Weeding the Web

Presents for Gardeners: miniature trowel keyring

The craft fairs that happen at RHS Wisley a couple of times a year are always enjoyable, and last spring I came across this cute miniature trowel keyring on the stand of Partners in Pewter.

Adrian Noble, who creates the pewter pieces, has some lovely designs (boxes, coasters, pendants - that sort of thing) and, after exhibiting at Wisley last year, had come to the conclusion that, if he was going to take a stand at a gardening venue, a gardening-related item would be a good idea. Hence the trowel.  It hasn't made it into his range of pendants yet (though I think it definitely should) and I suspect that if you asked him he'd make one into a pendant for you. Worth asking.

The keyring measure 6cms and costs £5 and the trowel's handle has a cheerful worm with a smile on his face wrapped round it.  I'm sure it would bring a smile on the face of your favourite gardener, too.

NB If you're looking for miniature gardening equipment, then you'll probably love the silver tools created by Sheila Holness

Presents for Gardeners: a personal cartoon

Some of you may have noticed the odd reference at the end of last week's post on gardening Christmas cards - a reminder to myself that I forgot (hah!) to remove (and no, it's not there any more). In a troll for suitable festive designs I'd come across Hoe Hoe Hoe by Martin Rolfe, which he designed to raise money for Thrive last year. It's a shame it's no longer available.

All is not lost, though, if you like Martin's work. as over at Martin's Online Sketch Book (where you can see lots of his watercolours), he's offering to create a cartoon to your brief for the astonishingly good value of £5. So, something of Husband wrapping his banana, perhaps? (That's banana plant. For winter. Honestly, some people!) Now, wouldn't that make a lovely, personal Christmas present? 

Still flowering, frost notwithstanding: Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day

Never fails to amaze me that roses bloom at times other than summer, but getting out to photograph what's there for Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day is a great way to get to know the garden at a time of year when we're usually just passing through.

Meanwhile the hebe just won't give up, which is good for the odd bumble bee taking advantage of the warm sunshine yesterday.

Christmas cards for gardeners

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but Christmas cards have to be bought some time.

It's thoughtful to give cards that reflect the interests of the person receiving it - or, failing that, fun to send something that you particularly like. It's surprisingly difficult, though, to find any aimed specifically at gardeners,

For Christmas cards with a gardening theme, check out Thrive's website. (Thrive is a charity working in social and therapeutic horticulture.) Their "Christmas Thyme" design is exclusive to them, but I particularly liked their well dressed shed [NB 2014: link removed as no longer viable].

Perennial has a much wider range of cards, to support their work with distressed professional horticulturalists. They've got quite a mix of gardening and non-gardening subjects and, again, I fell for the shed (pictured).

You might have spotted in the past that I have a particular soft spot for the humorous cartoons of Chris Madden which you buy under licence to produce yourself (a quick glance at his terms indicate a £15 rate for personal use). His website is much easier to navigate now, and he's got a good array of Christmas gardening subjects.

 

Fuchsias - bally ballerinas or beautiful blooms?

Are there flowers of which you have an irrational dislike?  My dartboard pin-up for many years has been fuchsias. Why? Possibly because someone once likened their flowers to little ballerinas and, ever since, I've rebelled against the cutesy image they conjure of all those little girls whose socks never fell down in junior school.

I am, of course, cutting off my nose to spite my face. "How lovely," I purred, as Husband revealed his latest purchase. Compact bush, fat, richly coloured flowers. Then I realised it was a fuchsia (albeit not one of the the skinny-flowered, prissy ones) and went right off it. I fear it felt the pain. Last winter it turned up its toes.

A couple of months ago we visited Shrewsbury and I had to review my prejudice all over again. Shrewsbury has The Dingle, which has to be one of the most delightful public parks in Britain.  Completely unprepared for what lay within the walled enclosure, I was breathless at the impact of the brightly planted flowerbeds, fountains and lake. And, of course, featuring strongly were fuchsias.

A number of fuchsias here have a pedigree that is particularly precious to those of us who remember Percy Thrower as the Blue Peter gardener. He was Parks Superintendent here from 1946 to 1974, and some of the fuchsias still used are descended from the plants he chose when he renovated the garden after the Second World War.

And who am I to argue with Percy? The displays were stunning. One of his choices, Checkerboard, says Potash Nursery, is easy for beginners and to train as a standard. It is, regrettably, one of the skinny, prissy fuchsias, but I guess I can forgive it if it it flowers as freely as Simply Fuchsias say it does.

So, perhaps I'll just have to give in and admit I was wrong. There's a lot to be said for fuchsias. There's also a huge amount to be said for the Dingle - for more, do read my review at Garden World.  In the meantime, what flowers would you rather see on the compost heap than in the garden?