Didn't we have a luvverly time...

I promised you some pics of our weekend at the Great Gardening Show at Loseley House - so here they are...


Our humble little corner - that's my hubby and dog looking rather lugubrious (or is that just embarrassed?). We sold quite a few of those nice oak boxes and got lots of interest in the garden storage solutions. Quite a hot topic at the moment, it would seem (all the better for our bank account, then).


Then I set off to have a look around. Got very excited about these "hanging bamboos" - finally, I thought, I've found a way of using bamboos that keeps them in their place. But then I found out they're not bamboo at all but a grass - Agrostis stolonifera. I suppose bamboo is a grass, strictly speaking, but I think my campaign to outlaw the stuff continues unabated.



Loads and loads and loads of flowers everywhere - I thought this display was a riot...


...and so did the bee, which took absolutely not a jot of notice of me while I took this photo. Far too busy. As you would expect, from a bee.


This fig tree was on the rather wonderful stall from Plants On Line. They had some fabby citrus and olives too (I'm a bit obsessed by exotic-ish edibles at the moment as I'm cooking up a scheme for my garden - literally...) And a few pomegranates, which is another tree I hanker for. Apart from their rather regrettable predilection for bamboos, this is a seriously good nursery which I hadn't come across before.


Further indulging my edible exotics fetish, this is my must-have plant for this year: I spotted loads of colocasia at Hampton Court and this one was a beaut. Just look at those leaves... the edible bit is the tuber, which tastes a bit like potatoes so they tell me. I'd like to know who digs up £20 tubers to eat, mind you...



Last but not least, on the same stall as the colocasia (that's Athelas Plants - another fantastic exotics nursery) was this gorgeous Anizoganthus in full flower. It's called 'Gold' (can you tell why?): don't know the plant well but apparently it's not that easy to get it to flower like this. The label tells me it needs sun and well-drained soil - might do well in my acid sand, then...

My "must-grow-before-I-die" list is getting longer and longer. Better make it to my Queen's telegram otherwise I'll never get through it at this rate.

It's showtime!

I'm seeing life on the other side of the garden show stand this weekend - I'm actually an Official Exhibitor for the first time ever!

Here's a rather gratuitous pic of my pass to prove it:



As I've never done anything like this before it's probably more exciting than it ought to be but I don't care, I'm really enjoying myself. It's at the Loseley House Great Gardening Show, which is an annual event that's become a local fixture round here - though I must admit it hasn't been as packed as in previous years, no doubt something to do with the impending recession.

Anyway, this is all thanks to my rather talented hubby who's just jacked in his job and turned a 20-year hobby into a business, making all sorts of garden carpentry (shameless plug for business via his website here). He booked a stand some months ago - it started out as a stand for a wendy house but then he got into all sorts of other things woody as well so we've got quite an eclectic mix. And a few plants of course - I schlepped off to my local nursery, Spring Reach (another shameless plug there) to scrounge some pretty roses and rather nifty standard-trained cotoneasters on last-minute loan to tart the whole thing up a bit. Business has been pretty good so far, and we've still got a day to go - hopefully will get around to a few proper pictures tomorrow.