A shout out to all Professional Women #Gardeners/ #Horticulturalists on #InternationalWomansDay2023 on a thoroughly sleety, cold and nasty day. Who work all year with skill, stamina, brute force, perseverance, vision, curiosity. Have an in depth plant knowledge & people skills.

A shout out to all Professional Women #Gardeners/#Horticulturalists on #InternationalWomenDay2023 on a really sleety, cold & nasty day. Working all year round with skill, stamina, brute force, perseverance, vision & curiosity. Who have in-depth plant knowledge & people skills.

Not bothering with de-caf coffee this morning, full-on caffeine dose with sleet & snow & a chocolate brownie …..#WinterPruning.

The elegance of the layered look. Friday soaking. The gardens look amazing though.

Looking back on the week. Bit gusty last Monday.

Hat’s off to saying goodbye to the wettest and most miserable March on record. Back from gardening leave and stepping in to better gardening months ahead. Winter garden work now showing true colours.

It’s s very #GoodFriday to see today these ornamental shrubs doing their business after a judicious pruning at the right time of year. Japanese quince (chaenomeles), forthsyia and camellia. A #cornus sibirica gets a timely Spring cut back to encourage new red shoots.

New to the arsenal of garden weaponry , an asparagus knife. Works wonders banishing deep rooted weeds like dandelion, creeping buttercup and other foes. Mindful though not to despatch these self sown seedlings, lychnis, forget-me-not, poppies and honesty.

Lots achieved this weekend at home in the garden and up the #allotment. Best part. Did n’t get round to cutting back the ornamental #grasses and then noticing a pair of reed #warblers taking up residence. A great reason to leave it til they decide to move on.

All sorted for the weekend - all cleaned up now. It was a soggy and a most mucky week. Let the sun shine this weekend.

Weekend #BikeBotanics. First early early purple #orchid. Wood anemones in abundance. Off the beaten track, East Sussex.

#BikeBotanics at the weekend. Did n’t find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow but we found another Early Purple Spotted #orchid. In the same verge as last year. Maybe the same one.

At last sunshine on the back this week. Birds eye view. He’s oblivious to the #wisteria dormant buds budding. Years of not pruning left the wisteria reaching the second storey & getting under the roof tiles. Cut back to waist height last Winter.

So far the crowning glory of the frothy month of May. Tulips, tree peonies, butterflies, swallows and beguiling weeds.

#OutDoorOffice this week. A touch of lightening illumination always adds a frisson to things.

And if you forget your spork at lunch a plant label will do.

Pitter, patter raindrops falling on my head ….or not. Overlooked because it’s not glamorous. Liberal compost will keep gardens in prime condition. Overlooked. 2nd helpings to gardens still retaining moisture after NE winds & no rain. A decorator would never not prime or prep.

#Kent. #Reculver, #Beltinge, #Margate, #HerneBay, #StNicholasAtWade. Please join the search for Claire. kent.police.uk/news/kent/late…