Hi there Deborah! I can absolutely relate to the irresistible pull of a plant fair-every visit feels like adopting new green roommates. That salad sounds like the perfect ending.
Sending a wave from the Dordogne, where I just impulse-bought a mint plant and a questionable lavender with dreams of grandeur.
Hi Debora, I will be in Beziers and perhaps Marsillian/Narbonne for a few nights next week. Would you have any recommendations for nice restaurants or local fairs?
I loved the comment about rejection of the offer of the wheel barrow..... My husband always asks 'have you got a bag' when I just pop out for the single missing item.... Needless to say, I come back with yet another 'bag for life' 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m seeing lots of familiar things on those stairs, parsley, mint, pelargoniums, maybe a hydrangea? I noticed the Pak Choi amongst your haul, I’m hoping that when we get home from Queensland they will still be there in our garden and not eaten by some dastardly pest.
that is quite the plant haul, very impressive to manage that without a wheelbarrow (or trailer!!) can't wait to see the potager (says the woman bemoaning slugs in her courgettes!!!!)
We are lucky here in that we have so many fewer slugs and snails than we did in London - we also have a hedgehog who seems to do a good job of devouring the ones that persist.
Lovely to read your recipe. Tinned tuna and hard-boiled egg salad is the basic insalata mixta of Spain. You can find a version in the lowliest cafe, the most obscure truck stop as well as the fanciest restaurants. The extraordinary thing is that wherever you order one you will be served with a fresh, wholesome and delicious meal. A glass of beer or local white wine and a piece of fresh bread will satisfy the most insatiable hunger. And like all good food, you’ll leave the table refreshed and refuelled.
Love this post. As a fellow plant addict, I also find it hard to pass up plant sales. No idea how I missed this year's Abbaye de Fontfroide sale; I went last year and managed to get the Banksia rose (there were just two left) now growing like crazy. In fact, I was so impressed with it, I ordered another one online for the balcony. I now spot them all over the village on my morning walks, yellow seems the most popular.
Is that a geum you're holding? It’s a ravishing colour! I think you have shown great restraint with your haul there.
For peppers in the summer I insist my husband lights and loads the barbeque about 30 minutes earlier than he wants to and present him with a bowl of peppers for grilling, so we have a ready supply in the fridge most of the time. He even skins them himself - his price? An extra couple of beers!
What a lovely post to read. I went to Chelsea once & was completely overwhelmed BUT I have very many fond memories of going to Hampton Court Flower Show ages ago, truly a summer highlight. I still have a seed packet somewhere, Icelandic poppies, I wonder if anything would come up if they were to be planted … I loved the recipe note about not mixing the salad too much lest it end up looking like cat food, because that is EXACTLY what happened to me over Easter with a grilled courgette, mint, & feta salad. My flatmate asked to help & I gave him the ‘crumbling feta’ task but then neglected to adequately supervise once he moved on (unbidden) to mixing. Still tasted good, of course, but was not quite the visual I’d had in mind. Always so delighted to read your letters!!
Hampton Court is a wonderful show isn't it? Many of the same exhibitors as Chelsea but much more spread out and you can buy such a lot, quite dangerously. Thank you for the nice words about the letters - I am hopeless at delegating, for just the kind of reason you describe. I can only cook with certain very good friends.
I share your love of plant fairs- no matter how many times I say 'I really don't have the room for it', I always come back with the the car full! I'm off to Malvern Spring Flower show this week with my sister for our annual girls treat- wish me luck getting everything back to the Highlands! Is that Voodoo or Lord Bute you're holding- they're on my want list!
Malvern is such a beautiful show, isn't it? The setting enhances everything so beautifully. I hope you have a wonderful time with your sister. The pelie is unlabelled and though it resembles Voodoo a bit, I don't think it is. Voodoo and Lord Bute are two of my favourites - I always had them in my garden in London but I haven't seen them so far here.
😍 looks a wonderful plant fair, certainly less crowded than Chelsea these days. Try a cutting of rosa banksia.. they can root planted deep in gritty compost x
There is nothing more joyful than a new patch of soil to plant no matter the size or shape! Enjoy. (And what a beautiful setting for a plant sale.)
That is so true. The abbey is absolutely beautiful.
Hi there Deborah! I can absolutely relate to the irresistible pull of a plant fair-every visit feels like adopting new green roommates. That salad sounds like the perfect ending.
Sending a wave from the Dordogne, where I just impulse-bought a mint plant and a questionable lavender with dreams of grandeur.
Am looking forward to following along.
I had exactly the same thought about the lion . . . .
Hi Debora, I will be in Beziers and perhaps Marsillian/Narbonne for a few nights next week. Would you have any recommendations for nice restaurants or local fairs?
I loved the comment about rejection of the offer of the wheel barrow..... My husband always asks 'have you got a bag' when I just pop out for the single missing item.... Needless to say, I come back with yet another 'bag for life' 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m seeing lots of familiar things on those stairs, parsley, mint, pelargoniums, maybe a hydrangea? I noticed the Pak Choi amongst your haul, I’m hoping that when we get home from Queensland they will still be there in our garden and not eaten by some dastardly pest.
Yes it does lack the colour shading and the leaves are a bit different but it is a beauty!! Nice CW catch!
that is quite the plant haul, very impressive to manage that without a wheelbarrow (or trailer!!) can't wait to see the potager (says the woman bemoaning slugs in her courgettes!!!!)
We are lucky here in that we have so many fewer slugs and snails than we did in London - we also have a hedgehog who seems to do a good job of devouring the ones that persist.
we used to have loads of hedgehogs but they seem to have dwindled a lot in recent years in Gloucestershire, which make me sad.
Lovely to read your recipe. Tinned tuna and hard-boiled egg salad is the basic insalata mixta of Spain. You can find a version in the lowliest cafe, the most obscure truck stop as well as the fanciest restaurants. The extraordinary thing is that wherever you order one you will be served with a fresh, wholesome and delicious meal. A glass of beer or local white wine and a piece of fresh bread will satisfy the most insatiable hunger. And like all good food, you’ll leave the table refreshed and refuelled.
Love this post. As a fellow plant addict, I also find it hard to pass up plant sales. No idea how I missed this year's Abbaye de Fontfroide sale; I went last year and managed to get the Banksia rose (there were just two left) now growing like crazy. In fact, I was so impressed with it, I ordered another one online for the balcony. I now spot them all over the village on my morning walks, yellow seems the most popular.
What is that beauty you have on your lap on the steps? I thought it was a Lord Bute pelargonium but not sure. It is gorgeous!!
It's not Lord Bute - I have been looking for Lord Bute since I got here with no success - though it is very like. It's unlabelled, unfort.
Me to my husband “we don’t require anything else for the garden, don’t let me buy anything”
Husband to me half an hour later “Can we get all of this into the car”!
Avarice consumes me when I see garden attributes, then they sit for a while in a shady spot as I ruminate on their eventual placing.
At the moment a variegated Acanthus & a white double blossomed lilac tree are occupying said space!
Love your description, apt for me too of ‘as though I had never actually met me’.
Is that a geum you're holding? It’s a ravishing colour! I think you have shown great restraint with your haul there.
For peppers in the summer I insist my husband lights and loads the barbeque about 30 minutes earlier than he wants to and present him with a bowl of peppers for grilling, so we have a ready supply in the fridge most of the time. He even skins them himself - his price? An extra couple of beers!
I think that would be cheap at twice the price! I love peppers done on the barbecue.
What a lovely post to read. I went to Chelsea once & was completely overwhelmed BUT I have very many fond memories of going to Hampton Court Flower Show ages ago, truly a summer highlight. I still have a seed packet somewhere, Icelandic poppies, I wonder if anything would come up if they were to be planted … I loved the recipe note about not mixing the salad too much lest it end up looking like cat food, because that is EXACTLY what happened to me over Easter with a grilled courgette, mint, & feta salad. My flatmate asked to help & I gave him the ‘crumbling feta’ task but then neglected to adequately supervise once he moved on (unbidden) to mixing. Still tasted good, of course, but was not quite the visual I’d had in mind. Always so delighted to read your letters!!
Hampton Court is a wonderful show isn't it? Many of the same exhibitors as Chelsea but much more spread out and you can buy such a lot, quite dangerously. Thank you for the nice words about the letters - I am hopeless at delegating, for just the kind of reason you describe. I can only cook with certain very good friends.
I share your love of plant fairs- no matter how many times I say 'I really don't have the room for it', I always come back with the the car full! I'm off to Malvern Spring Flower show this week with my sister for our annual girls treat- wish me luck getting everything back to the Highlands! Is that Voodoo or Lord Bute you're holding- they're on my want list!
Malvern is such a beautiful show, isn't it? The setting enhances everything so beautifully. I hope you have a wonderful time with your sister. The pelie is unlabelled and though it resembles Voodoo a bit, I don't think it is. Voodoo and Lord Bute are two of my favourites - I always had them in my garden in London but I haven't seen them so far here.
😍 looks a wonderful plant fair, certainly less crowded than Chelsea these days. Try a cutting of rosa banksia.. they can root planted deep in gritty compost x
I might give that a go!