Gardener’s Cuttings Extra


Rosemoor provides bird fun for half term


February is a perfect time for seeing birds in the garden. Buzzards, ravens, chaffinches and song thrushes, as well as tawny owls, barn owls, little egrets and goldfinches have all been spotted at RHS Rosemoor, in Great Torrington Devon which is organising a fascinating ‘Birds in the Garden’ week over half term on (19th – 27th February)


A woodpecker enjoys a nutty meal


The last weekend in January saw the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch where people were invited to count the number and varieties of birds in their garden over the course of one hour.


Bird Box Making: Tuesday 22 February, 11am - 3pm. Drop-in workshop for children 8-12 years.


Make your own bird box - with a little help. There will be a small charge of £3 per box to help cover the cost of materials. Under 8’s welcome but must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Please wear old clothes.


Make your own Bird’s Nest: Wednesday 23 February, 11am - 3pm


Exercise your creative skills and make your own crazy bird’s nest. Choose to make a tiny and neat robin or wren nest or a big untidy rook or jackdaw nest complete with its collection of shiny objects. Under 8’s welcome but must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Please wear old clothes.


Encouraging Birds into the Garden: – Thursday 24 & Friday 25 February, 11am & 3pm


A lifetime-qualified ornithologist, Martin is an expert in entomology and wildlife management. His talks will cover different types of birds in your gardens, -what to feed them, when to feed them and what type of feeders to use.


Standard entry price applies to all events.


Martin Simkins, from the North Devon Falconry Centre, will be on site with his display of Harris Hawks, a range of Falcons (including Lanner and Peregrine) plus a magnificent Bengal Eagle Owl on Saturday February 26th. There will be flying displays at 11.30am and again at 2pm.


Garden design courses at Stourhead


The spectacular landscaped gardens at Stourhead are the inspirational setting for intensive design courses being run by top garden designer Wendy Wright in March.


After many years of private client work and re-designing five of her own houses and gardens, Wendy Wright has returned to lecturing, to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with a new generation.


Her courses and lectures will appeal as much to the owner of a new plot as those wishing to re-define their gardens or just indulge in a day to stimulate the senses. Her lectures kick off with a 4-5 day intensive course on garden design. The course in the first week, ‘Garden Planning’ is to be held on Monday 28th February and Tuesday 1st March, while in the second week the topic is ‘Garden Planting’ and takes place on Monday 7th, Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th March.


The courses will be run from the Spread Eagle Inn / Stourton Memorial Hall at the entrance to the gardens of Stourhead, Wiltshire. The fifth day, which is run as a separate one day workshop, is open to anyone wishing to have a relaxing, fun day on ‘Colour Harmony in Plant Design’. For further information please contact Wendy on 0786 7965985 or email: wendy.wright@live.com


Wendy Wright was a visiting Lecturer at The English Gardening School at The Chelsea Physic Garden 1990-1995 and in 1989 established a School of Garden Design entitled “The Garden School in the North”, launched from the Botanic Garden at the University of Durham. She was elected Fellow of The Society of Landscape and Garden Designers in 1987 and for many years her designs were exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show.


22 Country Gardener


Plant for butterflies this spring


The charity Butterfly Conservation, in partnership with Marks & Spencer, is launching a national Planting for Butterflies campaign on the 4th of April, to encourage people to plant butterfly-friendly plants in their gardens. The campaign is part of an initiative to help butterflies and to promote the biggest nationwide count of butterflies and day-flying moths by the public .


The top five nectar plants Butterfly Conservation recommends are: buddleia, verbena bonariensis, the perennial wallflower (Bowles Mauve), lavender and marjoram.,


You can do your bit for butterflies by planting these in April and enjoy taking part in the count from the 16th - 31st July. You may be surprised about what visits your garden! There was a fantastic response to the first Big Butterfly Count last year, with 187,000 individual sightings that winged their way across the internet from all over the country.


The survey will be run by Butterfly Conservation.


Record price for a snowdrop bulb


A snowdrop commemorating one of Britain’s best-known gardeners has fetched a record-breaking £357 at auction. Galanthus plicatus ‘E A Bowles’ boasts six pure white petals which are precisely equal in length. The variety was first spotted at Bowles’s former home, Myddleton House gardens, in Bulls Cross, Enfield, north London, and the bulb was grown by John Grimshaw, head gardener at Colesbourne Park, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The profit will go towards the restoration of the Myddleton House gardens after a Lottery grant of £500,000 in 2009.


Galanthus plicatus ‘E A Bowles’


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