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Author Archive | greenandgorgeous

Sweet Pea Sell Out

By on June 7, 2010 in Blog

 Sweet peas have to be one of my best sellers and they are flowering their little hearts out in the polytunnel at the moment. I spent half the day picking hundreds for the Oxford farmers market tomorrow. If all goes to plan I will have a queue and be sold out in a couple of hours. I follow the winter growing crop with the outdoor sweet peas which are all highly scented Spencer varieties. I have organised an Open Day around them on the 13th June, 'come and pick your own'…..one small problem, the weather has not been kind and the persistently cold spring has rather scuppered my sweet pea plans. Most of them have stubbornly remained the same size as when I planted them, with a slight crispy edge. As I have always grown show-stopping sweet peas, this is a huge blow to my horticultural ego.  There's always something that doesn't come good during a season.

I am trying to console myself with all the other gorgeous flowers we will have for our Open Day (Sunday, 12-5pm): foxgloves, alliums, sweet williams, campanula, poppies, iris, verbascums, stocks and cornflowers. There will also be plenty of plants for sale too. 

RS

 

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Wedding Weekend

By on May 19, 2010 in Blog

Hi there! We've just had a run on a few weddings……which is great,
if a bit hectic! Our weddings really do anchor where we are in the season for
me.

We kicked off this year with a wedding in one of our favourite venues,
Friars Court in Clanfield. It's always a pleasure going there anyway…(a
stunning stately home in the Cotswolds with romantic gardens and rustic barn).

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The wedding took place on the 24th April and the weather was FANTASTIC! How
lucky was that??

I'm sure some of you noticed how the amazing the blossom was this year, so
we went BIG on that. We cocooned the Barn with 'Blossom trees' and did an
eclectic mix of vases filled with ranunculus, anemones, narcissi, muscari and
tulips on the tables…..it really did look lovely (if I do say so myself!) The
arum leaf added a touch of vintage class. 



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 I thought the buttonholes & corsages looked cute. The groom was part Welsh
so the 'daffodil' worked really well for them…

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We've had a quick look at the professional photos and I think you can tell the
bride loved her bouquet! ( It appears in almost every shot!!)

Jo Wise 

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Photo courtesy of Grange Photographic

 


 


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Ranunculus heaven

By on May 5, 2010 in Blog, Cut flowers, Ranunculus

One of the most exciting and anxious times in the growing season is when the Ranunculus are in full flower in the polytunnel. I think my Ranunculus are the most exquisite I have ever seen , not that it is down to me but the claws (bulbs) that I source….which is top secret of course.

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Of all the flowers I grow uniquely it is the Ranunculus that I find difficult to pick and part with. The first time I grew them I was surprised at how much they differed from the rather weedy looking market ones. These are like Ranunculus on steroids, well rotted horse muck actually. The pink and white ones could be mistaken for peonies and play a star role in our weddings at this time of year.

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They are also a big seller at the farmers market where people often comment on their long vase life, which can be two weeks if treated kindly. I mentioned that it is also an anxious time because they do not like being too warm, so whilst everyone else is overjoyed to be finally getting some sunshine I am hoping for some clouds!

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The bulbs which are called claws are costly so I saved some last year and as a trial replanted them to see if the flowers would be as good this spring. They have come up well, so I will be lifting, drying and dividing them all this time. So if anyone is interested in some for autumn planting I will keep you posted.

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