. Last summer, I was talking to Carolyn Whetman about them and was surprised to discover that she sells corms toprofessional growers. She kindly sent some to me to try and told me how tough they are.
So I put them to the ultimate test and planted them in the depths of winter, in my un-heated greenhouse. Yet, despite temperatures going well below freezing, they have sprouted and are romping away! I'm staggered at how how resilient they are. I'd always thought they needed plenty of tenderloving care...but they don't!
One of the stars in my greenhouse at the moment are my Narcissus Paperwhite Erlicheer (pictured) which I bought from De Jager. I've always said that bigger bulbs give better results and here's living proof. The 14+ size bulbs have produced good plants and plenty of flower buds, while the 17+ size bulbs (the same variety) have produced much bigger plants and even better flowers. They are absolutely breathtaking and worth every single penny of the extra cost.
Out in the garden, I've started my spring clean and began by tidying up my patio. I was lucky enough to be given an advance sample of Sunday's Today's Special Value, the Ultimate patio brush and moss/weed remover from Langdon European. It took me minutes to brush out the moss from the cracks in the patio, and then I used the broom to sweep everything clean. It did a great job, and it's incredible value too!
I'm due back on air soon, with those fantastic easy-fill baskets. I thought the price was wrong, but it's true, four baskets plus chains for less than £5 each, and free postage and packing too. No wonder they're flying out!
Happy gardening,
Richard
At last, it's time to really get gardening! To celebrate, I've popped some pots of colour on the front porch and it looks so much more colourful and cheering.
This weekend I'll be dusting down my heated propagator and sowing the first seeds, Tomato Sungold and Suncherry Premium (also known as Tomato Tomazing and Tomarvellous). They came out amongst the very best in a taste trial last summer so I'll be growing them alongside my other favourite Gardener's Delight (I'll be trialling the new grafted forms of these).
In the greenhouse, special Ranunculus (Persian buttercups) and florist anemones that Carolyn Whetman gave me to trial have just started to grow so they'll need potting up. Plus I'll check the overwintering Dahlia tubers while I'm in there. The garden borders need a tidy up, and I need to trim back the ornamental grasses that looked so lovely during the winter.
Probably the job that will make the most difference is treating the lawn to its first application of the year of Lawn Magic. The grass looks a bit yellow and battered after the winter snow, but the Lawn Magic will perk it up in next to no time. Not only will it turn it green, it will start to strengthen the grass for the spring and summer. It may sound a lot to do, but I love it. And I reckon if I can get a head start in the garden now, it'll really pay dividends in the spring.
Happy gardening,
Richard
A couple of years ago at a QVC gardening event, I asked how many containers everyone had in their garden? A surprising number of people had over 40 pots, tubs and baskets while a few had over one hundred! Caring for them, which was a labour of love, took hours a week. During this conversation, a lot of customers asked if I could introduce a product that made container gardening easier.
This Sunday (19th Feb), I launch that product! It's called Container Magic and, as far as I'm aware, there's nothing quite like it in the world!
Continue reading "Introducing my new Container Magic plant food!" »
It's always a bit of a gamble filming outside at this time of year. You never quite know what the weather is going to do! On Tuesday, we went to Wisley Gardens in Surrey to film an interview with Colin Crosbie, their fantastic curator, for our next Garden Inspirations show (to be broadcast on Saturday Feb 18th).
I was a bit apprehensive as my garden was still covered in snow, but I was delighted to see that it had all melted at Wisley. What's more, we were blessed with one of those glorious sunny winter days that made everything sparkle.
I was delighted to see lots of children visiting, many of them had come specially to see the Living Butterflies exhibition in the tropical section of the greenhouse. It was a lovely display and I learnt a lot too. Did you know that caterpillars have over 3000 muscles - that's about five times more than humans!
Just outside the tropical section in the greenhouse, I spotted a beautiful bird of paradise flower. I've always been very fond of this flower as it was one of the first plants I grew from seed when I was young. Mind you, mine did take ten years to flower!
Back home, I'm busy preparing for something very exciting. On Sunday Feb 19th, we're announcing my brand new product for Container gardeners. It's the world launch and there's nothing quite like it on the garden market. It's part of the Flower Power Today's Special Value kit on that day. I'll let you into more of the secret next week!
Happy gardening,
Richard
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