Greetings from The Shambles

Another wet morning in beautiful Montville . Probably the only down side is the  plants for the plant stall which are saturated . Hopefully we will get a bit of sun for them soon. By the time the open garden comes around on the 19th and 20th April 2025 we will be getting some cooler days. 

I have noticed that there are very few open gardens now and it is a great loss for people who are gardeners and who like visiting gardens. So many of our ideas and inspiration for plants came from seeing other gardens over the years. If you are new to gardening try to do this , you might see what you want and you will definately see things that you don't love .Personally I am not keen on ornamental frog collections but that's just me!

In the 1980's and 1990's gardening was really supported find a thee media . I remember Burkes Back yard show casing a plant and  the next day it was at the nursery . There were lots of independent nurseries often family owned . These days new gardeners are very restricted by what is commonly available at big hardware stores. Often the plants on sale are not even mean't for the area so will fail. There is also a big lack of knowlegeable  shop assistants in those places. 

 Luckily  there are gardeners who are happily sharing cuttings in old plastic bags or tied with string. Just yesterday I came the home with three rose cuttings to pot up. Many who pour over gardening web sites and books and who are happy to share their knowledge . 

I continue to love domestic garden spaces . Gardens that are not too big to manage but can keep you fully occupied and interested. 

 Cute idea I saw at the St Erth garden in Victoria .