Blue Daisy Blog

Did you know that it will be National Gardening Week during 14-20 April?  This initiative by the Royal Horticultural Society was launched 3 years ago to celebrate gardening.  Thousands of people across the country come together to help keep Britain beautiful by hosting garden open days, garden parties, quizzes, plant swaps and other activities like sharing advice or lending helping hands to friends, neighbours and the local community. 

You can find out more on the national gardening week website: http://www.nationalgardeningweek.org.uk

In addition this year Britain in Bloom will be 50 years old so it is planned to sow half a million sunflower seeds. Gardening groups across Britain will be sowing sunflowers to celebrate in a ‘Growing for Gold’ theme using pollinator-friendly varieties including ‘Giant Single’, ‘Moonwalker’, ‘Taiyo’ and ‘Vanilla Ice’. 

So be on the look-out for lots of bright golden sunflowers this year! And why not consider taking part too by sowing some seeds of your own?  Sunflowers are great additions to the garden or allotment - children love them, they're jolly, joyous and look amazing too!

Happy New Year!  It has been a strange old start to the year already with storms raging across the country doing untold damage to our gardens (never mind people's homes too!).  The majority of our gardens in this area are heavy clay, so they will be extremely waterlogged with all of the heavy rain falling on already saturated gardens and there is little that can be done right now apart from letting nature take its course.   Going forward though if you do have a problem with water logging you could get in contact with us for some ideas to help you either with your existing garden or to help combat future problems when creating a new garden.

2014 sees the start of the year with a new series Great British Garden Revival, whilst it might not be everyone’s cup of tea we should raise our glass that gardening is getting some more air time – after all 30 minutes a week for Gardener’s World could be considered pretty poor compared to the amount of cookery and reality programmes there are out there!

This is also the year for Perennial (the Gardener’s Royal Benevolent Society) as it celebrates its 175th anniversary of helping horticulturalists in need since 1839.  It is also the 50th anniversary of RHS Britain in Bloom and the RHS is encouraging community groups across the UK to plant golden pollinator-friendly flowers to mark their golden anniversary across public spaces this year.  To add to that it is the 100th anniversary of World War 1 famously dubbed ‘The Great War’ and there will be masses of red poppies planted across the country to commemorate those who lost their lives.  I expect there will be masses of poppies being included in many show gardens this year too.

Blue Daisy is celebrating its fourth full year of trading, we have had our bumpy times but as the economy is slowing picking up so is business and we have plans for the coming year which I’ll share with you as they are finalised.

All in all I think it will be a colourful year – here’s looking forward to it!

We have heard over the last few weeks that Alan Titchmarsh will no longer be presenting the BBC RHS Chelsea programme next year and instead Monty Don and Sophie Raworth will be taking the reigns.  Some reports are suggesting that Alan has been squeezed out by being offered a lesser role so he felt there was no alternative to him other than stepping down completely.  If that's true it is a shame that after 30 years of being the face of the RHS Chelsea on the BBC that was the only option he saw open to him.

Regardless how you feel about Alan or Monty I think you do have to question the BBC's decision somewhat even though Monty is undoubtedly a well known gardener, the anchor of Gardener's World and has TV programmes, books and columns under his belt.  Monty freely admits that he is not a trained gardener but a hobbyist that has become very successful and has in turn brought his passion to gardening.  Alan on the other hand is a time served gardener, he has experience and knowledge in bucket loads, he has also designed and built a show garden so he has some understanding of what goes in to creating one, and the pressures people are under to deliver the very best they can in the time and budget allotted.  Alan is also a huge advocate of horticulture and is involved in working with the RHS to improve the modern day perception of horticultre as a career.   I do admire both of these TV horticultural personalities in different ways, I have no doubt that Monty will ooze passion but I wonder how he will fare with presenting such a flag ship programme not only for the BBC but also the RHS, they are some large shoes he must fill.

Sophie Raworth, a BBC journalist is no doubt very adept at interviewing and getting the best from people and she will be the support that Monty may need but she has admitted herself she is not a gardener or a designer.  I'm not sure that the BBC has made the best move here, there are so many other designers and horticulturalists out there that have more experience and lots of passion but I will not join the masses that are refusing to watch it; instead I will watch with bated breath and I sincerely hope they succeed and do our amazing industry proud.