Accidents Happen ....

How careless am I?

One minute I'm failing miserably to manoeuvre a possessed trolley ladened with a truckload of compost into the tiny gap that is the checkout at Homebase .....

The next minute this little beauty, Polyanthus 'Cheshire Life', has ended up within my purchases. At which point it's far too late for me to offer to return it back to the shelf from whence it came. There's a massive queue of peeps behind me (okay, only one person ......) and they're clearly in a rush.

Honestly ..... what am I like ..... so clumsy .... Tsk.

Rambling Rose Exfoliator - Coz You're Worth It

It's not a well known fact that the common-garden Rambling Rose is an alternative to expensive shop-bought exfoliators.

Up until this morning I had no idea about its other uses ..... I merely saw it as a cascading, flowery thing of beauty. But, my friends, put your pennies back in your fancy purses, cast aside those Cliniques, Clarins & Santuary Spa containers that take up valuable space on the bathroom window-cill and behold a new kid on the dead-skin-removal block.

Step1. Take one million year old ultra thorny Rambling Rose that has rambled over the fence into an alleyway to flower its pretty head off to passers-by.

Step 2. Take one client who wants said evil thorny Rambling Rose back in their garden being all pretty rather than in the alleyway.

Step 3. Spend 2 hours pruning a ton of deceased skin-shredding Rambling Rose branches in alleyway & squeeze it all in to a small wheelie-bin.

Step 4. Hoick remaining spiteful live stems back over fence and spend further 30 mins tying prickly under-control Rambling Rose back to clients trellis.

The result ..... happy client and ....

.....  2 ultra-deep exfoliated arms (only 1 arm shown for demonstration purposes .... plus it's impossible to take a photo when both arms are busy)

(Pool of blood on floor & T-shirt not shown  ..... lol)

Showering after this kind of exfoliating is NOT recommended...better to stink.

Choose Your 'Anemones' Wisely

Blue Anemone (Winter Windflower)

Way too warm & sunny out to be stuck indoors tied to the 'confuser' so I won't keep you.

These delicate Wind Anemones are making a welcome reappearence in the Tidy Garden. 

It arrives each Spring without fanfare, no fuss or bother. Ours provides a carpet of colour under a miniature Acer during its twiggy phase. And when its work is done, it quietly slips back under the soil until the following Spring.

 Not sure how much longer this warm spell is due to last but enjoy your week everyone.

Someone's Been on the Sherry ...

I'm proud to report that I have been awarded the prestigeous 'Very Inspiring Blogger Award' by fellow blogger Kevin AKA The Nitty Gritty Dirtman. (I fear he's been in the drinks cabinet again ...lol)

Kevin kindly wrote ... " Not only do I enjoy visiting her site, I love to hear from her. Her sense of humor cheers me up each time" ... and that's what I love about blogging. The oppotunity for us all to share experiences, experiments, rants and hopefully some laughs along the way ... hey ... life's too short.

A huge THANK YOU Kevin (cheques in the post ...). Now rules are rules, and who am I to break them ... I have to nominate some worthy Bloggers to also receive the award so I'm going to share it with a a few fellow gardeners & a couple of card designers as this is where my passions in life lay.

Dawn - My Stamping Thyme

Inspirational, original, incredibly talented card designer.

Mina - Pinkpuds

Mina creates the most beautiful cards ....Jealous? Moi? Yes ....

Alistair - Aberdeen Gardening

I've only know Alistair a short while in the garden blogging community but his passion for plants and images from his own garden are breathtaking. An inspiration & garden to die for.

Indie - Red House Garden

Indie is a gardener living on the edge .... lol. As well as sharing great ideas & having her fair share of  Critter Dilemmas (her squirrel posting is a MUST READ), Indie has an incredible sense of humour (we could be twins)

The Pothole Gardener

Inspiring guerilla gardening...we should all do this.

Elaine - A Woman of the Soil

Wow .... where to begin with Elaine's blog ..... True definition of the word 'inspiring'...go check her out .... I command you ....

Lyn - The Amateur Weeder

Lyn is in the envious position of gardening-down-under .... sigh .... Beautiful photography, regular updates from her own garden and an all round good egg .... haha ....

***

Brace yourselves .... I'm s'pose to also tell you 7 random facts about myself (I know some of you are still yawning & in a comatose state after my last revelations here) .... but I've been in my 'random archive' & come up with some more startling revelations ...

1. I am a true indecisive Libran .... or am I .... hmmmmm

2. My initials before marriage were JR so I was the butt of many a non-humorous Dallas joke as a child

3. I could run for the PM award of the year .... Paranoid Mother

4. Biggest fear in the garden .... EARWIGS .... just typing the word makes my skin crawl

5. I am George Clooneys real love (we hired a stunt-blond to pose with him in public)

6. I have a Promarker addiction .... there .... I've said it .... I confess to stroking sets of these markers when no one's looking ....

Now, off to buff my new award & to find somewhere suitable to display it.

Reasons To Be Cheerful .... Part 2

(Polyanthus)

It's another gorgeous day out today (here in the south-east of ol' Blighty) and I have been driven to bare not only an ankle, but an elbow, it's so warm.

The excitement is almost too much .... off to mop my muddy brow .....

Reasons To Be Cheerful .... Part 1

Flying in today with a quickie to put a sunny smile on your chops.

This is a Leopard's Bane ( Doronicum if you're that way inclined) that's bursting thru' in the 'Tidy Garden' this week. It's a neat, clump forming, Spring perennial that, despite some recommendations to grow in 'light-shade', we've got growing on the 'dark-side' of the garden (No ..... I do not live on the Death Star). It looks more than content, blooming its happy little head off, who am I to question its taste in light source.

The garden's now getting to that stage where you just want to sit there, embrace & admire all that's going on. But there's way too much to do, seeds to sow, plants to plant and .... er .... well .... tidying to be done. Can't stop .... my fork beckons .....

Have a groovy week gardening .....

PS. A request to see some of the gardens I have been tidying shall be granted soon .... watch this space ...well .... not this bit ..... you know what I mean ....

It's a Frog's Life

Think this pretty much sums up my mood today ... NO ... not up to my neck in pond weed.

I'm stripped 'up to' my ankles soaking in the warm rays of Spring sunshine with a smile as wide as this frogs on my chops.

A successful week gardening, despite arm-wrestling a selection of vicious rose bushes and the resulting blood-transfusion required, I did manage to create 2 beautifully tidied gardens (if I do say so myself).

And to top it all, we have this most handsome / beautiful of frogs in the small pond, wearing a very fashionable chocolate, brown outfit with black spots ... so 2012. He / she just sits there ... smiling gormlessly at me ... doesn't bat an eyelid either when I stroke its head. We are in tune with each other ... in a gormless way.

No ... I'm NOT going to kiss it ... we're just good friends.

Anniversary & Welcome Mr TG

Tidy Gardens by Jane is celebrating its first anniversary this month.

I can't believe a year has passed since I began my adventure & journey into 'self-employed-dom-ship' (not a real word ..... yet).

It's been the most amazing 12 months, I've met some fabulous people, made new friends along the way and thoroughly enjoyed working in every garden I've visited.

Why I didn't do this years ago ..... well ..... slaps hand on head.

A year on and now my OH is going to join me in my venture.

Since posting here, Mr TG (as he shall be known) has had further staff training & is now able to assist me in the garden without fear of having to replant, repair or replenish. He has also agreed to wear the obligatory pink staff uniform which, on reflection, he looks much better in than moi .... grrrr .....

So, as his ruthless lovely employer, it's important that he starts at the bottom & works his way up. I have a selection of evil beginners tasks lined up for his first day.

There's my mid-morning cuppa to perfect, cobweb removal to master as well as poo clearance & squashed frog detection to learn.  

Oh the power excitement .... mwhahaha .....

now, do my wellies need buffing?

Emerging ...

Signs of new life continue in the garden ...

Lupins ...

Phlox ...

Hyacinths ...

Forget Me Nots ...

The first frogspawn of the year ...

Spring Has Sprung

It's a fabulous day out today, so much going on ... blink ... and you'll miss it.

Sticky Horse Chestnut buds with a sprinkle of insects ...

Furry fingers of Magnolia ...

My mission to carpet the planet in pink Japanese Anemone has begun ...

White Icicle Ribes ...

Auricula ... sigh ... love these ...

Primrose ...

Can't stop ... so much to do ...