Tag: daffodils

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I was both excited and incredibly relieved when I heard that the National Trust had purchased Munstead Wood, the Surrey home and eleven-acre garden of the legendary horticulturist, designer, writer, artist, photographer, and craftswoman, Gertrude Jekyll.

Gertrude lived at Munstead Wood in Busbridge, Godalming, from the 1890s until her death in 1932.  Having met the renowned architect Edwin Lutyens early in his career, long before he achieved fame and was knighted, Gertrude invited Edwin to design her an Arts and Crafts house to complement the garden. 

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Traditionally, parsnips are left growing in the ground over winter to allow time for the frosty winter weather to improve their flavour.  However, parsnips tend to develop canker and become less appetising as they reach old age.  To achieve the healthiest harvest, lift your parsnips now, before decay sets in and store your parsnips in the freezer until you are ready to use them. 

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2024 Calendar of Daffodil Garden Openings, Daffodil Shows, & Daffodil Events

Daffodils are full of spring cheer!  I want to brighten up your spring and so I’ve created this calendar of daffodil events.  If you’re holding a daffodil talk, daffodil walk, daffodil garden opening, or daffodil show, do let me know and I’ll add your event to this calendar.

I hope this article helps you to find beautiful daffodil gardens to visit; as well as some lovely, fun, and interesting daffodil events to attend in 2024.

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Planting bulbs is rather like giving yourself a wonderful promise of future flowers and happiness.  What could be lovelier?  If you want to enjoy spring flowers, such as daffodils and crocus, and early summer-flowering bulbs, like alliums, then it’s time to start planting bulbs!

When purchasing bulbs, wherever possible choose top-sized bulbs, as larger bulbs are more floriferous than smaller bulbs. 

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Colourful Spring & Summer Flowering Bulbs

If you’re in need of some early summer cheer, I’ve got a stack of photographs I’ve taken of vibrant and flamboyant flowers that I hope will brighten up your day!

Last autumn, Dutch Grown sent me some of their bulbs to trial.  I’m sharing my photographs I’ve taken of these flowers along with some info about each of the plants to help you, if you’re considering planting bulbs this autumn.

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2021 Daffodil Events

To see my 2022 Calendar of Daffodil Garden Openings, Daffodil Shows, & Daffodil Events, please click here.

Daffodils are full of spring cheer!  I want to brighten up your spring and so I’ve created this calendar of daffodil events.  If you’ve got a daffodil talk, daffodil walk or daffodil garden opening, do let me know and I’ll add your event to this calendar.

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Don’t miss the opportunity to plant spring flowering bulbs

Pieter and Ben, from Dutch Grown, have very kindly sent me a range of their bulbs to try out.

When these bulbs arrived, all of my containers were already allocated to specific trials, so I am incredibly grateful to my wonderful friends, Terry and Nicky, who were absolute superstars and saved the day by lending me a number of their pots. 

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Grasses form a fundamental part of many gardens.  The seed heads of ornamental grasses take on a magical quality as they shine in September’s golden sunlight.  September is a superb time to plant ornamental grasses, like: Deschampsia, Festuca, Heliotrichon, and Stipa.

Has your garden been hosting family sports tournaments this summer?  If your grass is worn through in places, it’s the perfect time to fill in those bare patches. 

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My Wildlife Pond in Springtime & Early Summer

I thought I’d share with you some photographs I’ve taken of my wildlife pond this spring and early summertime.  I’m not sure if you’ve seen my pond before; this pond was created last year (here’s the first article I wrote about this pond).  To guide you through the season, I’ve added my photographs to this article in date order. 

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The Frensham and Dockenfield Horticultural Society cannot run their Spring Show in the Marindin Hall on Saturday 4th April 2020, as they usually would – but this society have no intention of giving up their flower show!  So this year, they’re holding an Online Spring Show!  There won’t be any trophies or prizes – the show is just for fun.

Frensham and Dockenfield Horticultural Society Online Spring Show is open to anybody who wants to participate, you don’t need to be a member of this society and you don’t have to be from Frensham, or even from Surrey; it’s open to all – wherever you live. 

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Daffodil Shows and Competitions 2020

There are so many lovely daffodil shows and competition held by horticultural societies, plant societies, and gardening clubs in springtime.  I want to help you to find your local show, so I’ve compiled this calendar of daffodil shows and competitions.

To see my 2022 Calendar of Daffodil Garden Openings, Daffodil Shows, & Daffodil Events, please click here.

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This year, Mothering Sunday, also known as Mother’s Day, will be held on Sunday 22nd March 2020, in the UK.  If you’re looking for a special family day out, the following gardens and attractions are all offering special offers to celebrate Mother’s Day 2020.  The offers differ, so I’ve listed the details of each event for Mother’s Day 2020 offer separately for every venue. 

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2020 Daffodil Gardens and Events

To see my 2022 Calendar of Daffodil Garden Openings, Daffodil Shows, & Daffodil Events, please click here.

Daffodils are such cheerful flowers.  Full of hope and heralding the start of springtime; daffodils are a joy to behold.  Being such a popular flower, daffodils have been bred, selected, and re-selected, over a great many years, which has resulted in the creation of a diverse range of daffodil flowers. 

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Daffodil Gardens to Visit this Springtime

If you’re looking for a superb day out this springtime, I’ve got plenty of ideas for you!  Here are some cheerful daffodil gardens where you can take an uplifting walk among the glowing daffodil flowers, in the spring sunshine!  Some of these gardens, like Winkworth Arboretum, are planted with early flowering daffodils that bloom in December, January, and February. 

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The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019

Welcome to the second part of my overview of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019.  (If you missed the first part of my Chelsea overview, click here to see the first instalment.)

The Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show is the world’s most prestigious flower show.  Held in the Royal Hospital’s grounds, at Chelsea, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a great place to find inspiration and ideas for your home and garden. 

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Daffodil Shows and Competitions 2019

There are so many lovely daffodil shows and competition held by horticultural societies, plant societies, and gardening clubs in springtime.  I want to help you to find your local show, so I’ve compiled this calendar of daffodil shows and competitions.

To see my 2022 Calendar of Daffodil Garden Openings, Daffodil Shows, & Daffodil Events, please click here.

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2019 Daffodil Gardens and Events

To see my 2022 Calendar of Daffodil Garden Openings, Daffodil Shows, & Daffodil Events, please click here.

Daffodils are such cheerful flowers, heralding the start of springtime, they are a joy to behold.  As daffodils are such a popular flower, they’ve been bred and selected over a great many years, which has resulted in the creation of many different varieties of daffodils. 

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For my 2015 trialled and tested list of gifts for gardeners, I recommended a hand-made Trug Makers Trug – Trug No.7 – a large, deep versatile trug, ideal for harvesting large vegetables and fruit.  I am still using my Trug No.7, this versatile trug is just as good now as it was when it arrived with me in 2015.

After he read my 2015 review, Trug Maker Kevin Skinner very kindly offered to send me a trug of my choice, I love growing sweet peas, daffodils, roses, and cut flowers, so the choice was simple – I opted for the Daffodil Trug, the trug that you see pictured below. 

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Fragrant Daffodils

For me, deliciously scented flowers are a delightfully uplifting feature of the garden.  A beautiful moment spent enjoying garden flowers and their fragrances is utter bliss!  Time spent with delectably fragrant flowers eases life’s worries and stresses, brings joy to our day and makes everything feel better.  I have a particular fondness for scented daffodils or Narcissus.  Narcissus is the botanical name for this genus, while daffodil is the common name we use, but both names refer to the same group of plants.

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Scented Daffodil Trial 2018

I am sorry to say that 2018 was a terrible year for many of the daffodils grown in the UK.  The daffodils that were grown for my 2018 Scented Daffodil Trial experienced snow at the end of March, at a time when many of my trialled daffodil cultivars were grown, some of my daffodils stood poised and ready, just thinking about blossoming and coming into flower.