Newsletter - August 2018

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Plant of the Month

Surfinia Petunias


The petunias have been impressive this year despite the drought. I grew them from a small pot of Surfinia petunia seedlings, which cost about £1.30 and gave me twelve sturdy plants. Despite being labelled "Purple Mix" they included some bright pink ones and one with stripes. I combined them with mixed nemesia, scented stocks and antirrhinums and the result is a delightful display with an informal cottage garden feel. Despite the drought they have performed well and were the stars of my garden for the Penarth Open Gardens Trail at the end of July. 

I repainted the bench in Willow Green, a lovely soft colour. It has given me some great new ideas for next year's bedding colour scheme, I love playing with colour in the garden.

There are two things that can spoil the good weather every year - the schools breaking up for Summer Holidays and the Penarth Open Garden Trail! This year it was our turn but despite lashing rain and gale-force winds, it was a success. Our lovely supportive visitors didn't let us down, they braved it all. There were also many of our Artisans Corner customers. Thank you all so much, every one of you deserves a medal.
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My daughter, Amanda, had a craft stall displaying and selling some of her work including bags, sleep masks and spectacle cases. She will be selling her work in Artisans Corner soon.
I was unable to carry out planned improvements to this front garden area because of the drought and it looked like a bomb site! I decided to share my plans with my visitors and produced the sketch below to show how it will  look next year, hopefully! 
The area is riddled with creeping buttercup and I am going to lay a weed restricting membrane with paving slabs and gravel on top, anchored by two deep troughs on the boundary. This is also part of my planned changes to make the garden easier to maintain as I get older. It proved very popular with visitors, many of whom have the same problems.

Artisans Corner news

I am introducing a special offer on  canvas print orders for the month of August, a reduction of £10 per 18 x 24 inch print, normally priced at £85.

Most of my print designs are suitable  to be produced as canvas prints and make a good focal point in your room.