Moosey News : July 2008

Dear Subscriber,

Winter - no problem! Sensible gardeners wear layers of thermal underwear, slurp lots of hot drinks, and if they get too cold they split some firewood. And they absolutely don't grump or complain...

This month's features :

1. Snow!
2. Mid-Winter Magic
3. Astelias - Aristocratic Natives
4. Down the Garden Path
5. The Moosey Winter Journal

Regulars :

6. Plant of the Month :Blue Hebe
7. Animal of the Month : All Non-Canines in the Moosey House and Garden
8. Garden Quote : Using Natural Resources
9. Garden Gallery : Graham Thomas English Rose
10. Forum Focus : Irises
11. Gardening Advice : Path Shapes
12. Searching for Moosey : nursery garden
13. Coming up this month : Rose Pruning

This month's features

1. Snow!

Eek! If we are supposed to get, on average, 0.8 snow storms per winter, and we've already has a small one - does that count?

2. Mid-Winter Magic

On the shortest gardening day of 2008 I was kept busy taking the most colourful, magical garden photographs.

3. Astelias - Aristocratic Natives

Spiky, evergreen, grass-like - meet the New Zealand Astelia.

4. Down the Garden Path

I'm in the middle of a mad path-making mania. And I'm helping a gardening friend, as her personal path consultant.

5. The Moosey Winter Journal

These winter days I'm definitely spending more time working in my garden than twittering on in my journal. This is a good thing...

Regulars

6. Plant of the Month : Blue Hebe

Deep in the middle of winter this generous shrub is flowering.

7. Animals of the Month : All Non-Canines in the Moosey House and Garden

All non-canine Moosey animals and creatures get this month's award. Rusty has been far too busy pinching the cats' food, and the hens' food, and the birds' bread...

8. Garden Quote : Using natural resources

Using the natural resources that the garden and land provide is, in theory, a no-brainer. But so many of us gardeners are compulsive modifiers...

9. Garden Gallery : Graham Thomas English Rose

Touted as the best yellow rose in many a totally unscientific survey, David Austin's Graham Thomas still gets my vote!

10. Forum Focus : Irises and White ravens

A friend in Canada is showing off his flowering irises - and showing us some amazing birds.

11. Gardening Advice : Path shapes

Read my journal and discover some amazing path revelations...

12. Searching for Moosey : nursery garden

nursery garden

Mooseys gets lots of requests for sourcing plants. My local nurseries are robustly country - for real plant treasures I'd recommend a trip to Abriachan, on the shores of Loch Ness, in Scotland. It's the best garden-nursery I've ever visited!

Abriachan Garden and Nursery

You'll enjoy Abriachan's own website, too.

13. Coming up this month : Rose Pruning.

Pruning hundreds of roses is top of my list for July. What I hope will NOT be coming up is any snow storm which has the power to fell any of my trees! Cross my garden-gloved fingers...

Cheers,