The Cottage Smallholder

I felt a bit of a pig last spring. Danny adores Sungold tomatoes but I suddenly couldn’t find my wallet when I saw the price on the pack – £2.99 for just ten F1 seeds. Feeling a bit guilty I bought one plant in a sale in late June. Perhaps this plant hadn’t had the Read More »

When my mother married my step father she asked him if there was anything that he particularly wanted to see in our new garden. “Camellias and biannual wallflowers.” Was his instant response. My mother was a very keen gardener but she had never grown these plants. She mentioned years later that she hadn’t been happy Read More »

I love flowers that open in the day when they are touched with sun and close when in shade. Somehow it seems as if they are even more alive. I was unaware that tulips do this as, until this year, they were just an occasional visitor in the garden. Last autumn I splashed out on tulips. Read More »

“Did you know that you’ve got a giant dock weed growing in the herbaceous border?” “Well yes and no. I thought it might be a dock at first but its leaves are larger and curly.” Danny picked a regular dock leaf and compared them. Same colour, similar veins. The dock leaf was much smaller, without Read More »

  I used to write a regular post – flowers from the garden. In fact I think that I’ll resurrect it this year as I’m constantly being tempted by supermarket bunches ATM. I haven’t succumbed (hands held tightly behind my back) but I need to fill our house with our own flowers to quell this Read More »

  I’m busy planning my flower cutting borders for this year.  It’s quite a big job -  up until now I’ve just carried vague plans in my head. This means that often I don’t get the best out of the herbaceous borders. Last year some borders were stunning but others were a real disappointment. If Read More »

  I always thought of dahlias as rather dull flowers, grown by old men in tweedy jackets, grumbling about earwigs and the lack of rain. Dahlias seemed such a palaver. And boring. But then Sarah Raven’s books and website tore the scales from my eyes.  My first wake up call was when she mentioned that dahlias Read More »

  As you know I’m growing flowers to sell. This is never going to make me a millionaire but it’s a steady small stream of income and our garden looks amazing. I’ve been trying to up my sales at the village shop – I bought a pretty metal three tiered stand to make a tempting display of gift Read More »

This is the time of year that the shelves are groaning with Spring bulbs at the local garden centres. Tempting displays that usually draw me in. But not this year. These little packs of 10 bulbs for £3.99 are too expensive. I’m buying in bulk. When I first moved to the cottage I invested in Read More »

  I was so pleased to discover that there is a new strain of hardy gerbera plants available. These are hardy up to -5 degrees. The great thing about gerberas is that the flowers last for ages in water – that’s why you see them in so many restaurant dining rooms. If the plants are Read More »