Didn't I Do Well!

When I was a child I was very tepid about having a birthday in August, all my friends were always on holiday and I never really managed to have a party. The same thing is still true, but there is a lot to be said for a summer birthday now that I am a gardener. So I was very pleased with my birthday haul this year and thought I would share it with you, not in a smug way you understand - but as a shopping aid if you need to find a present for a gardener!

There was a repeat subscription to Gardens Illustrated Magazine. Regular readers will remember me extolling the virtues of this magazine in the past and it is still the most beautiful and inspirational monthly mag out there. 

There was a very impressive (and most importantly sharp and clean - I shall be attempting to keep them that way) new pair of secateurs (Fiskars), complete with holster that can be wall mounted or clip onto your belt or pocket. I shall, therefore, henceforth only answer to the name of Quickdraw McPrune (or when I'm in the garden anyway!)

New gardening gloves (Gardman) are always good, and these ones are specially for weeding and clearing (I'm trying not to take that personally). I always struggle with garden gloves, the ones thick enough to protect you mean that you can't feel anything and then the ones that you can feel through don't offer any protection. These seem a good halfway house and are flexible and mid thickness, ideal for me (if a little pink!). My lovely Mum even tied her present up with raffia, which will be perfect for tying in in the autumn.

There was a fab selection of books, all very different which is great. Natural Garden Style (Merrell) is a beautiful book, full of pictures of drift planting, grasses and natural structures for different spaces and conditions throughout the year. It makes me want my very own prairie, and pond... and woodland! 

Lovely Carol Klein's Life in a Cottage Garden (BBC Books) takes us through the year, almost day by day, in the Glebe Cottage garden. I can see that being very useful for blog entries during quiet times of the year, and it is full of her enthusiasm and wisdom. So now I can keep up with what I've forgotten to do, as I forget it!

And then Vegetable and Fruit Growing Month by Month (KingBooks), a pretty comprehensive list of market garden crops with what they need month by month, plus info on composting, diseases, rotation and building beds. I've already discovered why my Florence Fennel was pants - spring too cold (no surprise there), and not enough water (more of a surprise given that the spring was so wet!)

In the birthday haul there were also: a wedge of garden centre vouchers (hurrah!), a lovely blue Iris (not flowering at the moment), a Thalictrum and a sweet pink Strawberry - it doesn't have fruit but does have beautiful pink flowers, blooms throughout the summer and spreads well apparently.

So I am very happy, and would recommend any of these things wholeheartedly as a gift.

Thank you to all my lovely family and friends for their generosity, now I must nip out and plant some things, prune stuff, and get reading!