Showing posts with label the walled garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the walled garden. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 January 2014

A week in......





 ......and the seasons are changing ....for florists anyway!!

We find as soon as Christmas is packed away for another year nobody wants red...... for  a while anyway....it is whites and purples and spring....it as if we are all straining our eyes to see the first snowdrop.....a catkin...or a splash of winter jasmine......we have bulbs in every shape and size at the moment...bringing these lovelies into the house just makes you feel like we are only a whisper away from longer days and bright fresh breezes ..........


In the garden we are making plans.....our nights lately have been filled with a few anxious thoughts as the gales and rain has lashed our poly tunnel and newly planted shrubs...we have had our fingers and toes crossed that all will be OK ....we are busy planting seeds....and have just got the keys to our potting shed next to the garden.....lots to do here!!



This will be our new workshop and from now on our courses will run from here, giving us all a bit more space and allowing  us to de-clutter the shop......we can't wait!!

Saturday, 23 November 2013

bouquets and jelly moulds


 our penultimate wedding of the year..... a gorgeous wild array of rannunculus, scented roses and heather 

rose  heart wreaths on the door before the spruce and berries take over......
 the winding down of our garden.....grapes left for the blackbirds.. and just another 80 roses to plant.....


 part of our store of vintage pots, jelly moulds and other eclectic containers......
 all waiting for the martin & the magpie magic......

and one we made earlier........

how are your Christmas preparations going?

Saturday, 9 November 2013

To every season......


The seasons have moved on......
this is the last bouquet I picked from the walled garden.......

 We can't quite believe the bounty we have had this year while only really experimenting with 'growing our own'.....the first hard frost a week or so ago finished all that......

but here we are and the first of next years crop already sprouted and growing on....



 we are seeing the first of the spring flowers coming in....I know its November....but that is the flower industry..slightly ahead of ourselves...we are selling out of potted hyacinths every week so I guess everybody is ready for the change of season too!!



It is one of the humbling things about being a florist in a small town..you get to see all the milestones of peoples lives...the joys and the sorrows.......


'to everything there is a  season......
a time to sow.....
a time to reap.....
a time to dance.......
a time to mourn...........
a time of war...
a time of peace......
turn, turn, turn...............'


Sunday, 13 October 2013

The days go by.......

 (baby pumpkins and vintage finds)
 (Dried leaf wreath..what a tongue twister!!)
(gorgeous rich autumn colours)
 (last blooms of summer from the garden)
(what more sunflowers!!)

.......so fast and we have been very lapse on the blogging front......facebook and instagram are taking over!!!...do follow us on both if you can, you will get a daily heads up on whats occuring in our floral and gardening lives.......
needless to say we are surrounded by the beauty of autumn..glorious colours of flowers.....stunning berries and foliage's not to mention our home grown pumpkins......
in the garden we are planting and sowing like mad things for next year..already rannunculus and anemones are in....seedlings of stocks and larkspur, cornflowers and scabious are waving their little leaves at us....the foxgloves, hollyhocks and delphiniums we planted this year for next years flowering are good strong plants now and we have our finger crossed they survive the winter.

Our heads are now turning to winter......our stock for Christmas is ordered..we are already wiring cinnamon and oranges for our wreaths in an attempt not to run out, which we did last year..we are wondering if anyone out there wants to attend a Christmas wreath making course?? .....
But first we have Halloween.....a window display to design......our 3rd Birthday!!.....a new website...........the list goes on....x

Monday, 16 September 2013

musette & more





 last week...vintage cut glass........musette roses........a wedding here.......

the surprise of the weekend.....


 the clearing of the old hot house revealed grapes....rather sour and with pips.....
today wonderful English garden (our garden!!) flowers in divine antique glass..
...finding foliage and seed heads in the autumnal hedgerows...
...keeping our fingers crossed the poly tunnel doesn't blow away.....
...playing with flowers for images to go on our new website....
.....pippins donuts......


Saturday, 10 August 2013

Harvest Festival


When we took on this massive walled garden of ours, we knew that it was originally the kitchen garden for the 'Big House' on the estate. However we didnt realise in the bleak midwinter when we saw it, just how much it is still producing. Bearing in mind the land has had no-one working on it for 8 years. Mother nature still amazes us. We have started to harvest the small amount of veg we have, however it seem this earth is good to the humble fruit n veg.... 

                              

One whole wall once had trained fruit trees...however they have broken out of their restrictive wires and have been allowed to create mayhem... they are amazingly full of fruit, each tree seems to be a different variety of pear. The 'Big House' must have loved Pears!!

                           
                              

This building would have been the hot fruit house....it has the most amazing grape vine going through it...the acid green is neon at the moment. The fig trees grow 3 foot through the plastic roof, tantalizing us with is huge fruit, which we will be unable to reach to pick. 


                              

There are blackberries, a whole coffee cup here...craving apple and blackberry crumble anyone?


                             

Our little onion patch turned out to produce 91 white onions and 116 red onions....how long do you think they will last us? Stunned by the amount is an understatement.



The youngest member of the team, eats more than he picks...he had peas from the pod today...they were a huge hit. These stringless beans are tastier cooked however, but the teething toddler disagrees.

                             

Mazie, can you see their tufty heads peeking through? Martin doesn't like it...hahaha more for us then :)


                             

Our lazy tomatoes, and the colour pop of marigolds in the petit polytunnels


                            

Talking of colour...look at these red beauties! They are perfect for mash.


                           
                             

I think Christmas presents will be pretty predictable this year
Red onion marmalade? Yummy.


Saturday, 3 August 2013

Bounty

If we had started our gardening venture last year we would have been washed away.....this year we are sizzling in the hottest temperatures ever......
Well, we like a challenge!



The zinnias have started flowering....at least they like it hot....
 the first cucumbers harvested and the tomatoes are going on apace..
 courgettes...beetroot and of course sweet peas... if you are near the shop we have fresh cut sweet peas in daily at the moment...they sell out fast though....

the view from here......we must have counted 50 bees on this finished crop of cornflowers and clary sage...we are leaving the plants in until the bees have had their fill and seriously thinking of putting a few hives in next year....Martin & The Magpie Honey anyone??

Friday, 5 July 2013

There have been times....

 over the last month when we thought that we would never see a flower in the garden this year......

but look!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after a cold and very shaky start we have got flowers.......not many....yet.... but its a start and boy are we proud...the first few are trialing in our homes to check on vase life.....so maybe in a week we can sell some to you!!
We have larkspur in the most lush colours.....scented stocks and cornflowers...the sweet peas are nearly there...sorry...but excited just doesn't come close!!
We are already planning for next year with the first of our seeds arriving in the post this morning...foxgloves...hollyhocks.......aquilegia.......to name just a few.....
the list of work to do gets longer daily but picking that first stock and smelling the scent  this evening was just heaven.
Hope you all manage to enjoy the summer sunshine this week end.....x


Sunday, 23 June 2013

just a picture...


from a Friday wedding....

Flowers: Sweet Avalanche &,Garden O'Hara roses, Sarah B's peonies,  hydrangeas, phlox, lavender, rosemary.
Venue: The gorgeous Donnington Grove Country Club, Newbury.


Its been a full on week......the races.....the family over from The Netherlands,....a babies first steps....vintage stock buying forays......dear friends new baby girl.....a wedding....finding out the 350 dianthus you just planted are ground loving  not tall cutting!!!...the early starts....the humidity.....the wondering just when will the sweet peas decide to clamber up the trellis under  their own steam.....
next week...just bring it on.....

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

A most excellent crop...



...of daisies...
we have an equally good crop of dandelions too...
work in the garden moves on apace..
seeds emerging....plug plants planted.....
we are trying not to feel too overwhelmed by it all!!

This is a bank holiday weekend and we have lots of lovely things in the shop.....and if you got one of our 10% off vouchers at the fashion show....
hurry up... time is running out to use it!!

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

When the sun shone..






...which seems like a while ago now....late afternoon in the garden...a small child and a black dog supervise the marking out of ground for the poly-tunnel....
we are very much regretting not doing this earlier as our seeds are growing like topsy and taking over every available space but its still so cold..our little poly is bursting at the seams.......soon we will have to let the babies out and live with the consequences!! 

However  this lack of space for seeds doesn't seem to deter us from buying plants for next year....a gracefully nodding forest of white dicentra waiting for the next available vehicle to taxi them to the garden....we have lots of pink bleeding hearts already reaching for the skies there.

Please pray for the rain to stop and warm air to waft this way....xx

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