I had a brilliant day on Thursday, my first visit to the wonderful RHS Wisley the flagship garden to the RHS. I enjoyed the day so much I am planning to return in October for A Taste of Autumn event with my sister. The gardens are just beautiful and so much work goes into their upkeep.
The flower show was set out around the garden in small white tents which made a very relaxing shopping experience, the growers having time to talk to you and offer advice. I bought some allium bulbs ready for planting in Oct/Nov although I was told you can even wait until early next year to plant them. The small show gardens were very well presented and my favourite is shown in the photo above.
I enjoyed the tour given by curator Colin Crosbie and Jim Gardiner, I thought it was well planned and having the extra knowledge from Colin made it even more memorable. Funny how you watch him on Gardeners World then actually get to talk to him.
We were shown around the orchard by Jim Arbury + Gerry and sampled some of the 700 varieties of apples (only eight in case you were wondering including ceval, Katja, Bardsley, Joyce + Lord Lambourne) I popped back for a longer look later in the day and of course to sample another apple! I bought a huge bag in the shop before I left for my family to enjoy when I got home, I've even used some in a tomato chutney this weekend.
Matthew Wilson walked around with our group but I was too shy to ask for a photo etc, well its embarassing asking isn't it? So all in all a brilliant day and well worth a visit, don't know why I left it so long to go there!
To mark the event I have a very small Blog Giveaway, nothing grand just some useful RHS goodies I chose (including a bag for life, wellington keyring + pencils) plus two lovely mini Nutscene Tiddler garden twines, gardening greetings card and lavender bag with my Eight-by-Six logo. All you have to do is leave a comment and I'll take a name out of a hat in a weeks time.
Comments
Pomona x
Have been pondering where my purchases will go in the garden over the weekend :)
Please don't include me in your draw - I just wanted to stop by and say hi :)
Thank you so much for the opportunity to enter your draw. I am an avid follower
At the moment my blog is off line, but should I be a lucky winner you can reach me by email
lottie at smart-directions dot co dot uk
(no spaces)
I doubt I'll win though - I love your tomato recipe so might have a go at that.