Marj Goes To Malvern

Last week the Three Counties Showground in Malvern hosted the annual Royal Horticultural Society's Spring Garden Festival.  We were incredibly lucky to be invited along with our beautiful Totally Tropical Marj to help make the Festival Green look pretty. (It was Marj doing the pretty-ing, not us!!)

The RHS Festival runs for 4 days from Thursday through to Sunday so we pitched up on the Wednesday to make sure Marj was comfortable in her spot and we were well prepared for the show.

So, bright and early on Wednesday morning we ambled up the motorway, rocked up at the show ground and we were pointed in the general direction of our allocated pitch. Our first hurdle was "Well, you can't go in there, love. You'll have to back up." BACK UP???  Have you seen my caravan reversing skills in a confined space!!! (plus the added pressure of a group of retirement age 'lads' in fluorescent jackets all thinking it very funny.)  It was not a pretty sight I can tell you!! The situation was made all the worse by my partner in crime waving her arms around in a frivolous manner, completely unaware of the difficulty of caravan reversing.  It wasn't too long before we swapped places and I left her to do the reversing. Ha!! Not so easy, is it??!!.  

Keep It Willow

Eventually we made it to our spot - right by the Festival Stage where the 'celebs' hang out!! - perfect. We un-hitched and sat inside waiting for the rain to pass. Sadly, it was a bit miserable on Wednesday and our lovely willow fencing had to be constructed in a bit of a downpour. Luckily for us we could stay warm and dry inside while someone else grafted.  The lovely Kris Smith of Keep It Willow offered to help with our fencing - I bet she wished she had kept quiet!!! 

Anyone for a spot of gardening??

By the end of the day Marj was looking lovely - the only thing we were not very pleased with was the state of the planted pots we were putting outside. This is a Gardening Show and our efforts were sub-standard!!! 

The show opened on Thursday and we spent the next four days chatting to people about Marj, Hilda, Rita and Marigold and we have met some crazy, crazy people.  Included amongst our favourites was a lovely older couple who fell in love with Marj. The gent said to his wife "well, we normally buy something at the show". We asked if that was usually something like a caravan or maybe more like a pot plant?? He said "once we went out to buy a picture frame and came home with a brand new BMW".

Just Beautiful!!

Marj was a massive hit. Everybody loved her and compared to the Shepherds Hut or perspex garden 'pod' she offers a quirky, cosy and affordable garden room that has the added bonus of providing you with a holiday!!! What is not to love??

And look what a real gardener can do!!

Marj had a visit from celebrity Florist and TV Presenter Jonathan Moseley who thought Marj was absolutely fabulous! She was also visited by our favourite reporter and writer Sue Bradley and the lovely photographer and journalist, Lynn Keddie. We also said hello to the lovely Vintage Tea Room Ladies headed by the fabulous Kat, the fantastic winning show gardeners (for their Gift of Life garden) and Caroline Tatham of the Cotswold Gardening School who are doing such an amazing job of nurturing new talent (not that we are experts in this field!!).  

We know that lots of people are now awaiting Hilda. She will be ready in about a month and we will post plenty of pics on our website and Facebook pages. But be warned, we know there is a lot of interest and we are taking contact details of anyone serious about Hilda. If you want to be added to the list, please let us know and you will be the first to hear about her! 


Mary & Lisa x