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On the Menu for … June 2019

Sat 15 / Jun / 2019
Posted on 15.06.2019 | Updated on 24.06.2019 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog  In our garden, June is a time for whorls. Of course, given the weather that much of the UK has experienced during the past week, it is also a time for thunder and torrential rain. The weather has been…
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On the Menu for …April 2019

Fri 12 / Apr / 2019
Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Far be it from me to flaunt my fritillaries, but this year they have been surprising on two counts: first, I usually spend the days in the run-up to them emerging, staring at a patch of earth in a former pig enclosure (known by our…
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On the Menu for …March 2019

Thu 14 / Mar / 2019
Posted on 14.03.2019 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog One of the benefits of our relatively new garden – this one is under five years old – is that there is still room for more plants. It certainly compensates for the exhausting time I had digging out farm and builders’…
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On the Menu for …November 2018

Wed 14 / Nov / 2018
Posted on 14.11.2018 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog I saw a bee yesterday; proof were it needed that flowers are important at this time of year, not just for our enjoyment, but for our pollinators, because if bees are active, they need flowers to sustain them.  Here in rural…
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On the Menu for …October 2018

Mon 15 / Oct / 2018
Posted on 15.10.2018 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog October can be so unpredictable! In some years we are up to our ears in thermals, wondering if we have skipped autumn altogether in favour of winter; then the next year we might be out and about in summer clothes as…
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On the Menu for …September 2018

Sat 15 / Sep / 2018
Posted on 15.09.2018 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog It seems as if the flowers are putting on a grand finale before the colder weather sets in. Delphiniums are having a second flush; as are geraniums, Nepeta, and Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’. With summer flowers mingling with remontant roses, we might…
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On the Menu for … July 2018 at ‘Hampton Court’

Wed 04 / Jul / 2018
Updated on 10.07.2018 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog The Floral Marquee at Hampton Court is a wonderful place to discover new plants; it is also one of my favourite places to watch pollinators. Given the plethora of plants outside, including eryngiums galore and the easy-access mass planting of Verbena…
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On the Menu for … May 2018 at ‘Chelsea’

Tue 22 / May / 2018
Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog On the Menu for Pollinators at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018   Despite a challenging winter and spring, the growers and exhibitors at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018 have succeeded in bringing together a beautiful array of flowers grown to perfection. With so…
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On the Menu for … April 2018

Sat 14 / Apr / 2018
Posted on 14.04.2018 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Spring has arrived late in my garden. Early spring flowers are blooming as if it’s the middle of March, not Mid-April. Little Chionodoxa forbesii might be a common spring garden flower, but it is a welcome addition for bees and its…
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On the Menu for … February 2018

Mon 12 / Feb / 2018
Posted on 12.02.2018 | Updated on 17.02.2018 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog If you’re anything like me, you’ll be chomping at the bit to get outside and sink your hands into the soil. If you garden on clay though, you will require so many pairs of thermal gardening gloves…
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Menu Planning for Wildlife

Wed 01 / Nov / 2017
Posted on 01.11.2017 | Updated on 04.11.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Menu Planning for Wildlife Autumn Crocus speciosus ‘Conqueror’ Planting bulbs is rather like waiting for a bus. After a seemingly endless lull, four seasons’ worth of bulbs arrive at once. Late winter, spring and summer bloomers all…
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Menu Planning for Spring

Mon 25 / Sep / 2017
Posted on 25.09.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Menu Planning for Spring A little thoughtful menu planning now will provide vital forage for our pollinators in late winter and spring. Some flowering bulbs and corms are lifesavers for bees when there is little else available to sustain them, others,…
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On the menu for… August 2017

Thu 17 / Aug / 2017
Posted on 17.08.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Some flowers just keep on giving. Christmas hyacinths are putting on an unseasonal summer show; Aubrieta has been blooming since spring; and there is so much on offer for pollinators that I will focus on just a handful of plants with…
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On the menu for… July 2017

Thu 06 / Jul / 2017
Posted on 06.07.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog One of the many joys of visiting flower shows, nurseries and open gardens is discovering which ofthe many plants blooming to perfection attract the most attention from pollinators. At RHS Hampton Court there is an extensive smörgåsbord of delights on offer…
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On the menu for… June 2017

Tue 13 / Jun / 2017
Posted on 13.06.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog There is so much forage available in the countryside surrounding my home that I am amazed to see pollinators showing interest in my borders in June. New garden flowers are opening daily and proving their wildlife credentials by attracting a plethora…
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On the menu for… May 2017

Sat 13 / May / 2017
Posted on 13.05.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Every May I look at our garden and note that I could do better. Invariably this is underlined in red felt-tip pen following a visit to The RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Despite my misgivings about my own plot, there is plenty…
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On the menu for… April 2017

Thu 13 / Apr / 2017
Posted on 13.04.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’ There are years when I feel overwhelmed by the myriad gardening tasks screaming for my attention in spring, but 2017 is not one of them (yet). We have been enjoying warm, sunny weather in Norfolk and although the soil…
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On the menu for… March 2017

Sun 19 / Mar / 2017
Posted on 19.03.2017 | Updated on 12.04.2017 | Added in Sarah Shoesmith’s Blog Helleborus x hybridus Scilla mischtschenkoana Gardeners give precious border space to plants for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the plant was a gift, or is a lifelong favourite. We might be custodians of a national collection. Sometimes…
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