Blooming Direct Blog - advice

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.

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!

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

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.

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?

Noddy's Gardening Plot - August

Noddy — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:46:30 GMT

Do you realise by the time you are reading this summer is over half way through and it has yet to make an appearance, so no change there then. However would you believe there was a british winner at Wimbledon, so everything is possible.

Autumn & Winter flowering plants

Joel Richardson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:49:54 GMT

“Surely not”, I hear you whisper in disbelief, “he cannot be thinking about Autumn & Winter plants yet – we are not even at the height of our Great British summer”.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - July

Noddy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:15:40 GMT

Talk about a difference to last year when using the hosepipe was unheard of – this year it has been more in evidence in Jersey. However Wimbledon is now in full swing and the courts are already showing signs of wear, a bit like most of the Brits (Andy Murray being the exception).

Noddy's Gardening Plot - June

Noddy — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:05:36 GMT

And now the cricket results, Afghanistan beat Jersey by two wickets on Saturday 31st May (It’s why this may be late)

Noddy's Gardening Plot - May

Noddy — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:05:46 GMT

This past month was not as good as last April, definitely colder and our early potato crops caught the frosts, so much for our balmy early climate, but its all due to global warming (or so they say). It was also wetter if you hadn’t noticed but if you did manage to get any weeding, digging, fertilising and planting done you should be more than ready for May and a cup of tea.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - April

Noddy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:41:17 GMT

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, for my long term (?) readers will now realise that this blog is now 1 year old. It first appeared in April 2007 following a prolonged spell of warm weather.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - March

Noddy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:12:18 GMT

“In like a lion and out like a lamb” is a saying often associated with March. You should now shake off the lethargy/inactivity of winter now that spring is just around the corner. March is a busy month with Mothering Sunday (the 2nd this year so by the time you are reading this it’s probably too late to do anything about it and your name will be mud for another year), Easter and the clocks going forward. So this and the strenuous gardening you will be undertaking this month will have you out like the lamb by the end of the month.

Noddy's Gardening Plot - February

Noddy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:11:36 GMT

The nice thing about February, yes there really is something nice about February; allowing for Valentines Day (more later) and for all those of you who have birthdays in it, the nice thing is that it is starting to get noticeably lighter in the evenings and you will soon be able to get home without lights on the car. Ok I know some will be stuck in trains, buses, on bikes etc and there will be a large number who do not leave work until much later but you get my drift. The talk of switching over to British Summer time +1 hour seems appealing (actually continental time but I try not to think of it that way!)

Noddy's Gardening Plot - January

Noddy — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:44:37 GMT

Happy New Year, January is here, Christmas been and gone for another year. You now know how much your friends really like you and you will have to head off to the shops garden centres or on-line mail order businesses to get what you really really wanted i.e. seed and potting composts, seed trays, grit, peat and seeds/plants etc. (not forgetting the catalogues). Avoid the January sales though, saves me getting stampeded to death at them!

Noddy's Garden Plot - November

Noddy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:42:47 GMT

It’s a little late..but worth it.

Noddy's Garden Plot - October

Noddy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:32:48 GMT

Haa Haa Haa, Hee Hee Hee, an elephant’s nest up a rhubarb tree! Sorry the hot dry September has got to me. Wasn’t it great, summer of sorts at last, just as well I got my mention in about powdery mildew being a problem in dry, warm Septembers. So you shouldn’t have had a problem with it, or did you, like me. Ah well, nobody is perfect.

Noddy's Garden Plot - September

Noddy — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:02:20 GMT

Did you enjoy August, the hottest driest month in our year? Thought not but bear a thought for those enduring a hot dry summer, complete with drought and forest fires. Perhaps a drop of rain is not too bad after all, well in moderation.