My weekly blogs

Well, what's been happening. I have finally got all the bedding plants planted. I am rather sad as I was walking past the Aeonium I snapped off the flower head. It is still flowering well in a tray of water and the bees are still active on it. The Dragon Arum has flowered and is now setting seed. The Geranium maderense has now finished flowering and is setting seeds in its massive flowering head. I visited the Gardeners World Live exhibition at the NEC Birmingham. Some of the show gardens and flower arrangements are shown below.

What a show of pelargoniums flowers no wonder it won gold. The wonderful fragrance of the Sweet pea flowers as you came into the vicinity was uplifting. If you are into vegatables you would have liked this display. The insectiverous pitcher plants display showed a great variety. You might think conifers are boring I can asure you that they are not, this display shows why.

The display of lilies was wonderful. Grasses are another often overlooked group of plants. This display should give you some inspiration. This Hydrangea was too wonderful to miss taking a picture of. The Nemesia was nice to look at, as was the Orchid display.

The cactus display showed a wide variety and the cactus garden shows what can be achieved with very little water. The range of Fuchias are shown by this display. The Courtyard Retreat Garden was sponsered by Stonemarket and Smith Nurseries. The Ying Yang garden was interesting.

Another view of the Fuchias. The grass roof of this shelter would make it a cool place to sit in the mid-day sun. The motorway highway garden showcased the work of the Highway department. The Salsa garden had about 70 varieties of plants and was very interesting pity I did not get a chance to sit in the giant chimneys. In a small garden height allows much more to be achieved. In this case a staircase like those in many flats would give a vantage views.

These are some of the display gardens at the BBC Gardeners World show.

These are some of the display gardens at the BBC Gardeners World show.