Chelsea Week 2026

 I have enjoyed the TV coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year.  I have never been in person, nor am I likely to go either (too expensive, travelling to London, tickets sell out very fast and too many people!).  I do like to see what can be done in these relatively small spaces.  All the photos are from the RHS Chelsea website here and they are the gardens/features/planting which caught my eye.

This massive wooden sculpture of Gaia, or Mother Nature, is the feature in the Campaign to Protect Rural England Garden: 'On the Edge' designed by Sarah Eberle, which won a gold medal and the best show garden.  

It will be relocated to a regeneration project in Sheffield.

I liked the use of the different materials.

The planting was cool and calm.

This was the Woodland trust: Forgotten Forests garden designed by Ashleigh Aylitt.  The garden will be going to a primary school in Newcastle upon Tyne.  Trees are so vital for our wildlife and our wellbeing.

The Parkinson's UK Garden: A garden for every Parkinson's Journey, was designed by Arit Anderson, whose sister lives with Parkinson's Disease. There was a snaking handrail which contained a rill, so would give some support as well as the cooling water.  This garden is going to the John Radcliffe Centre for Parkinson's Disease in Oxford.

I liked the cooler planting at the back of the garden. The front had a riot of colour.

The Cleary Gottlieb:Time for Creativity garden designed by Christina Cobb, encouraged people to put down their phones and do something creative. (It is preaching to the converted for me - I believe that doing something creative is vital for all of us.) 

It had a lovely carved bowl water feature.

The planting was beautiful too.  The relocation hasn't yet been decided.

I liked the rill in the Tate Britain garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith.  This included a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth and will be relocated to outside Tate Britain.

The Whittard of Chelsea garden designed by Ollie Pike looked very inviting and shows what can be done with containers.

I liked the blue/green patina on the water features.  It will be donated to a community centre.

Back to my own garden now!

The three As in May (and a couple of extras)

The three As in May are Aquilegia or Granny's Bonnets (above is a self sown one (I think)...

This was one from my sister's garden which has a lovely flower with lots of petals...

Then there's Astrantia and this may be Burgundy Manor but it could also be Star of Love.

The third is Allium, which I love but they don't seem to like my garden.  Even the ones I grew in large pots with the roses haven't come back as much as I hoped they would.  I like the ones I have got though. These are Christophii I think.

The couple of extras are this new acquisition, a geum (the label says Total Tangerine, but I am hoping it is Totally Tangerine). It will provide a fabulous contrast to all the pink and purple in the garden.  They are supposed to be good in pots so that decided me.  They are also supposed to flower for a long time and not require staking. 

The other extra is this lovely apricot foxglove.  I didn't think any of the apricot foxglove seeds I sowed last year did any good, so I think this may be a self-seeder from two years ago.  Whatever it is, it is so welcome!

Just because I can, here is another shot of the aquilegia.

It is the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this coming week, so I shall be watching the TV coverage as usual.  It is always interesting to see which plants are popular. 

Birds and chairs

A bit of a random title for this post, but there we are.  We have had a new visitor to the bird feeder recently.  While a goldfinch may not be unusual for many of you, it is for us.  We have mainly sparrows, the occasional blue tit and I think there may have been a great tit once.  However, not a goldfinch!  

I have been really excited each time I have spied him/her! (apologies for the washing line cutting straight through the photo - I was taking this from the sitting room window and had to zoom in). I hope I continue to see him/her.

In other news, I have eventually finished a major sewing project.  A few months ago, I was looking for a large patchwork blanket or something similar to cover my very boring brown chair.  I am not a 'brown chair' person - I like colour.  I couldn't find anything that appealed to me, so thought I would make a patchwork blanket myself, using my large stash of fat quarters and other material.  This has turned into a major project, requiring many hours of work, quite a bit of unpicking and the use of my sister-in-law's kitchen table and her floor on several occasions as it required a big space when I was sewing it together and then quilting it. It is the biggest sewing thing I have attempted!  It also turned into a chair cover, rather than a blanket, and this necessitated looking up how to bind inner corners. (It would probably have been easier to make a big quilt blanket, but that would have been even more difficult to manage!) 

It has also turned into quite an expensive cover as I had to buy the wadding and a bigger piece for the backing.  However, it is finished!  The inner corners didn't work that well as my cutting and sewing was not as precise as it should have been, but as I am the only one judging it and the 'Quilt Police' are not going to call round any time soon, I think I can live with it! 

It has lots of lovely colours and patterns and makes me much happier than the brown cover.  Of course, it is now somewhat obscured by the cat blanket (as he has decided this is his chair - rude!), but I know it is there.  It will cover any chairs I may have in the future too, so all my hard work was worth it!

Cards so far this year

As you know, I enjoy making cards, so here are some I have made this year.  Above is a stencilled one and I have made this at least three times now, with different colour ways.  It works really well.

Another stencilled one but with the sentiment in a 'spotlight'.  

Here it is a bit closer.

I like to have lots of thank you cards at the ready.   The stamps, 'Linocut mini sampler' from Clarity Crafts, are created from the artist's own lino cuts which were shrunk down.

A collage card inspired by an online course with Laly Mille, called Naturalist.  This was for my colleague at work who enjoys nature, entomology etc. 

A new stencil and die combination from an American company.  The extra tax made this an expensive purchase, but I have used it several times, so it is worth the money.  I used a paper pad for the shapes.

A hyacinth card for my mum-in-law.

This was for my sister-in-law who likes butterflies. 

A card for a friend using the stencil and die combo from America. Lots of different scraps from paper pads were used here.

Finally for now, a card for my nephew and his fiancée, using gilding flakes. 

It's so nice to be able to create personalised cards and posting about them here means I have a good back catalogue to refer to!

More mid-Spring flowers

In my previous post, I mentioned that the Finola tulips at the front of the house had really opened up, so here they are.  You can see that rogue yellow one!

Here's a close up.  It makes me smile - it obviously wanted to be different!

In the back garden, the unnamed fringed tulip has returned again this year, much to my delight.

Only two of the eight Ronaldo tulips bought last year have put in an appearance, but I am pleased to have them.  My new tulips have been disappointing this year.

In the back garden, Lathyrus vernus have been putting on a lovely show.

Tulip 'Danceline' which has come back for three years now, just this one bulb.

It's apple blossom time for my little patio James Grieve apple.

The flowers are so pretty.

Magnolia 'Susan' is also flowering and on sunny days, the flower scent wafts through the garden.

The lilac tree is also in flower.

The blueberries are flowering and are a-buzz with bees.

There was a strange coloured sky the other week and a rainbow, which I managed to capture. I still find them a magical thing to see.

Mid April in the garden

Spring is certainly here and the garden has shifted up a gear.  Above is Erythronium Pagoda with a beautiful open flower.

The clematis plants on the arch are looking lovely too - alpina 'Frankie' and and alpina 'Blue Dancer'.

Tulips in the border...

...my favourite, Ballerina, with a fresh lemony scent.

Muscari or Grape Hyacinths always bring me a lot of joy.

These are the best tulips I bought last year, a variety called Finola. They have opened up more since I took this photo and there is one yellow one amongst the pink, but that makes me smile.

They are at the front of the house, so greet us as we come in - a very cheering sight!   The Choisya 'White Dazzler' is indeed dazzling - lots of flowers with a honey scent.

So pretty!