Spring cabbage..................

Well, March is almost over and Spring is sort of here - at least the Daffodils are out. Still no reliable sunshine and snow forecast for this week! No wonder my broad beans still haven't germinated. Spring is definitely here in all those newspaper and magazine columns, where the Editor's journal has sent out the reminder that it's time to run a gardening article. They're still all on the Grow Your Own bandwagon, with mindblowing words of wisdom such as the earth shattering news that vegetable seeds are out selling flower seeds by 3 to 1, or was it 4 to 1? Anyway, it justified a run of paper article in the Daily T which included quotations from well-known gardening authorities like a spokesman from B&Q.

As always there has to be a down side in the Great British tradition - There is concern apparently that we are ignoring flowers and only growing veg. and the Sunday lunch table will be decorated with a bunch of onions instead of a fragrant posy.Get real - who has time for lunch let alone time to worry about flowers on the table!
As you can tell I'm getting into my cynical pre-Chelsea mood - ready for an onslaught of journalists demanding to know what's new in the way of plants and showing little interest in the other 3,498 others on the exhibit. we do have a couple of new ones: Digitalis 'Serendipity' and the really wonderful Philadelphus maculatus 'Sweet Clare'. The latter is a real winner but will be a bit of a challenge to get in flower for the show. Ricky has just dropped into the office and reports that the roses look good - best ever! As always they will need some light to get them at their best but at least they respond quickly!
Have just ordered tickets for the show - last orders were called to all concerned a week or so ago. From now on all sorts of characters appear from the woodwork requesting passes, imagining that they can be conjured up on a whim - it just does not work like that!
Gill and I have chosen the uniform - safari shirts this year - very Adventures in Gardening!- Sort of Indiana Jones meets the Happy Wanderer - Get the picture.
Think all of the design details bar one are now in place - Just the Venetian Palace to sort. Mehrdad at Quist has come up with a fab. glass and copper sculpture for my Ventian Adventure - gorgeous glass globes that resemble exotic fruits. I see it rising out of the dark feather like foliage of Sambucus 'Black Lace' and the rich orange blooms of Rosa 'Pat Austin'perhaps with a puff of sapphire Ceanothus 'Concha'. - Nice to dream about that one - all my ceanothus are black as your hat after last winter - Oh for some sunshine!

From Russia with Love............

Only a week ago I was in Moscow lecturing at The Moscow Home and Garden Show 2010 - what a great experience. I met Sergey at Chelsea last year and he invited me to be the overseas guest at this year's show - you never know where Chelsea is going to take you. The thought of going to Russia and lecturing through an interpreter was a little daunting, but after a few words of encouragement from David Domoney who did it last year I couldn't wait to get there! The Moscow weather might be cold - still a good depth of snow on the ground - but the welcome could not have been warmer. The show is young - only three years old. It is held in The Crocus exhibition centre - very modern - a bit like the NEC but more up to date. The Home and Garden show consists of four areas - Aqua Spa, Wooden House, Fireplace and Garden. It is a little like a hybrid between a trade show and a public event and of course being indoors in the winter it has a very different feeling from your typical English flower show - more like one of the North American shows. The event provides a showcase for garden designers and there are around 20+ small show gardens. There is little plant material available, so houseplants and artificial flowers are allowed to create the effect.



It would be easy to be dismissive about the gardens compared with those at a British show like Chelsea, but I couldn't help but think back to shows of 20+ years ago at Earl's Court and the rather more basic things we did in those days. Many of the Russian ideas were conceptual and highly original and the enthusiasm and passion was excouraging and humbling.
My lecturing experience endorsed my feelings about the whole event. Enthusiastic young designers in a young market and industry in a country which has been able to have little interest in the garden market until now. The passion for knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject was overwhelming - as was the realisation of how lucky we are not least of all because of our climate and the wealth of plant material available to us.



I shall never again moan that the winter has killed my phormiums and damaged my cistus. If the only evergreens you have to work with are a few conifers and deciduous shrubs are limited to a dozen common subjects, and you can still long to create beautiful gardens, then what should we be capable of?
Some who read this, if anyone does, may cringe when I say that I found the whole experience quite emotional. For the lectures I had a truly wonderful interpreter - Anastasya from St Petersberg who was a garden designer and horticulturist and she enabled me to get my message easily across to the 120 or so delegates. However even outside the lectures the language was not a barrier - even though I now speak only 5 words of Russian and many I spent time with spoke little English. However as often happens in the wonderful world of gardening there is a bond between the souls, an understanding that we all appreciate each others interests and share each others passion to create something to please others. It's quite difficult to express in words - perhaps that is why the language is somehow unimportant.
And what about Chelsea - well its been on hold and now its back to business. As soon as we get to the middle of March there seem to be horribly few pages in the diary between me and the event - so here goes.............

What a difference a day made

A glorious sunny day yesterday and for once I got it right - I was out amongst the plants taklking to customers. Our Cash and Carry Open day at Sunningdale - a chance to talk to landscapers and designers about plants. I was extolling the virtues of Philadelphus maculatus 'Sweet Clare' - hopefully to be shown and launched at Chelsea. I have had this wonderful plant in my garden (referred to previously by us as Philadelphus mexicanus - not sure where that came from!) for a few years now. It makes an arching rounded shrub up to 1.2 metres in height with fine stems and tiny silvery-green leaves. The blooms are carrried all along the branches in June (so will have to coax it forward for Chelsea). They hang face down like dainty white doves giving a delightful effect. The fragrance is heavy and delicious and stronger than any other mock orange I know. Needless to say after I had raved on about this plant I sold lots, and went away knowing that I have introduced a new plant that these gardeners will be passionate about - and one that will never disappoint.


Talking planting combinations and a bit about plans for Chelsea got me excited about the exhibit - must admit other things have taken my mind off it over the past couple of weeks. The only approach now is to stay calm and gradually chip away at the details - where the various features that I have not yet organised are coming from, how to tackle the practicalities of levels and construction. Today I had a session with Stu talking about electrics, lighting and the square pond. He came up with a great solution of how to construct the blue pond and suddenly it all seemed so simple. Mehrdad is now on the case with a creation inspired by Murano Glass. Tom the sculptor is on the case with my slate monoliths to sit alongside his sculpture. Next I need to get on and order the building.
As for the plants - I know Ricky will have everything well under control now he has an idea of what we are looking for in the various areas.