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December 2005
Friday 2nd
I spend the afternoon with Steve preparing the Powerpoint presentation for the Press Launch next week.
Monday 5th
We spend the day putting the final touches to the Powerpoint presentation and preparing bags of bulbs which will go into the bags that we are giving the press tomorrow.
Tuesday 6th
The Press Launch goes very well at The Hempel Hotel, organised with customary efficiency by Bonnie and Nicky, our dynamic duo who handle PR. We have a pretty good turnout by the press and broadcast media, who seem to love the whole idea of the garden. Hopefully that will translate to some good editorial in magazines and TV over the coming months. It was lovely to see Sue Hill and her brother again and to get up to speed on the creation of our natural sculpture for the garden. Sue's brother Peter will be making the armature for the sculpture, the framework around which the sculpture will be formed. Peter's wife Anna comes along to the Press Launch - she is going to act as the model for the piece. It is a real joy when a group of artists with genuine rapport and respect for each other's work get together. We all leave the launch feeling very excited and enthusiastic.
Thursday 8th
We received a load of plants from Jekka which this year I will be growing on. We spent the rest of the day getting our Bluebell bulbs into pots. I am going to keep them in the tunnel over winter. If potted Bluebells get wet and freeze, then they die!
Friday 16th
I have another conversation with Anita Foy covering a number of the logistical problems associated with the construction of our garden. It may be that we can bring our trees in and store them on site before we actually start the build, so that they are there ready when we need them.
Monday 19th
We start to lift the shrubs which we will be using to create the hedge at Chelsea. About six years ago, the nurseryman, Colin Walton-Smith, planted a load of hedging whips which we had left over, as a windbreak, down the centre of his nursery. This area now has to be cleared and the hedging material will be perfect for our Chelsea hedge. It is now nearly three metres high and contains all the species we need to create a wonderful natural backdrop the length of the long boundary at the rear of the garden (shielding the marquee from view). The hedging is being put into boxes and from early next year we will put it under glass, primarily to get the wild roses into bloom for the show. Rosa Canina is notoriously difficult to get into bloom for early May. Irritatingly, I usually see the first blooms on the dogroses in the hedgerow, the week after Chelsea finishes, but we did manage to get some flowering for the Merlin garden, so I am hoping that with a little encouragement, and some extra warmth, we can do the same again. The hedge will be the first thing that we 'plant' when we arrive at Chelsea.
Thursday 22th
I do the rounds, checking on all the plant material we have before the Christmas break. Everything looks fine and the hedge looks very happy in its boxes. The material in the tunnel, which we have potted on, cowslips, foxgloves and Jacobs ladder, is looking very green and healthy, though we have had a problem with mice nibbling the tops off our newly germinated seedlings of Herb Robert, Lady's Bedstraw and Honesty. Amanda's two Jack Russells are doing their best to address the problem.
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