I’m posting them for you to enjoy, hoping they will bring you some comfort too, and for a few moments give you something else to think about. They are good for cut flowers, lasting at least a week to 10 days in a vase if you change the water each day.

I instinctively knew Joan would start to forget me, and by taking flowers each week, I hoped to hold on to her for as long as possible. A very kind man, he sent me the gift to celebrate his 60 years breeding and developing gold-medal winning clematis plants.More dahlias including a red unnamed seedling, Alstromeria Indian Summer and cosmos Psyche White grown from Mr Fothergill’s seeds. And this week it’s the first bunch of sweet peas – for my daughter Rachel, for her kitchen window at her first home. I visited my Mum today and took all the flowers out of the vase and cut four inches off the bottom of the stems. This design ring is ideal for adding a touch of festive magic to Christmas decorations, table decorations and gift arrangements. Our favourite route around the field at the back of Calke was closed, probably because of the rain making the ground sodden.

We love the Christmas tree, and all the shadows from the architectural plants, the palms and agaves. I was absolutely determined that dementia wouldn’t get the better of us and destroy the special friendship we had. I’m just trying to focus on something positive and remind myself that nature often shows us the way to cope with all kinds of crisis in our lives. The Oasis foam rings and pads are available in several different sizes to suit your projects and the useful twin packs give you versatility and great value for money.But holding on to our hats and keeping calm, between us we have steered our daughter through choppy waters. In the folding glass doors you can see a reflection of the trees, hedgerows and fields behind our garden. Here are the dahlias tucked in amongst the last of the cosmos, salvia, scented white carnations, with grey senecio foliage and plum coloured Physocarpus Diabolo.

In autumn when the day lilies are starting to die back, these beautiful spires of persicaria appear. Chrysanthemums give good value in a cut flower garden and will last three weeks in a vase, if looked after by refreshing the water and just trimming the base of the stems slightly every few days. The flowers were loosely tied so that Joan could spend a few happy hours arranging them in assorted vases and fill the windowsills with colour.

They are out and about at dusk, making nests in the bottom of the ‘fedge’ and under the old disused hen house. I recently visited Chatsworth for a head gardener tour to see the new Arcadia garden planted last year. Please leave a message in the box below, and sign up for e mail notifications for further blog posts. It’s a very late flowering type with short pedicels, making the flowers fling out and look up at you. Jonathan Moseley allows some of his herbs and vegetables to run to seed and they make striking and unusual additions to his flower arrangements.