July News Update

Welcome to our July newsletter. I hope that you are all keeping well and coping with the lockdown.  It has been a trying time for everyone but those of us lucky to have a garden have been able to spend time outdoors, and many say their gardens are looking the best ever. Others have taken advantage of getting out into the countryside and have a new found enthusiasm for British wildlife which is definitely a good thing.  

We still don’t feel that we can have visitors to the garden as we have too many narrow entrances and pathways to maintain proper social distancing. But rest assured we have been keeping busy and have come up with a way for you to have a little bit of the garden in your own home, read on for more details!

This month we’re pleased to launch our revamped website (expertly put together by my son Phil at Hey Strategy) and we’re also making it easier to buy our home grown cut flowers.

I have grown flowers for cutting for many years and have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest we’ve received in our farm gate flowers as part of Flowers from the Farm. Much of our kitchen garden, plus the garden borders, are planted with flowers for cutting, often scented, and quite different from the supermarket offerings. Despite (perhaps because of?) Covid-19 we have had increased demand for bouquet deliveries in our local area – with careful preparation and social distancing.

With our new website and ordering system it’s easy to order flowers for collection or delivery and hope you will think of us next time you need a bouquet for a special occasion or as a treat for yourself.  Locally grown flowers have none of the air miles of hothouse grown ones, and we don’t use any chemicals or pesticides. Full details are here.

We’re also excited to be working with Gordale Garden Centre who will be stocking some of our flowers soon! More details to follow.

It is the middle of July and Fieldcrest garden is looking at its best, despite the very variable weather we have been having. The cutting garden is full of lovely flowers and I am busy sowing biennials and taking cuttings of salvias, pelargoniums and hydrangeas. The garden is roughly south facing so is a very sunny plot. We do have some shaded areas where we have trees but overall we can plant lots of sun lovers, which is great for the cut flowers.

For those who have shadier plots, I wanted to share some ideas so we’re delighted to welcome guest blogger Rachel Summers to the blog this month. Rachel lives in Caldy and organises the Caldy Open Gardens. Read how she gardens in the shade of fairly large trees. It is a lovely garden, full of ideas and different areas, so I hope that you will enjoy reading her account.

We wish everyone a safe and healthy summer.

Chris