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When I woke to the sound of lashing rain Monday morning, I heaved a huge sigh of relief – whilst the rest of the country were battening down the hatches for the watery onslaught, secretly we gardeners were celebrating! Why? Because sat waiting in one of our storage rooms are over 20,000 tulip bulbs just...
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This time of year in so many ways is one of the most colourful times, mostly hot fiery shades from the clearest of yellows through to the deepest of purplish reds, and that’s just the autumn foliage. This however can vary greatly from year to year depending very much upon the temperatures and the ground...
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Woke up wondering if I had maybe missed summer this morning – the cool nip of autumn is very much upon us and we are busy collecting fallen leaves already from the trees off the paths in the garden. All the autumn fruit is looking delicious too…there are lots of blackberries in our boundary hedges, so...
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The summer sale is under way in the shop at RHS Harlow Carr, with a range of items at half price! Fine quality linenware in neutral colours, burgundy and cream, and pastel shades including greens and blues are a fantastic opportunity to update your table, kitchen or living room. Napkins, teatowels, aprons...
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This week at Harlow Carr has been another busy one, the weather has been rather good, and with all children getting in free this month the garden has been very busy. Even so all teams across the garden seem to be managing well and are all on top of their work making sure that everything is looking tip...
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This month at Harlow Carr Gift & Book Shop we have many delights on offer to tempt the discerning shopper; the tennis season is upon us and with that in mind we have teamed mouth-watering strawberry bowls with cream jugs, fruity aprons with embroidered food-covers and other delights - from elderflower...
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Well the sun has got his hat on and it's all kicking off here at Harlow Carr !! In terms of planting of course! All teams have been steady at it this week, getting out all those lovely tender plants that have been nurtured from tiny seeds and cuttings started months ago. Last year we had a fantastic...
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Well, it’s certainly a soggy end to the week today…the mowers have been put away and we are catching up on our cuttings of our salvias and pricking out scores of seedlings under cover! Busy week….there are not enough hours in the day at the moment to keep on top of the weeds springing up with the recent...
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What a sunny warm week it has been, you can almost watch the narcissus and tulips unfolding into flower as they enjoy longer hours of daylight. The hellebores too have been gently nodding their heads for one and all to enjoy, it really does lift your spirits after what seemed like a long winter. It has...
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The spring sunshine certainly made a difference to the garden this week, not least because the gardeners were able to strip off their thermals and bask in the warm sunshine! The gorgeously scented Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ is still surprising visitors in the scented garden – a must have winter...
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One moment I was on the snowy slopes of Les Correz in the French Alps bathed in glorious sunshine, skiing ……..the next, in the woodland at Harlow Carr marvelling how a few days warmth has breathed colour and life back into one of my favourite areas of the garden,(well, apart from the main borders!)....
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We were all very sad to hear of the death of Geoffrey Smith last Friday. Geoffrey came to Harlow Carr as a young man of 26, full of enthusiasm, ideas and determination - and no little skill too. With a small team and miniscule resources he set about carving out a garden from an empty field in a cold...
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What a change in the weather since I last wrote the blog on the 6 th Feb, then we were ankle deep in snow, whilst this week it’s been a good 8 degrees warmer and we’ve had some lovely heart warming sunshine. Tom and I have been working hard on our Island beds this week; lifting and dividing plants from...
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Mud, mud glorious mud! The team this week has been well and truly caked in Harlow Carr’s finest clay soil. The new productive area has been in full swing with everyone lending a hand to get the area ready for the new raised beds arriving next week. This included planting the rest of the Malus hedge on...
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Over the last few weeks here at Harlow Carr some big changes have been occurring. First was the relocation of the Kitchen Garden to a site below the new Alpine House, including the creation of a new ‘3x3m' fruit plot and edible hedge! Next was the relocation of the planting from one side of the Rose...
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