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

A different shade of green

Yesterday was the day that we got a bit more ground turned over in the garden.

We've got lots of seedlings that need some space to grow! Well .... they can't complain now!

Love the old Ford tractor!

Just need a rotavator now....

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

What'ya doing Monday?

We will be at Donnington Grove Hotel with Luna Boutiques for their fabulous CHARITY fashion show on Monday 29th April....supping champagne and downing canapes......if you want to go be QUICK!!!..the tickets are going fast.....
Fabulous flowers ( which you may win in the raffle....do you have a space in your house big enough?).....gorgeous fashions.......rails will be set up ready for you to buy......all set in the most sumptuous setting of Donnington Grove Hotel.....what else is there to do on a Monday night?

News from the walled garden

it may be still cold but today the sun was shining...yah!!

so it was all go in the garden today..

 the ground cover is going down

while waiting for the BIG poly tunnel to arrive we put up an allotment sized one to get some seeds going ...
while we sat having our picnic lunch...tea from the flask....soaking the sun up when the wind dropped you could even think it was spring...we talked of the things we wanted to grow...an ever increasing list....maybe finding someone with bee hives....putting up some bird feeders.....
we watched three red kites circling high above us....we listened to the baby chatter and the black dog race around barking at nothing..and wondered how everything will look in a few months time....it was once a dream but everyday now it is such a reality....

...we are trying to recycle as much as we can and have hundreds of paper pots at the ready..sweet peas are destined for these ones......

..gorgeous Hellebore Niger ...already thinking ahead these are for cutting next year ....these are the same  variety as we were selling in the shop at the weekend ( sorry now sold out!).
While buying gardening gloves at the garden center yesterday I happened to look at the prices ....we are seriously cheaper on many plants.....we might do a price comparison like the supermarkets..watch this space.

Next week is Tutti Day in Hungerford....we need to redo the shop window in the town colours.... flowers are one of the vital parts of the celebrations so we have lots of work to do....xx

And so it begins...

Monday the 11th of March, the day after Mother's Day. I can't believe it!

Mother's Day was crazy! We thought we over ordered on our flowers but on Saturday afternoon at 4 pm we had sold every single flower in the shop! We had to go to our wholesalers on the Sunday morning to get some more!

The mums in and around Hungerford have really been spoiled!

So as you understand we haven't really been able to blog, but we managed to take a picture of two....

Not to forget the lovely wedding we did! Many congratulations Rebecca & Matt!

And this morning we had even more excitement...

The preparations to get the garden ready for sowing and planting have begun!

The green door opens

And so it begins!

Martin & the Magpie Home Grown

Our walled garden to grow flowers for you.....

Seasonal.... English....Local....

We have a list as long as our six arms put together!!

BUT tell us what you'd like us to grow???

Two things......

1

We have the most beautiful flowers in the shop today....

2

After five months of planning this dream its finally signed and sealed 

we'll show you whats behind the door later in the week......

September wedding weekend part one

Mid September saw us in wedding frenzy......

Number One was at the amazing Cain Manor, part of the Bijou wedding group, a beautiful Elizabethan Manor House was the venue....  

white, peach and pale pink combination...gorgeous ice-cream colours..

 frothy gypsophila added lightness, the bridesmaids bouquets were simply this tied with white ribbons..

 Lauren's bouquet..thank goodness for her brilliant photographer Nicola Rhodes at K & E Photography to get a decent picture of it.....

helping hands for the groom.....

what a beautiful happy day....didn't they all look stunning???
All photographs here are the property of K & E Photography, with many thanks for their use Nicola.

OK who hid September....

..is it just me or is this year dashing to the finishing post a bit quick????....
We have been busy.... October arrived and no-one noticed....

the shop in its autumn colours....

a good luck horse statue..you know you need one....

the wedding fair at The Bear was a huge success.....

the first Cornish anemones are just delicious.....

elegant arum lilies for an October bride.....

a scrummy door wreath....we are open!!....

bright and clashing colours are our new favourites.....

We are off the the flea market tomorrow..hopefully there will be lots of goodies to show you next week....
have a lovely Sunday...xx

sleeping on the job...

 When the bulb season has finished it gets a bit harder to find plants that are happy in our vintage containers...the hyacinths and little daffodils are perfect as they need a minimum amount of water and don't mind their roots being restricted.....summer plants are a bit less accommodating!!!

 this week we have some gorgeous miniature orchids  as well as phalaenopsis orchids planted in copper and stone....and we found these old french canisters last week which look lovely  with these little hydrangeas in ....

we have got gorgeous bright red geraniums and of course our usual herb planters.

We have ordered lilac plants for delivery tomorrow at a really good price so if you have a spot for one come and have a look at them.

On the flower side we have ENGLISH scented pinks and Sweet Williams by the bunch....

talking of something sweet.....our newest member of the team....sleeping on the job!!

See you all soon.........zzzzzzzz!!

spring fever

its bulbs at very turn in the shop at the moment.

blue ones....hyacinth, muscari, iris,

white ones...snowdrops, white magic muscari, hyacinths in threes and ones... hellebores....

pinky purple ones.... hellebores...oh and hyacinths...ok we are a little hyacinth crazy here!!

as well as all the yellow ones ..tete a tete... narcissus....ranuculus ( sorry sold out)...

and lilies..white this week ( potted at an unbelievable price)

We have them potted into lovely containers ....some vintage.....some quirky....of course this is Martin and  the Magpie....

or ready for you to plant up yourself......

sometimes....

we just let the flowers talk.....

'...and when the earth shall claim your limbs, then you shall truly dance.'
The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran