On Sunday 2nd June the ladies of Forth Valley Chorus will be entertaining visitors to the Show with some of the numbers that have thrilled audiences from Dundee to Denver.

The Chorus is part of an energetic programme of live entertainment that will make this year’s Gardening Scotland as much of a musical event as a Gardening Show.

On Friday 31st May Smile-N Productions will be on stage with some of the hit numbers from their Edinburgh Fringe musical ‘I Got It’ and the pipes, drums and dancers of Queen Victoria Pipe Band will be returning with their traditional rhythms on Friday and Saturday.

Classical duo Chloe & The Other will be appearing each day playing upbeat ceilidh tunes while on Saturday International rock piping stars The Red Hot Chilli Pipers will be mixing rock standards with piping classics on electronic bagpipes and rocking the show with their feet-stomping rhythms.

To come along and see some of these music stars in action, click here to book your tickets now. By booking early not only will you save money on the gate ticket price, you will also receive a free Goody Bag at the Show that is filled with exclusive gardening offers.

Those who book online can also enter the GreenThumb prize draw for the chance to win a free lawn renovation or a year of free specialist lawn treatment worth £500!

]]> http://www.gardeningscotland.com/top-music-groups-set-to-rock-gardening-scotland-2013/feed/ 0 http://www.gardeningscotland.com/family-days-out/ http://www.gardeningscotland.com/family-days-out/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 17:16:01 +0000 admin http://www.gardeningscotland.com/?p=1440 Gardening Scotland 2013 isn’t just a celebration of flowers and gardening, it is also a great day out for all the family and the Big Back Garden is the place where children can run off steam, play games and have some very close encounters with nature.

Edinburgh’s favourite home-grown chain of organic food stores, Earthy Foods, will be creating a country fete atmosphere with a cheerful mixture of flower stalls, strawberry sales and ‘upcyclers’ who will be transforming discarded materials into gorgeous new garden furniture.

Let the kids scramble all over Caledonia Play’s robust wooden play equipment or take on Football Freestyler Paul Donnelly at showing off their football skills.

The model trains of G Scale Scotland will bring out the big kid in visitors of all ages and there’s a chance to enter a working beehive with members of Ayr & District Beekeepers or to get up close to some magnificent birds of prey, courtesy of Cumbernauld Activity Centre.  

There will also be face painting in the Wolf Glen Tipi and an inflatable castle will have the kids bouncing with joy!

And the best news is that children under 16 have free entry to the Show. So why not make a day of it and bring the whole family to Gardening Scotland 2013?

There’s something for every garden so click here to book your tickets now. By booking early you will save money on the gate price and receive a FREE goody bag filled with exclusive gardening offers to pick up from The Sunday Post/The Courier Marquee at the Show.

Those who book online can also enter the GreenThumb prize draw for the chance to win a free lawn renovation or a year of free specialist lawn treatment worth £500!

Visitors to this year’s gardening and outdoor living show will be able to pop into the marquee in The Barratt Homes Show Garden Avenue and collect a voucher that entitles them to a £2000 landscaping package when they complete the purchase of a new Barratt Home before the end of June 2013. Terms and Conditions apply.

Or book your Gardening Scotland tickets in advance and your voucher will come with the special Goody Bag filled with gardening offers that you can pick up at the Show.

Anne Ross, Sales Director at Barratt East Scotland says: “A beautiful garden is high up on the wish list of many home buyers and the design of our homes reflects the importance of an outside space, so we are delighted to be supporting Gardening Scotland 2013.”

Barratt East Scotland is building new homes throughout the region including developments in Edinburgh, Maddiston, Dalgety Bay, Bathgate, Prestonpans, Dunfermline, Kirkliston, Clovenfords and Winchburgh and the £2000 landscaping voucher can be used at any of these developments.  

Visit the Barratt Homes website here.

Book advance tickets for Gardening Scotland 2013 online now to save money on the gate price and secure your free Goody Bag including the Barratt Homes landscaping voucher. Click here to book.

This year at Gardening Scotland 2013 Lesley Watson and Dougal Philip of New Hopetoun Gardens will be making two small cameo garden spaces in contrasting styles using plants in containers.

The Classic Comfort Style garden will use traditional materials and a relaxed mix of generous planting while the Contemporary Chic Style container garden will reflect a modern, clean look using colourful containers and a restricted palette of plants.

Dougal says: “We will be showcasing these styles directly outside the New Hopetoun Gardens Floral Hall so come along and talk to us about your style and how to use containers to give a definite look to your garden.”

There’s lots of inspiration waiting to be discovered at Gardening Scotland 2013, from captivating new plants in thought-provoking combinations to Show Gardens created with design flair that are filled with ideas for even the smallest space.

Click here to book your tickets for Gardening Scotland 2013 now.

By booking early you can save money on the gate ticket price and secure your FREE Gardening Goody Bag full of exclusive offers and discounts on a whole range of gardening essentials. Find out more here.

Or why not make your day at Gardening Scotland 2013 extra special by booking a VIP ticket? VIP packages include entry to Gardening Scotland, an official show catalogue and either lunch or afternoon tea at The Quality Hotel, which sits right next to the Showground.

Find out more here or call 0131 333 0965 to book.

Alys Fowler

Alys Fowler, best known for her BBC 2 series ‘The Thrifty Gardener’ and Katie Rushworth who digs and designs with Alan Titchmarsh on ‘Love Your Garden’ (ITV) will both be sharing their passions for plants and everything you can do with them at this year’s Show.

On Friday 31st May Alys Fowler will be in the Cookery and Workshop Theatre to talk about her new book ‘Abundance’ which is full of practical advice, ideas and recipes for growing and preserving delicious produce.

If you’ve ever been over-run with courgettes or you can’t make enough apple pie to use up all your fruit crop, then Alys will show you exciting and crafty ways to bottle, pickle, freeze and dry every last bit of all that summer goodness to keep you going until next year’s harvest.

“We store up a lot more than ripeness when we store away our produce; we store up a summer of hard, enjoyable work”, says Alys.

Katie Rushworth

Meanwhile on Sunday 2nd June, Katie Rushworth will be bringing her design know-how to the Show with advice on creating a garden that’s also family friendly. Katie, who is herself a mum, says: “My own love of nature started when I was just a child.”

It’s a chance to find out how to mix football and flowers and how to disguise a trampoline with some clever planting.

Click here to book your tickets for Gardening Scotland 2013 now!

By booking early you can save money on the gate ticket price and secure your free Gardening Goody Bag full of exclusive offers and discounts on a whole range of gardening essentials. Find out more here.

Everyone who books online also has the opportunity to be entered into a special prize draw for the chance to win a free lawn renovation or a year of free specialist lawn treatment worth £500, courtesy of GreenThumb – Britain’s Lawn Experts.

Or why not make your day at Gardening Scotland 2013 extra special by booking a VIP ticket, which includes entry to Gardening Scotland, an official show catalogue and either lunch or afternoon tea at The Quality Hotel, which sits right next to the Showground. Find out more here or call 0131 333 0965 to book.

Gardeners are about to experience one of the weirdest springs in living memory says TV gardener George Anderson who is one of the experts involved in Gardening Scotland 2013.

“For the first time that most people will be able to remember, those plants that depend on soil warmth are going to start appearing at the same time as those that flower according to day length and the result is set to be some of the strangest flowering combinations that most of us will ever have seen. It will only take a few days of good weather to get everything flourishing all at once,” says George.

Jim Jermyn, Gardening Scotland Show Manager adds, ”the bluebell woods are way behind flowering this year but the sudden surge of spring warmth will bring them into flower”.

So we are in for one of the most gloriously colourful but shortest springs on record and fortunately Gardening Scotland takes place just as the season shifts into summer, allowing gardeners to stock up with plants that will keep the show going until autumn and beyond.

There will be lots of practical advice too from growers and professional horticulturists to help gardeners cope with fluctuating weather patterns and many of the plants on sale will have been grown in Scotland, which means that they are tough enough to withstand the climate.

To give your garden a boost click here and book your advance tickets for Gardening Scotland. By booking early you can save money on the gate ticket price and secure your free Gardening Goody Bag full of exclusive offers and discounts on a whole range of gardening essentials. Find out more here.

Or why not make your day at Gardening Scotland 2013 extra special by booking a VIP ticket which includes entry to Gardening Scotland, an official show catalogue and either lunch or afternoon teat at The Quality Hotel which sits right next to the Showground. Find out more here or call 0131 333 0965 to book.

Gardening Scotland 2013 is packed with everything you need to transform a garden that’s been ravaged by snow and frost and you can make your day out even more memorable by taking advantage of one of our VIP ticket packages which include either a delicious lunch or an indulgent afternoon tea at The Quality Hotel which sits right next to the Showground.

VIP tickets are a great way to treat yourself or someone special and included in the packages are entry to the Show, an official Gardening Scotland Catalogue, as well as either a two-course lunch or afternoon tea.

Prices are £40 per person for lunch and £30 per person for afternoon tea. Click here to find out more or to book please call 0131 333 0965.

To book standard advance tickets for the Show just click here.

Want to know more about what’s happening at Gardening Scotland 2013? Then download the Newsletter here. It is packed full of exciting news on this year’s Show, including celebrity gardeners, Show Gardens, foodie treats and lots more!

Dougal Philip of New Hopetoun Gardens says: “When the soil is wet and cold it takes a long time to warm up, but by filling raised beds and containers with fresh compost you can make an early start on growing herbs, vegetables and salads.”

Garden centres like New Hopetoun Gardens are already offering a good choice of young vegetables and these can be planted outside now along with herbs, potatoes and strawberries. “You can even sow seeds of carrots, broad beans and spinach, so there’s no excuse not to get started, whatever the weather,” says Dougal.

In the garden the daffodils are in flower and fat buds are forming on Camellias. Spring is definitely in the air, even if the weather is sending us snow instead of April showers!

But whatever the weather this Easter weekend, you can still be sure of your place at Gardening Scotland 2013. Just click here to book tickets and save money on the gate price and gain entry to the Show 15 minutes before it opens to the rest of the public, allowing you the chance to snap up your pick of the plants.

Gardening Scotland 2013 will take place from Friday 31st May until Sunday 2nd June at The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh and will include Show Gardens, a Cookery Theatre where top chefs will be demonstrating fresh ideas for home grown produce, a huge plant fair with top nurseries from across the UK and much more.

And if you want to treat yourself or someone else then why not book one of our VIP packages which include lunch or afternoon tea as well as entry to the Show and a copy of the official Show Catalogue. Click here to find out more.

Don’t miss the Gardening Scotland 2013 Easter Newsletter which is now available to download here.

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Poppyscotland already has an association with Scotland’s leading gardening event having been involved with a number of exhibits at previous shows and this year the charity will be using the opportunity to remind visitors that its work continues year-round and isn’t confined to November.

Although best known for organising the annual Scottish Poppy Appeal, the charity needs to raise funds throughout the year to meet the demands on its services from veterans who can struggle with a multitude of complex needs, from physical injury and mental illness to finding secure employment and housing.

Ian McGregor, Chief Executive of Poppyscotland says: “We are delighted to be the official charity partner of Gardening Scotland in 2013. It’s very important to us to be visible outwith our traditional fundraising period of November because we need to raise money all year round in order to continue to support Scotland’s veterans and their families. Working with Gardening Scotland gives us an excellent opportunity to highlight our work in this way.”

And Martin Dare, Show Organiser at Gardening Scotland says: “We welcome this chance to support Poppyscotland’s vital work with veterans and we feel visitors to Gardening Scotland 2013 will also be keen to lend their support to the charity.”

Gardening Scotland is the country’s biggest gardening and outdoor living show, attracting 40,000 visitors and over 400 exhibitors every year.

This year’s show will take place from Friday 31st May until Sunday 2nd June at The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh and will include Show Gardens, a Cookery Theatre where top chefs will be demonstrating fresh ideas for home grown produce, a huge plant fair with top nurseries from across the UK and much more. Buy tickets here.

PICTURE CAPTION:

Nine-year-old Zoe Leask from Edinburgh whose dad, Corporal Gary Leask serves with 1 SCOTS (Royal Scots Borderers 1^st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland) ‘plants’ her own field of poppies.

Last year Zoe’s mum Kay (36) received funding from Poppyscotland for a mobility scooter.

Corporal Leask says: “It is good to know that Poppyscotland is there to support veterans and their families if they experience difficulties. I think people need to know that the charity works throughout the year, not just in November and Gardening Scotland is a great way to spread the word.”

To find out more about the excellent work that Poppyscotland do to support veterans and their families, visit their website at www.poppyscotland.org.uk

On Saturday 1st June the international rock piping stars will be performing three live sets at the Show, giving garden lovers a flavour of the music that has dazzled audiences wherever they have appeared.

The ‘Chillis’ are a globetrotting band and regularly play at gigs, festivals and even state events around the world. They are veterans of ‘Tartan Week’ in New York; have wowed the millionaires of Monte Carlo; appeared on stages across China, Australia and the USA and they have even played for Richard Branson on his private island in the Caribbean.

Tickets for Red Hot Chilli Piper concerts are like gold dust, but you can experience the band’s ‘bagrock’ style of piping for just the price of entry to Gardening Scotland 2013!

Book now and you can snap up Saturday tickets for just £12, saving £2 on the gate ticket price, and have entry to the Show 15 minutes before it opens to the rest of the public.

And you’ll definitely want to arrive early so that you can shop for flowers in The New Hopetoun Gardens Floral Hall; be inspired by The Barratt Homes Show Gardens; take your place in The Cookery Theatre to see top chefs make delicious food with produce picked fresh from the garden; pick up tasty treats in the Food Fayre; spoil yourself with something from the Craft Marquee; stock up on gardening essentials from some of the 400 exhibitors and still have time to be in the front row when the ‘Chillis’ begin the skirl of ‘Flower of Scotland’.

Find out more about the Red Hot Chilli Pipers on their website www.redhotchillipipers.co.uk 

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