Does anyone know anything about gardening?

If you're as bad at cuttings as me, expect about a 10% success rate... Also the successes are still tiny after a couple years. My weedy lavender self-seeded by next door's front path and is enormous. Theirs does get more sun though.

I used Hedges Direct because Woodland Trust had sold out of bare root plants and I was ordering right at the end of the planting window.

They will still have potted plants or troughs but they're more expensive.

I've got a lot of time for Hedges Direct though, I've used them twice and been really pleased with service and quality, and their advice on the phone was really helpful and not at all pushy or upsell-y.

How to people store there seeds?

I have a drawer in my shed with makeshift cardboard dividers. But my shed probably gets too hot.

I'd love to keep them in a fridge, and maybe packed neatly I could put them in a lock down tupperwear box.

But curious about how everyone else does it.

We have a metal box for them in a cupboard in the lounge - google "metal seed box" and you'll see the kind of thing

Cheers. Also good suggestion about the sitting room as although I don't have cupboards behind on of the sofas is far from a heat source and dry.

Well. Every year once the flowers have seeded I walk along the row of lavender with a rake and push the plants so that the seed falls in the bed next to the current lavender. There’s lots of lavender there.

I just keep forgetting to transplant it elsewhere.

We bought a photo storage box that has lots of smaller boxes for 6"X4"s inside. Seed packets for in them pretty perfectly. Meant we could organise everything alphabetically and avoid having to tip out the big bag of them that they were in before to try and find one packet. That goes in the cupboard under the stairs.

Like this?

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That's the one.
We seem to have built up a garden centre's worth of seeds and it makes it really tidy and manageable.
Only packet that doesn't fit is beans

Impressed by everyone's organisation. I just have an overflowing jiffy bag stuffed with old packets, new packets, little plastic ziplock baggies, kitchen roll envelopes, etc etc.

Currently in the outdoor toilet attached to our brick shed as it's the coolest outdoor spot I have.

A nicely divided drawer turned to shit.

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Glassine paper bags, then in a plastic takeaway box, cool place in house.

After that ensure to forget to label seedlings for maximum confusion :)

Anyone been to RHS Hampton Court Flower Show?

I'm going this year with my mum (>70yo) on the Friday.

Any tips, tricks or suggestions?

One of the things Chatgpt suggests is to take a chair. This seems extreme so interested in any human insights.

Cheers.

The hack seems to be to bring a folding trolly to carry all your plant purchases.

Traffic was a bit of a nightmare getting in.

That's a good idea.

My mum bought one years ago when I lived at home and I forbad her from using it in my presence.

How times have changed!

Could probably also carry a fold up chair in it 🤔

Good to know on the parking as the train is quite simple for me, albeit an eternity.

There's not a lot of places to sit down, and it's spread over quite a large area so taking a fold up chair is not the worst idea.

It's very accessible by train, direct trains to Hampton Court from Waterloo, and it's only a short walk from the station.

Cheers.

Also while browsing their site for what's on, I came across this climate forward front garden:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palace-garden-festival/gardens/2024/climate-forward-garden

Which I thought ppl may be interested given they're often tricky spaces.

@Howard aren't you planning on redoing your front?

@hugo7 if you are near Herne Hill SE24, I have a VERY light (500g) fold up bike-packing chair you can borrow for your mum?

my front garden is progressing well now 👀

Look out for the folding trolleys, you'll get whacked on the legs by them all day. There's not much shade so an umbrella is an idea or take regular breaks by going in the marquees. There's fillable water stations so take a bottle.

That's really kind. Unfortunately I'm north.

Decided to grab one of these.

Probably not suitable for my weight, but it should be fine for my mum, albeit possibly a bit low. But then she's quite little so maybe it'll be perfect.

1.5kg so not quite "light weight" Imo, but light enough.

It's quite a trek from the station or car park to get in. Be prepared for plenty of walking.

There are various little concerts and lecture things throughout the day - look up the schedule if that kind of thing interests you. Food queues can be long.

You can skip the Country Living tent, although it's a good refuge if it rains.

Take a water bottle.

If you don't want to carry plants around all day the stalls will stick them behind the counter for you to collect at the end of the day, or there's a plant creche you can take them to (can't remember if it's free though).

Don't buy the first thing you see - you'll find some overlap between stalls so have a proper browse.

If you're taking the train, you might find the station is so packed on the way back that you might not fit on the first train.

It's a good day out and a great venue, especially if the weather's nice. More spread out than Chelsea.

These are ok but they are very very low and incredibly easy to break the legs when pivoting your weight.

I’d sooner recommend you pick up a classic fishing stool - the tripod-legged jobbies that sit taller than those camping chairs but don’t have a back rest.

The tripod stools are much safer and easier to set up and collapse.

The alternative would be to find a shooting stick. They are basically a walking stick with a top that opens into a monopod stool. Much taller and doubles up as a walking aid.