A LESSON IN BLOGGING

I have been playing well outside the garden recently and having great fun.  This Saturday I tiptoed nervously for the first time into a conference for bloggers, called the Mumsnet BlogFest.

 

 

 

My BlogFest day started brilliantly.  I love coincidence and unplanned meetings.  I once went on holiday to southern Ireland and met a family for the first time who lived 4 doors down from me in my London house.  On Saturday the first person I started chatting with was a blogger, Natasja King from Crochetime.   She mentioned to another participant that she had recently decorated a local fence with some of her work.  A couple of days ago I had seen a photo from one of the social networks of a beautifully decorated bench, which I now know had been yarn bombed (watch for future posts about this).  We discovered that not only had she decorated that bench, but that she only lived a couple of miles from me.  Not a bad coincidence from an audience of over 300.  From then the day just got better and better.  We laughed, shared, digested, networked, chatted, listened, and learnt all in the spirit of BlogFestHood. 

This Blog is now over 3 years old and I have loved and looked forward to writing for it, thinking about what I might post, and taking and learning to take photographs for it.  As with a garden I couldn’t help feeling that it was time to dig in a few new plants and load a lot of more fertiliser onto the plot and to breathe some new life into the blog.  I hoped that the Blogfest would provide me with a few pointers on how to achieve this.   It did and it gave so much more.   A top tip early into the day I was reminded that to write and write well is like exercising a muscle that need to be stretched again and again.  Regular posts = improved writing.

Another very strong message  was to be true to yourself then you will start to find a sense of your identity and your own voice in your writing.  I always find it difficult when to make the decision to stop editing a piece and hit the send button to publish the post.  My thought are always, have I said too much, too little, crossed the border between the public and the private, expressed feelings and emotions I would rather remain private or might affect other people.

A number of bloggers on the platforms I attended had set themselves boundaries between their private and personal personas. I never identify any members of my family and others in my blog.  You may have noticed that this also includes photographs.  There is obviously much food for thought here. One of the most interesting questions from the audience full of mummy bloggers was what she should do now that her 16 yr old son had requested her to stop blogging about him.  A response from the Times journalist, Tania Bryon, that she should respect his wishes received a large applause from the audience. 



 

Caitlin Moran at Mumsnet Blogfest

 

I want to blog to connect with people and share experiences that may be familiar to them or that they may want to try in the future.  I would love people to read what I write and say yes what you say resonates with me.  Or think I’m kind of interested in your views and I’ll come back to this blog at a later date.  I loved Caitlin Moran’s take on good writing.  That it was like playing pool, where you had to walk around the table and take the shot on the ball no else has. I’ll now be doing lots of traipsing around my and other people’s gardens working my way through the angle I need to write about.

The day really made me think about what blogging was all about.  What makes it different from writing a book, a series of articles or a regular column in a newspaper or magazine?   My view following the Blog Fest is that it is most similar to that now rather old fashioned form of communication, the personal letter.  Several of those speaking on Saturday said they had a particular person in mind when writing.  A friend who now lives in India says that she often reads this blog as a way of keeping up with me and my family.   So maybe she will be my ghost reader.

 

 

 

Sunny Spells

 

 

Oh and by the way the day also ended brilliantly.  A goody bag to die for was the icing on the cake.  I loved everything in it, but what I liked best was the message above displayed on an umbrella box.  Well the sun certainly shone on Saturday.  Thank you so much Mumsnet for such a lovely lesson in Blogging.  It couldn't have been better

 Read more about the BlogFest here.

 

 

Stourhead Revisited: The Beauty of Autumn Colour

Last year we visited Stourhead, Wiltshire, one of the best landscape gardens in the country.  It was so beautiful we couldn’t resist returning again this year.

There are over 600 species of trees and shrubs in the landscape gardens assuring a fantastic long-lived autumn display.  The expectation was for a good spectacle of autumn colour this year.  The wet summer helped the trees to produce large numbers of leaves whilst the spell of warmer weather later in the year allowed trees to increase their sugar levels.

We were not disappointed.  We visited slightly later than last year and some trees which had been in full autumn colour had already lost their leaves.  The carpeting of the ground was prefect though.  Other foliage, not in full colour last year was truly stunning.

If you read last week’s post you will know that I saw autumn colours at Wisley with a group of gardening buddies.  This visit turned out slightly different.  It was just me and my seven year old who made the trip.  The gardens are a fantastic space for children.  They have plenty of space to run around, points of interest, a grotto and are great for hide and seek. 

The beauty of the gardens make it almost compulsory to take photographs.  In fact the day we were there nearly everyone was busy with their cameras.  However, of course, I should have realised that it’s not just adults who want to take shots – 7 year olds are pretty keen as well.  So note to self, if I want sole use of my camera then I need to make sure that my son remembers to bring his. 

 

 

I was pretty pleased with the photo of the acer palmatum at the beginning of this post. As we walked away from the tree I noted there was possibly an even better shot from amongst some very ancient rhododendrons.  Click went my camera, thump went my son as he slipped of the branch of the rhododendron he had been climbing.  Silence for a very long couple of seconds and then a tremendous yell.  He had bumped his head and slightly hurt his hand, but thank goodness in the main was fine.

I am a strong proponent of children tree climbing.  However Stourhead with its many ancient specimens is not the location to practise this skill.  The thick branches of the rhododendron were also mossy, very slippery and clearly unsuitable for trainers.  My autumn colour visit to Wisley had been the perfect combination, today I had not achieved that.  But I had learnt a lesson about cameras, 7 year olds and trees not mixing. 

I have no doubt we will be visiting Stourhead again.  And when we do it will be 'remember that time you fell off a tree'- the memory of the glorious autumn colours will be relegated to second.

If you would like to take a look at last year's post here it is.



Share Some Local Autumn Colour

I recently sent out a newsletter featuring the Woodland Trust’s Top Ten Woods for Autumn colour. I hoped it would inspire families to get out into the woods this half term. The list certainly got me yearning for a helping of autumn colour. If I am lucky this week I may get to visit one of those woods on the list Stourhead, not really a wood but a landscape garden.


However I feel I have been really lucky already. On Thursday I visited one of my regular haunts, RHS garden Wisley in Surrey with a group of gardening chums.


 

Its wide range of deciduous shrubs and trees give visitors a lovely selection of autumn colours and vistas. Also unlike some gardens, I have recently visited, the herbaceous borders remain intact ensuring that structure is retained through the garden.

I have been pondering as to why I enjoyed my walk around  such a well visited local garden much more than anticipated.  There is no doubt that the journey there is like visiting an old friend, conferring a level of certainty and comfort. However this time these feelings were tinged with surprise and delight when I saw familiar spots lit up in a different light and colour. 

 

But it may be that the word 'friend' is the key here.  Walking around the gardens with like-minded people and sharing expressions of delight when colourful and beautiful foliage was spotted was a truly enjoyable experience.  Was the sense of well-being I felt at the end of the day due to the walk in the fresh air, stunning vistas or chats with friends?  I'll never know that main cause, but it was the perfect combination.

But it may be that the word 'friend' is the key here.  Walking around the gardens with like-minded people and sharing expressions of delight when colourful and beautiful foliage was spotted was a truly enjoyable experience.  Was the sense of well-being I felt at the end of the day due to the walk in the fresh air, stunning vistas or chats with friends?  I'll never know that main cause, but it was the perfect combination.

This coming week we will be out on family walks in the woods and perhaps that visit to Stourhead.  We had a fantastic time there last year.  It will no doubt be a different sort of shared experience!  Hope you also manage to get out and see the autumn colours close to you.  You may not have to travel far.

Floral Friday - Michaelmas Daisy - Family Friendly Plants

Bee on Aster

A good late summer performer for the garden is the Aster or Michaelmas Daisy. So called because it has daisy-like flowers from pink, purple to blue and it flowers at the time of Michaelmas, on 29 September when in parts of Europe remember Archangel Michael.


Its reliability and hardiness help to make it a truly family friendly plant. Other characteristics include

• It is can be bought as a perennial, which means it comes back every year.

• The bees like it and it provides late summer nectar for them.

• It is low maintenance.

• It does not succumb to slug and snail damage.

If growing with children you could grow from seed. However for me this plant’s value lies in providing instant late summer colour. There are many other flowering plants that would be easier for them to grow. I would suggest a visit to the garden centre from the end of July onwards to see what varieties are available.  You will need to cut back the plant at the end of the season.



A number of common varieties are about 4 feet high, but some of the taller varieties can start to look a bit scraggy towards the end of the season. Worth considering are shorter and dwarf varieties like the one below, no more than 2 feet tall and which will not be such a target for a football .

Aster lateriflorus 'Bucks Fizz'

This Floral Friday post is one of a series suggesting family friendly plants you and your children could grow in your garden.  Please take a look at our previous suggestions.

Floral Friday - Aquilegia - Family Friendly Plants

Aquilegia

If you know this flower, other names for it are Columbine and Grandma Bonnets; you may be saying what so family friendly about it? It is a cottage garden plant with thin stems holding up the very pretty flower heads which could easily get knocked by a ball or trampled upon. I say yes all of these things are true, but it is a lovely flower to have in May. It blooms about the same time as For get me nots and bluebells.

For me, its family friendly characteristics include:-

• It is really easy to grow.
• It flowers early in the garden.
• Lots of multiple flowers on one plant.
• It is perennial, which means it will come back the next year.
• It is low maintenance.
• It does not get nibbled by slugs and snails.
• It is available in a wide range of colours, pink, cream, purple, white and yellow. If you have a child who loves pretty flowers they are going to adore these.





Columbines are a short-lived perennial (4 or 5 years, usually), so let them re-seed from parent plants and you’ll always have some around.  You can grow them easily from seed.  As they flower early you can sow them in pots and trays from January onwards.  If you want to go for an easier option buy a couple of different varieties as soon as they are in the garden centres at about Easter time.  As they self-seed and cross pollinate easily then you will find many more and different varieties in your garden in the following years.

You will need to cut away old foliage in the late summer.  But as you see from the above photograph taken in my garden in mid-October the foliage soon reappears.  It provides an attractive plant throughout the winter.

Floral Friday - Chives - What to plant with your Kids

Chives

It is its versatility that makes chives such a great plant to grow with your kids.  It is of course a culinary herb and part of the onion family, but its flowers are beautiful – a delicate ball of pinky, purple.   

The child and family friendly properties of the chive plant Allium Schoenoprasum include :-

• It is a hardy perennial, which means it will come up every year.

• It has edible leaves and flowers.

• It requires little maintenance.

• It is relatively pest free.

• Its clumps will cope with being hit by balls.

Chives are an essential addition to any herb garden. Equally you could equally grow them in any flower border or in pots. Ideally they like well-drained soil and full sun, but they will grow in other conditions. You can grow from seed in the spring or buy one or two pots from the local garden centre. You will need to cut it down in late summer or autumn so it can grow again in the spring.

This year in our house we have watched and photographed the flower heads developing, picked them as a cut flower and eaten both leaves and flowers. We still have some dried chive flowers in a vase. All from one plant. Not bad I reckon!

If you liked this then please take a look at other family friendly plants selected for our Floral Friday feature,

Floral Friday - Nasturtiums - What to Plant with your Kids

If you are not too sure what flowers to plant with your kids this is a good one to get going with.  It is an easy- grow annual. 


Nasturtiums

This plant’s family friendly features include:-

• Large seeds which are easy to sow.
• 8 Weeks from seed to flower. Short waiting time - Very child friendly!
• It will self-seed.
• You can sow direct into the ground or sow in pots.
• Both the flower and leaf are edible. 
• It requires very little maintenance.

I have a childhood memory of a story where a roof was thought to be on fire. When the fire brigade arrived it was found to be a roof of trailing nasturtiums. You can certainly get some fiery colours, orange, blood orange, red and yellow. Though I have yet to find a roof that matched the image placed in my mind by that story.

Nasturtiums at Chelsea Flower Show

Trailing varieties are available and they are also lots of more compact ones on the market suitable for pots and edges of the border.


Sometimes butterflies lay their eggs under nasturtium leaves. When the eggs hatch hundreds of tiny caterpillars can munch their way through them. A great chance to read  together the Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.   You may need to check the leaves regularly and remove the caterpillars. Black fly also like nasturtiums. Your child can help get rid of these by watering them and the plants all over with a weak solution of eco washing up liquid.

Both leaves and petals are edible. Some children may find that their peppery taste does not suit them. Although they are annuals it is easy to ensure more will come up next year.   If you let their seeds fall to the ground some will probably self -seed the next year. The seeds are also very easy to collect and save to plant next year. So one packet of seeds will last a long time - my sort of plant!