A passion for flowers led Eyam resident Gill Bagshawe to set up a small business, Wild in the Country, six years ago, transforming an unused plot into a mass of summer scents and colour. Catherine Roth reports.
GILL runs the business on her own and is responsible for everything from growing and harvesting to arranging bouquets and organising group visits. It remains a small scale venture but Gill likes it that way. She says: “I grow flowers for cutting predominantly because I enjoy the process and I like to fill my own house with cut flowers. I really love the seasonality of it – as some plants are setting seed, new ones are coming into flower.”
Gill designed her flower garden to guarantee maximum flower production and ease of harvesting. The plot is the size of just two allotments and consists of a series of raised beds, orientated north to south so every flower receives an equal amount of sun on both sides helping them to grow nice and straight.
The beds are separated by neatly wood chipped paths, which also work well in keeping down the slugs. Gill says: “It’s tempting to pack plants in tighter than is recommended on the seed packets to get more flowers in but this only creates ideal conditions for powdery mildew due to lack of air circulation. It’s getting the spacing correct that’s important for growing healthy plants.”…