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Sunday 31 May 2009

A Christmas present!

I had my Christmas present from Morag and Mike on Saturday! At Christmas Mo gave me a photocopied ticket for Gardening Scotland, the big Scottish (of course) show held annually at Ingliston to the west of the city, next to the airport! Saturday was the day!

The sun was shining, the sky was a clear, cloudless blue, as we set off early from Peebles to make the most of the day. There were already loads of cars in the carpark when we arrived, and crowds already milling round the stalls and gardens. Ingliston is nothing like as big as Chelsea or the other big English shows, but has lots to see, lots of ideas to pick up, and lots of stalls to lure you into spending money. I bought two beautiful clematises, one called Silver Moon, a very very pale, almost white, mauve, and a white one called Wilhelmine. Otherwise I was very restrained. My garden is actually packed too full of plants and I need to do some weeding out!

In the Crafts marquee there were some beautiful stalls and I gave in when I found some Bentala Bali jacket wraps! So useful for taking away on holiday as a cover up for cooler evenings, when even a light jacket would be too much for me! I hate being too hot! I like cooler climes better!

Anyway, we had a great time just wandering the showground, picking up ideas - I want an arch like this for outside my front door -












admiring plants


and flower arrangements - I'm not into flower arranging but I have to say, some of the displays in the inside area were stunning.



There were ice cream stalls and hot doughnut stalls - oh, those doughnuts! Yum-my!


- displays of dry stane dyking (building stone walls, arches and bridges etc. without mortar),

chainsaw carving,
pots and planters, alpine trough gardens,
and garden furniture including this recycled cable reel rocking chair and garden spa pools (not that useful in Scotland, though nice in a glass conservatory perhaps),

There were garden ornaments from birdfeeders to fairly large metal giraffes, and everything in between.


Frogs are popular!







There was music to entertain,

birds of prey to admire - these are a barn owl with her handler and a tawny owl -



tiny bonsai to marvel over,

and of course the show gardens. Small gardens mainly, with an emphasis being placed on recycling and eco gardening these days, there wasn't a great deal of variety. Sheds seem to be the in-thing too! I liked these gardens though!









Then there were the ever popular pallet gardens,
miniature gardens in effect, the bases being about a metre square.

I think one of the displays I liked best in the whole show was the Volkswagen Beetle! Great fun, this one!
What a great Christmas present - but the day was not over! More next time!
Talk again soon.

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