Posted: Monday 31 December 2012
by James Alexander-Sinclair
New Year’s Eve. A defining moment, the joys and traumas of Christmas behind us and the blank page of 2013 stretching ahead like a freshly hoovered carpet.
New Year’s Eve. A defining moment, the joys and traumas of Christmas behind us and the blank page of 2013 stretching ahead like a freshly hoovered carpet. The question is whether, for us gardeners, that carpet will be lush shag pile or meagrely tufted economy blend.
Last year was not a good year as there was too much rain and general bleariness for anything much to thrive. Vegetables drowned and fruit never really came to much, roses were battered by showers and meadows were flattened. Thank goodness or the Olympics with all that stirring sportiness to occupy our minds - and also for the tantalising glimpses of the Olympic plantings of James Hitchmough, Nigel Dunnett and Sarah Price. Perhaps they will all be given baronetcies in tomorrow’s New Year’s Honours list.
This year will, we hope, be different and the sun will shine on all our endeavours. I am not really a fan of New Year Resolutions as I feel one is just setting oneself up for disappointment but, in the interests of fearlessly honest journalism, here are three:
I want to grow marigolds. I know they seem frightfully old fashioned and not at all sexy but I think it is time for a revival. In particular a tall (about 1.5m high) variety called a Tagetes ‘Cinnabar’, which is dark red.
I must go and visit more gardens. There are so many wonderful places in this country and I have visited shamefully few of them. Likewise I need to go to more small nurseries. The horticultural industry in this county is struggling and we all need to support our local suppliers. We also need to encourage young people to go into gardening: it is a fabulous profession. Perhaps not the highest paid, but undoubtedly one of the most satisfying. We have a grand tradition of great gardening in this country and this is something worth protecting.
I would like to learn how to weld. This is not really very gardenish but all the same I think it would be fun. All those sparks and Robocop masks.
I am sure you have your own resolutions - good luck to you all and Happy New Year.
gardenning granny
03/01/2013 at 19:47
My alternative last year was to grow gaillardias which put on a fantastic show all summmer until November!
My new years resolution is to plant more self-saved seed, and more unusual seed collected as I travel around. Only problem is knowing where to plant the successes when I discover what it is I have grown! So far I have 6 golden rain trees, grown from sseed collected at a motorway service station in France, and probably far too big for my small garden and several Wisteria from pods of my Wisteria "Lawrence". These I will grow on in pots out of curiosity to see what happens in ten years time!
