Blooming Direct Blog

Noddy's Gardening Plot - June 09

Noddy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:09:21 GMT

Wow what a spell of hot sunny weather, it makes gardening almost hard work. Ok, I admit it my most recent efforts seem to have revolved around a cuppa in the garden. Oh if you insist I may have had the odd alcoholic beverage following a spell of weeding. It also gave me chance to have a look around the garden with a seeing eye and find all is well. Even if it is there are always things to do.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - May 09

Noddy — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:31:23 GMT

May is named after the Greek goddess, Maia and the first of May is known as Beltane which marks the beginning of summer and is the time when flowers emerge and crops begin to sprout. Another well known day is the 7th May is the Helston Furry/Floral dance made famous (Infamous) by Terry Wogan and his hit the Floral Dance and the flower associated with this is the lily of the Valley.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - April 09

Noddy — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:05:19 GMT

The origins of April Fools day are distinctly hazy, my favourite is that it came about because of the change of calendars. In 1582, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar called the Gregorian calendar (the calendar of today). This was introduced because the old calendar, called the Julian calendar, was ahead by ten days because each year was too long (?). Gregory moved the new calendar forward by ten days. People were forgetful or refused to accept the new calendar, so they still celebrated New Year on April 1st. Other people would play tricks on them and call them April Fools.

The Blooming Direct 2009 Easter Egg Hunt

David Scott — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:38:26 GMT

The Easter Egg hunt has now finished. Thank you to all those who entered! From the feedback we have received it was a tough one this year so well done to all those who had the patience to keep hunting! The 10 lucky winners who will each receive a 50% discount voucher, will be drawn on Tuesday the 14th April. The winners will be contacted directly.

The Big Buzz! - Jordans Cereals & Blooming Direct

David Scott — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:56:39 GMT

This April sees the launch of ‘The Big Buzz’, a joint initiative by the Jordans Cereal company and Kew Gardens to help to increase the dwindling population of bees in the UK. Blooming Direct is very proud to part of this intiative by growing and supplying the bee friendly plants.

Insect friendly planting

Noddy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:45:12 GMT

Seeing as this April Blooming Direct and Jordans Cereals start working together to help the dwindling bee population with their Big Buzz promotion, I thought I would do my bit for the cause and put pen to paper with some ideas to help my readers do their bit too!

Noddy's Gardening Plot - March 09

Noddy — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:17:54 GMT

In like a lion out like a lamb refers to the wind in the month of March, however it is such a changeable month so you can understand how this piece of folklore may have arisen. Surprise, surprise it’s a nice rhyme rather than an accurate weather forecast. I bet you didn’t see that coming did you.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - February 09

Noddy — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:43:15 GMT

Having just celebrated Burns night last night, a little too enthusiastically with my favourite drop of Islay Malt, I did not feel like venturing out into the garden today. So I thought I would sit down in front of the fire and write February’s Noddy’s Plot. So, where shall we start this month? Start we must but take it slowly no sense in rushing.

Build Your Own Shrubbery

David Scott — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:26:52 GMT

What is a garden without shrubs, I always say. Shrubs are an integral part of any attractive garden. The reason for their importance lies in their size and structure.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - January 09

Noddy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:44:20 GMT

Happy New Year, January is here and after the excesses of Christmas now is the time for New Year Resolutions.

• I will weed the garden more often
• I will grow my own fruit and vegetables
• I will double dig

Spring Bedding Plants

Joel Richardson — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:34:57 GMT

We have some great new additions to the Blooming Direct plant range for 2009, in particular the bedding plant section has increased due to popular demand.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - December

Noddy — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:07:15 GMT

December already and at the time of writing we have force 7/8 winds and torrential rain! This means the weather is better than the time of writing compared with last year. But, winter is well and truly here. So if your garden is waterlogged keep off it or you will be causing problems for yourselves in the future. Mind you, keep an eye on where water is lying and you could think about drainage and once the land has dried out dig a trench and simply fill the bottom with coarse rubble, covered with finer material and back fill.

Gardening with Blooming Direct Helps to Beat the Credit Crunch

Joel Richardson — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:00:00 GMT

How does pottering around help with the credit crunch I hear you ask. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject…..

Noddy's Gardening Plot - November

Noddy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:59:45 GMT

I thought I would try a new approach for this November and having delved into my vast collection of gardening books (well a recent purchase at our excellent “largest book sale” for guide dogs for the Blind). If you are struggling for ideas about Christmas presents, books are always a good for the gardener. They can stimulate your brain during the long winter months.

Send Flowers for Christmas

Joel Richardson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:52:24 GMT

You know that Christmas is at least 6 months away when the shops start frosting their windows! Blooming Direct has just gone live with its Christmas Flower bouquets by post range for this year.

Grow Your Own Fruit & Veg

Joel Richardson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:15:14 GMT

We are delighted to announce that due to over whelming demand we are introducing a brand new range of young plants specifically for the Grow Your Own market.

Gifts that keep on giving!

Joel Richardson — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:44:33 GMT

Now this is a concept that appeals to a few of my colleagues as it means that their own gift recipient is reminded of their generosity frequently!!

Children's Gardening

Joel Richardson — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:27:21 GMT

Today we have put up for sale the first of our new line of children’s gardening accessories. I know that we have taken quite a long time to get to this stage but we have at last found a supplier who we feel delivers the quality as well as the value.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - October

Noddy — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:18:59 GMT

October 15th is one of the election days in Jersey, this one for Senators, the ones for Deputies being a couple of weeks later. (Don’t ask me it’s the way things are done in this idyllic Island). This preamble is to allow me to quote the first verse of one of my favourite poems “My Garden Gate”. Apologies if you have heard/read it before.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - September

Noddy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:07:52 GMT

Is it just me or are these predictions of warmer drier summers a figment of my or your imagination?