pleasant gardening

The last week has been very pleasant. Not only have the temperatures been more temperate, gardening has been enjoyable and we have had short periods of rain which has helped. Not so the bites - I don't know where the midges and beasties have come from this year but we have had them aplenty in Cumbria. I am bitten to death. This is probably in retaliation for my war on the slime balls which is still in progress.

Once again Gardener's World has brought us a superb one hour special with Sarah Raven's programme on Friday evening. Really enjoyable and very educational - it has stimulated me to go and buy some herbs and medicinal plants myself and I am certainly going to try that special cream she made from marigolds for the bites! Very topical I thought at the time. Jekka McVicar had a sensational display at Chelsea exploring the centuries old heritage of using herbs for all kinds of culinary and medicinal purposes. So I know where to go to get my plants. Well done Sarah for bringing us this interesting programme.

So next week its off to Southport for the flower show. For us it kind of marks the end of the season which is always very hectic from April through to August. So my next blog will doubtless bring you up to date with all the news from Southport - what is in and what is not and of course any gossip I pick up on the way!