Gardeners World 2012.

Coral, seaweed, sea slugs and starfish, and us wearing Scuba gear will look a bit strange, Ziggy, especially when you take into account how we look anyway. Better to do a fishing program separate! Strange, the dancing fella smilie is coming up when you first click on the smile symbol.

 

Actually, Kristen, I was holding back on that . My first visit to Hidcote I enjoyed greatly but the second visit a few years later was disappointing. On that visit the garden looked run down, the lawns were in a state. with even the borders looking drab. I haven't visited since but the last reports I got on Hidcote were more encouraging. When was your last visit??

 

I might go there again but if I did I would probably spend more time at Kiftsgate. It's a real turn off when you're full of anticipation only to find the garden isn't as good as you thought it would be. Gardens that always seem to please, at least me that is, are Bodnant and Arley Hall.

 

Yes, Bodnant was one of my wife's favourite gardens, along with Arley, and at any time of the year is stunning. Walking down in the Dell amongst the trees seeing all the flowers and shrubs in blossom, with the stream from the garden dam running through it is fantastic. You have to be reasonably fit though as the paths down to, and out of, the Dell are hugely steep and narrow! Get there, Kristen, you won't be sorry!!

I'll be fishing in Rutland again this year so I'll try and drag myself away to visit the East Ruston Old Vicarage garden

 

I'll keep you to that, if I can drag myself away from the fishing!

 

It's an annual event that my life long friend [I lost my first fight to him when we were both toddlers, the back of my head still hurts remembering him banging it on the pavement]. his brother and I do. He has a caravan at Yarwell, near Wansford right on the River Nene, a really beautiful place and we use that as a base for 10 - 14 days. But being crazy committed Anglers we fish from dawn to dusk in some well off the road places. So we fish in Rutland, Peterborough, Norhamptonshire, Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk during those 10 - 14 days. At the moment the plan is for it to start around the first week of July but that's just a pencilled in thing at the moment. They'd certainly be scratching their heads wondering how gardening could come before fishing..........totally incomprehensible!!!!!