A gardening blog & online marketplace for horticultural vintage
The demise of SAD (hopefully)
It’s a little known fact amongst those that know me, that I have for many years...
Read more...Snow, Rain, Sleet, Repeat!
Well after years of moaning that we haven’t had a proper winter and it was all...
Read more...Here we go again…
Just as we all feared, here we are going into lockdown 2.0. This time around we...
Read more...Mists and mellow fruitfulness
The abundance of fruit around the garden is always a reminder to take advantage of nature’s...
Read more...Welcome to the Gardener’s Arms
When it comes to entertaining in the garden, we are pretty enthusiastic. There are many memorable...
Read more...A time to reap
Those of us who consider ourselves to be fruit and vegetable gardeners ultimately only have one...
Read more...Going ever so slightly potty
I have already extolled the aesthetic virtues of hand made, traditional clay pots elsewhere in this...
Read more...The Elusive Mr P
In the years since we starting planting our garden, it has become a lush oasis of...
Read more...99 Red Balloons
Today is my mother’s 99th birthday. This picture of her sitting at her potting bench was...
Read more...Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Our first outing, not exactly post-lockdown, but as soon as the garden centres re-opened, was to...
Read more...Who is Mrs P? ...
I am Mrs P, so called because I am married to the charming and erudite Mr P, but also because my middle name is ‘Particular’ on the grounds that I am a little fussy. I’m not necessarily obsessive about tidiness but I am fastidious about the way that things look. They need to be pleasing to my eye, if no one else’s. My darling father always called me a ‘picture straightener’ and that’s how things are – try as you might, you are what you are! This ‘particularity’ extends to the garden, much to Mr P’s exasperation at times and also to my complete and utter frustration whilst juggling a full time job and the usual domestic demands. Everything can sometimes seem just a little bit of a compromise.
I’m also a great lover of garden vintage. Not for me the plastic hen house and glow in the dark plant pots. Give me a great bit of aged wood or galvanised metal, so furnishing the garden with a few salvaged items is pretty essential. Aside from looking traditional these items have already stood the test of time and will live long into the future, being as sustainable as you can get. It is this love of horticultural vintage that has prompted me to start selling items online, so if you want to introduce a vintage look to your patch please take a look at my shop. Aside from gardening organically and trying to encourage as much wildlife as possible to pass time with us, I love a traditional look to the garden. Serried ranks of vegetables please me exponentially, along with brick paths and clay pots.
This story is about me and my potting shed and how it has come to pass that I have given up work, forsaken my office and found an enduring pleasure in the garden. So, in the way that Meghan held her famous Sayonara Zara party when she married Harry, I will be saying Adios Cos as I move into the land of the (voluntarily) unemployed…
About our garden.....
We could scarcely believe our luck when we bought our little cottage 15 years ago and were completely thrilled that we had this half acre plot, backing onto fields. During the intervening years, we have made many changes but it has continued to play a pivotal part in our lives, being the place that we exercise, entertain, and relax. Crucially, it is also our larder, our shared enjoyment and our therapist. It is, without doubt, the most important aspect of our home.
Now I have decided to make it my working week too, telling the story of our garden and sharing my love of horticultural antiques through my online shop.

Shop
Obelisks
Other plant supports
Outdoor watering cans
Indoor watering cans
Decorative items
Tools
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@mrspspottingshed