Gardenwatching will continue that’s for sure – I’ve got the bug now! More experiments with bird feeding areas and homes for wildlife are on the cards – I love the creative side of this and hope I can inspire others to have fun with this too. I’d also like to inspire garden visiting – especially the large botanical garden ones and parks that are often free to enter.
That sounds a bit repetitive of the last 7 years does it not and I can sense the mouse moving to remove shirls gardenwatch from your follow lists, feeds and blog rolls. Ah yes… we bloggers can do a bit of New Year housekeeping when there are so many blogs out there now 😉
So what’s next in 2015 that might bring you back to shirls gardenwatch? Answer: I’ve no idea! That’s what has kept this blog going… I don’t know what’s coming next myself and that’s the exciting part.
If I was bored with chatting about ‘roughly’ the same topics I’d stop blogging. However, I’m always discovering new ways of looking at gardenwatching myself and that’s what I want to share. 2015 is going to be a ‘new for old’ year at shirls gardenwatch 😉
Ha-ha… bet you’re fed up of hearing my virtual voice now. Ok… here’s my late New Year treat for you all (especially visitors outside the UK). I’d like to invite you on some virtual visits to some impressive British Gardens courtesy of the BBC, Christine Walkden and a hot air balloon. Enjoy… HAPPY NEW GARDENING YEAR!
”Horticulturist Christine Walkden embarks on a journey to explore some of the most impressive gardens in the UK – from a hot-air balloon. In the first edition, she hovers above Cornwall, and finds herself overwhelmed with nostalgia by the giant Brazilian gunnera. Later, she meets a man whose childhood was spent playing in the garden, before testing her nerves at St Michael’s Mount where she encounters ‘gardening on the edge’ “
Glorious Gardens From Above, Season 1, Episode 1, Cornwall
”Horticulturist Christine Walkden visits Essex, where she experiments with triangular planting and has tea and cake at Beth Chatto Gardens. Plus, at RHS Hyde Hall she moves rocks with a former student, and then sails across the Thames to the Blackwater Estuary“
Glorious Gardens From Above, Season 1, Episode 2, Essex
”Mid-Wales is today’s destination on Christine Walkden’s balloon tour of some of Britain’s finest gardens. At Powis Castle Garden, she learns how to brace an ancient yew and meets David, generations of whose family worked there. At the Dingle Garden she helps restore an obscured view. And we hear the story of Mona Holloway, a wartime land girl who found love on a neighbouring farm.“
Glorious Gardens From Above, Season 1, Episode 3, Mid-Wales ”
Garden chat never bores me, I love to hear the passion others have and Christine certainly has her strong gardening boots full of it! It’s such a pity the BBC never made a DVD or published a book to accompany this series – I’ve been making my way through my recorded 15 episodes! There are some wonderful people stories in there too.
Christine is a presenter that connects effortlessly to the people she chats to. I’m certain critics have commented on her lack of a fashion style but they could never criticise her exceptional garden soul. She gets her hands dirty working with the head gardeners and volunteers in this series and often made enlightening comments.
One comment that Christine made my caught attention. Unfortunately I meant to write it down but didn’t so I’m relying on my memory here… it went along the lines of “it’s not just the plants that grow and develop/thrive in the garden… the people that tend them do too”. She put it a bit better than that but I’d say this is completely true in my garden since I began this blog. Through blogging and gardenwatching, I feel I have grown and thrived as a gardener too. Do other bloggers feel the same?
Copyright: Original post published on https://www.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/ by blog author Shirley, January 7th 2015.
You'll stay on my list Shirl. It;s alwaty amazing how things to write about pop into our heads when we think we have nothing new to say,
You'll stay on my list too.. Can never have too much gardening or wildlife as far as I'm concerned :o)
Have you been to Trebah? I must go now but I can't wait to savor the other videos. Of course you will stay on my reader. Silly girl. I need inspiration for my blog. It sits idle most of the time.
Haha, of course you stay on my list. I loved to see the movies. Christine Walkden is always cheering us up with her enthousiasm. And actually I have visited the gardens of Trebah, Powis Castle and I've met Beth Chatto in her garden I think it was 15 years ago. Such fun to see these gardens back.
'Shirl's Gardenwatch' will be remaining a firm fixture here too! I thoroughly enjoyed Christine's series and hope that she is back with more at some point. She is thoroughly down to earth and so enthusiastic. Happy New Year Shirl – may you and your blog thrive throughout 2015 🙂
Hello everyone, oh dear I wasn't meaning to push hard the blog list question. Thanks for all your comments 🙂
Sue, Thank-you – I agree completely, what full heads we bloggers have 😉
Julie, Thank-you – I agree with you too 😀
Lisa, yes I have and it is definitely in my top 10 of garden visits. It was quite magical and the Gunnera walk there was what inspired us to plant on in our Gunnera which is a great reminder of our visit. Thank-you – you are too kind as always. I’ll collect more videos for you 😀
Janneke, Thank-you. I’m going to enjoy coming back to these movies too. Ah… nice… me too but I never met Beth on my visit. I loved seeing the gardens again myself and getting a different history spin on them was great too 😀
Anna, Thank-you! That was good wasn’t it – I hope she returns too. I love her genuine enthusiasm. Thank-you – I’ll have to find the correct quote I was looking for here… ah well I’ll just have to watch the programmes again 😉