Monthly Archives: September 2011

I'm not sure whether this beautiful indian summer is going to make the arrival of autumn proper more or less bearable. There's no denying the gorgeousness of it though...

Salvias, dahlias and fuchsias are flourishing still, despite cold nights. I often chunter on about fuchsias as part of my campaign against plant-related snobbery. For too long now, fuchsias have not only been mis-spelled but have also been dismissed as "suburban" or "blowsy", the implication being that no-one should therefore countenance them...

Lots of customers, regular and new, have been to the pottery in the last few days and many of them have been very excited by the dahlias. It seems to me that not only are dahlias permissible now but fewer people are afraid of orange and many are embracing red and yellow. I have noticed that "Of course I don't have orange and yellow in my garden" is a less frequent announcement. And I am glad...

The bulbs are here! The bulbs are here! The lorry from Holland arrived at 8o'clock last night (hardly normal office hours, but never mind), and Jane, John and I have checked through the order and stowed the crates away. Last year we decided not to stock Hippeastrums, even though Rene always gets superb quality bulbs for us, because people are too used to buying piddly cheap ones in supermarkets...