The passengers on the DC Thomson Emerald Cruises Blooms of Holland and Belgium river cruise were finally able to depart recently, after Covid delayed the trip for over a year.
They came from Peterhead in the north down to Ayr in the south-west with even a couple joining in from across the border, which was fantastic.
I had the pleasure of joining them for their final two days, where we all made a visit to the tulip display at Keukenhof.
Most beautiful spring garden
We all agreed. It lives up to it’s billing as the most beautiful spring garden in the world.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a display like it. We were all a bit nervous as it’s been a warm, dry spring in the region and feared the blooms may have been over.
But thankfully this wasn’t the case. The cooler night time temperatures help to keep the flowers fresh.
The colours of the Tulips seemed so intense too, probably made more so by the big and bold groupings they were planted in.
The morning sunlight was just perfect as it broke through gaps in the tree canopy, helping to light up the display.
Keeping it perfect
Their gardens team were hard at work keeping the place looking immaculate.
When I saw them they were busy dead-heading the tulips, removing the spent flowers to prevent them from making seed.
This stops the plant from wasting its energy, instead making it focus all its resources into making a bigger bulb, which will provide us with cracking blooms next year.
Tulips can be funny if left in the ground so I always lift mine as the foliage starts to turn brown, storing them over summer before replanting again come November.
Examining them you can definitely see they have reduced in size from when they were planted, so this year I’ll try dead-heading them to see if this makes a difference.
Gardeners are the nicest people
The group on board the ship have to be one of the happiest and friendliest bunch of humans I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.
This backs up my theory that gardeners are the nicest people in the world! I think it was safe to say they were having a great time.
I’m making it sound I was on a right jolly but I did also give them a talk on gardening and whilst there did my best to answer their gardening questions.
Put through my paces
Not doing my confidence any good, the first one stumped me straight away – I was asked if rose cuttings could be rooted in potatoes!
Using a potato to root any cuttings is something radical and I’ve never even thought about it. So my first reaction was why on earth would they?
However after asking the rest of the group it became apparent this wasn’t such a daft idea after all.
It’s not such a daft idea
With there being a high moisture content in a potato I can see the logic in this but I still can’t see how someone managed to think of this in the first place.
I’m definitely going to give this a try, but I’m equally intrigued to find out if I can get a crop of tatties at the same time! Now that would be an idea for the Dragon’s Den.
By the end of the second night I’d been asked about slugs and snails so many times I was thinking about just typing up an answer and handing it out to everybody.
Despite them being a nuisance to us, munching away on the likes of our favourite Hosta foliage, the Royal Horticultural Society are now no longer going to classify them as a pest.
They ask us to recognise them as playing an important part maintaining a healthy garden ecosystem.
There is no fool-proof way
If you have such a problem then I’m afraid to tell you there is no fool-proof way of dealing with them until you find a successful method for you.
Their natural predators are birds, who enjoy a treat of a juicy snail and are easily attracted to your garden by planting a hedge or through a simple bird feeder.
A pond will entice frogs, who will take one for a meal and a hedgehog wont say no either.
I’ve not had much joy with rough textured mulches such as gravels, grit, bark mulches and egg shells deterrents.
I would suggest a night time garden sortie in mild, wet weather with a head torch on, catching the blighters in action.
Once caught, put them to good use by placing them in your compost heap. They’ll love their new home, feeding on your kitchen waste instead of your prized plants.
Garden Fair
I’m looking forward to chatting with more fellow gardeners at our Garden Fair next weekend at Scone Palace.
A host of our country’s gardening groups and societies will be there, along with some of our top nurseries and garden centres.
Carole and George from the Beechgrove will also be there, ready to answer all your slug, snail and bizarre potato questions.
