Now that winter finally seems to have disappeared, it's time to get down to the sweaty business of preparing the garden for spring time planting and of course that means looking out for plant sales in which to snap up a few bargains or acquire unusual specimens for your flower beds.
A couple of weeks ago, we ventured out to a place called Forde Abbey on the Somerset border for a day out and to check it out for a future outing. It's a huge historic abbey with large grounds and an apparently beautiful garden (I like the sound of that) which we hope to explore later this year when there's more to see. Read more about the gardens from their web site http://www.fordeabbey-gardens-dorset.co.uk/garden/ to get a better idea of what's there to explore.
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| View of Forde Abbey |
As an aside - Shelby (our demented tortoise) who is keeping me company in the study, has somehow managed to climb on top of a yellow carrier bag full of papers that is under the desk and is now apprehensively peering over the edge, looking for a place to slide down. She's such a silly old thing!
Anyhow, to get back to the plant sale. It was a small, muddy affair with not a great deal that sparked off any desire to empty my purse although I still managed to come away with the following:
- Myosotidium - Chatham Island forget me not (£3.50)
- Arum Italicum - oftened referred to as 'Lords and Ladies' (£2.50)
- Valeriana Officinalis - common valerian (£4.50)
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| Plants for sale! |
The Abbey also has a small plant nursery offering a good selection of very reasonably priced plants and I managed to find another climbing Hydrangea Petiolaris for £9.50, a considerable saving on the Crocus price of £12.99. I have to say this is one of the main reasons why it's worth going to these things because if you know your plant prices, you can save yourself a few pennies compared to buying at larger gardening outlets.
I've discovered though that there's one drawback to buying random plants at these sales as without portable encyclopaedic knowledge of every bit of vegetation you come across, you've really no idea as to what you're getting or whether it will grow in your garden until you get it home. After a quick Google you'll have realised, albeit a bit late in the day, that most of your purchases are either totally unsuitable for outside habitation or completely wrong for the type of soil, aspect or location you had in mind. (It pays to do a bit of research beforehand on any specific plants you might be interested in or to have an iPad/iPhone).
Top marks for finding new, exciting specimens for my borders but not so pleased that most are shade loving plants and that the Myosotidium will have to be overwintered indoors.
Counting down the days to the first Cherry Tree Nursery plant sale on 31 March and also counting down to the loss of my first stone with Slimming World - only 3.5lbs away. Exciting times eh!
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