Welcome to my calendar of orchid plant sales, orchid auctions, orchid shows, orchid talks, orchid garden openings, and orchid events!
How to Use this CalendarNB: This calendar is dynamic and will update as I add new events. Please don’t waste paper or resources printing this calendar and remember to check back for new events as I add them!
Bluebell woods are such relaxing and uplifting places to visit. I hope you can enjoy time walking in amongst the bluebells this spring, so you can envelop yourself with the scent and beauty of these awe-inspiring flowers. This is truly magical time of year!
I am a huge fan of our native British bluebells, which are also known by their latin name of Hyacinthoides non-scripta.
Winter provides us with a wonderful opportunity to plant trees. What could be a better Christmas gift than planting a tree with your family? I’m a particular fan of planting bare-root trees: trees that are grown in the ground (not containers) and then lifted, dispatched, and planted while they’re dormant. Bare-root trees are grown in the soil, they’re naturally peat-free, require less watering at the nursery, and can be grown plastic-free – as there’s no need for containers.
Garden Designer Jackie Currie and Plant Heritage won a Gold Medal for their ‘National Plant Collections Everywhere!’ exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2021! This stunning exhibit showcased plants from National Plant Collections grown inside living rooms, glasshouses, gardens, and allotments, across the UK.
One of the stars of the exhibit was the Salvia caymanensis, grown by John and Linsey Pink who hold a National Collection of Salvias.
One very good thing to come out of the pandemic has been the rise in online talks and events. We’ve realised that we don’t have to get in our cars and drive to meetings, we can enjoy listening to speakers, learning about plants, and connecting with groups, charities, and organisations, from the comfort of our own homes. Together we can discover more about plants and make real connections online, whilst saving money on transport and avoiding all the associated environmental costs.
I attended the ‘Reforestation for Biodiversity, Carbon Capture and Livelihoods’ conference, hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Botanic Gardens Conservation International. I fully support the Kew Declaration on Reforestation for Biodiversity, Carbon Capture and Livelihoods. I am just one of the 3000 global experts and concerned citizens from 114 countries that signed this declaration which aims to promote the long-term protection and restoration of natural forest ecosystems worldwide.
Growing Orchids at Home: The Beginner’s Guide to Orchid Care
Authors: Manos Kanellos and Peter White
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
ISBN: 9781842467183
Orchid growing is a wonderful hobby! You don’t need a garden or lots of space to grow orchids; a wide range of orchid species can be grown inside our homes.
Lilian Snelling: the rhododendron and primula drawings
Author: H. J. Noltie
Publisher: The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
ISBN: 978-1-910877-34-0
Art can heighten and echo the feeling and emotion we experience in moments of our lives. However, botanical illustrations are much more than pictures with emotional attachments, these images can be inherently valuable to plant scientists, researchers, historians, plant collectors, and gardeners; holding a lasting value that can be enjoyed in perpetuity.
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.
Since I wrote this article, I have produced a more extensive Bluebell Woods and Gardens’ Calendar. please click here to see my new Bluebell Calendar.
Bluebell woods and spring gardens full of bluebells are such wonderfully uplifting places to visit. I hope you can enjoy time in amongst the bluebells this season, so you can envelop yourself with the scent and beauty of these awe-inspiring flowers.
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew hold a special place in my heart. These accessible gardens have so much to offer visitors, whatever the season or time of year.
I thought you might like to see some of the orchids on display at Kew’s 2019 Orchid Festival. If you’d like to visit this festival, make your arrangements now, as you don’t have long – Kew’s Colombian themed Orchid Festival closes on Sunday 10th March 2019.
I believe in equality. I am a huge supporter of Disabled Access Day. I believe in the importance of ensuring good quality and safe disabled access to gardens, parks, and outdoor and indoor attractions, and in creating safe and welcoming environments that are open to all visitors, whatever their disability or restriction. Disabled Access Day 2019 allows disabled visitors the chance to experience a garden, attraction, or another place that’s open to the public, without charge.
This weekend the annual Orchid Festival opened at Kew Gardens. This is the 24th Orchid Festival to be held inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory, at Kew. Each year the Orchid Festival has a different theme, this year, Kew’s Orchid Festival celebrates the colour and vibrancy of Colombia! Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet.
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.
Welcome to the twelfth part of my Madagascar BiOrbAir Terrarium Trial – growing epiphytic orchids, which are endemic to Madagascar, inside the BiOrbAir terrarium. In this update, I am excited to share the delight of the snowy white, newly opened flowers of Aerangis citrata with you! Since my last update, I’ve introduced a few new orchids to this Madagascar BiOrbAir Terrarium and I’ve recently replaced the moss, to add a verdant green carpet to enhance the plants inside this special terrarium.
To head straight to my 2022 Snowdrop Events Calendar, please click here.
Welcome to my 2019 Snowdrop Gardens, Talks, Events, and Open Days Calendar! Here are the dates, and all the details of the openings of some of the most beautiful and magnificent snowdrop gardens across the UK, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, and Germany; these gardens are all opening especially, to allow visitors to experience the joy of seeing their snowdrop collections.
Essential Pruning Techniques for Trees, Shrubs, and Conifers
Authors: George E. Brown and Tony Kirkham
Photographs: Andrea Jones
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 978-1-60469-288-4
The first edition of the reference book, Essential Pruning Techniques was written by George E. Brown (1917-1980). George was the assistant curator at Kew and a founding member of the Arboricultural Association. The original book was published in 1972; for over forty years this book was the go-to reference for pruning.
I cherish every special, magical moment when I meet a person with whom I share a deep connection and enjoy a true and meaningful, lasting friendship. One such fellow, whom I am very fortunate to call a close friend, is the horticulturist, broadcaster, journalist, author, plantsman and nature lover, John Negus. John is a truly wonderful man, he is an expert gardener and horticulturist; John never fails to inspire me!
If we hear that an item is rare – be it a jewel, or an item of clothing, or a plant – the very idea that there is limited stock of whatever it is available can send our minds into overdrive; knowing that there is a restricted quantity of the product in question in existence, can fervently increase our desire to own the item – we don’t want to miss out after all!
In March 2018, I shared some of my ideas of how to reduce plastic use and try live more sustainably. I love our planet, I want to do all I can to protect our world, this is an important issue for me. I’d love to help you to find new ways to live sustainably and happily, saving money and having fun along the way!
