Our resident Bees are starting to awaken. There are three bee hives in the grounds and we’re delighted to say they’ve survived their first winter. We are anticipating our first honey harvest this May and hopefully a second in September.

We have 15 new ducks. They have been seen to picnic in the paddock and occasionally greeting our garden visitors . Visitors can purchase fresh duck eggs at The Bothy (café). Also available at the café is our scrummy Cerney Cheese.

We’d like to welcome Lauren our new full time gardener; she’s becoming a great asset to the team. In her previous career she was a pharmacist, so she’s thoroughly enjoying the outdoor lifestyle at Cerney House Gardens.

Despite the hosepipe ban the garden is a patchwork of colour, the stunning tulips are an on-going feature this month. In addition the Tree Peony in the walled garden is coming into flower, the fruit trees, Viburnums and Snake’s Head Fritillary are blossoming and the first rose of the season – the “Banksia rose” is out.

The fish in our pond have woken up for the summer and can been seen at the bottom of the garden.

Good news for regular visitors we’re looking into implementing season passes, once these have been formalised we will post the information on the website.

Plenty of news at Cerney House Gardens this month!

• The tulips and bluebells have arrived early!
• We have a new family of ducks living with us.
• Also we have a new gardener to welcome.

More details coming soon!

There is excitement at Cerney Gardens for the new season. With the unseasonal mild temperatures, plants are declaring themselves early. The snowdrops are already bursting through and are looking really good. The hellebores are also on the way as well as the aconites-which are in full flower. We are opening the garden early this year on Tuesday 31st January so you can enjoy them all at their best. Remember if you love our plants as much as we do there are plenty spare for sale- this year we are expanding our plant sales.

Fran, Sylvia, James and all the staff have not been in hibernation. They have all been busy getting things ready and tidying the debris from the high winds. Who knows what the weather will bring next!

Isabel is dusting off the cakes tins- forget New Years resolutions the carrot and chocolate cake are on their way.

Be sure to look out for our fantastic article in the March edition of The English Garden- the photos really remind us of how good our tulip festival was last year. We are already taking lots of group bookings for this year so we think we are going to be busy.

So much so, we are looking for more help, both in the flower and kitchen garden. So if you are interested or know anyone that shares our passion for gardening let us know.

We are hoping the bees have survived the winter and will reward us with more of their delicious honey - we promise that this year we will share it. Look out for it on sale in the Bothy.

When visiting the garden, please feel free to welcome our two new males in the garden- the new cockerels! They caused discontent in the village on Christmas morning by being noisy and waking the neighbours, and were forced to seek emergency refuge narrowly avoiding potential early demise! The ladies have welcomed them and we hope if we keep them happy they will repay us with lots of eggs.

George the pig is now allowed to help Fran with the garden. He is proving quite an accomplished gardener but the dogs are very jealous of him ….

We're delighted to be hosting a Charity Autumn Fair at Cerney House this Saturday 10-5pm (17/9/11). Adults are £2 (children free) in aid of the Multiple Scierosis Society and Sue Ryder. Please see the Charity Autumn Fair flyer (~1.4MB) for details of attractions. We look forward to hopefully meeting you!

Cerney Cheese is delighted to have won first prize in the "Cheese made from goats milk" class at the Three Counties Show, with our Cerney Pyramid. Our Cerney Pepper also came third (after Daylesford Organic's entry), meaning we won 2 of the top 3 positions!

It's been a really busy time with lots of lovely visitors.

Come and see our big beautiful Honor poppy named after the friend that gave it to us. This is Cerney's special poppy, an impressive flower with its huge red head that towers in the long border. We also have Patty's Plum, Indian Chief and Raspberry Ruffles.

The irises and early roses are coming, including Banksia and Cooper's Burmese. The tulip tree is out in flower.

The NGS day went really well in spite of the weather. Everyone loved the garden, spirits were high and the dogs loved it! The Roman snails are out in force look out for them- but please be careful not to step on them.

We have extended our tea shop. You can now enjoy your coffee and homemade-cake under one of the new gazebos. The blue and great tits have found it too and can be seen nestled in the Bothy wall caring for their babies.

The vegetable garden has produced a great crop of asparagus. The potatoes, onions and cabbages are fantastic too. The fruit looks promising. The perfect conditions of a cold winter and no late frosts have produced a bumper crop. The herb garden has been revived and the labels renewed.

Fran and Spike and all the dogs are busily making the Garden House their home. Sylvia continues the arduous process of correctly identifying and labelling the plants while James is busy tending the lawns. In the last few days he has had a bit of a panic as the lawnmower died on him. He is waiting anxiously for its return …

Sorry for the big gap in the diary! Barbara and Angus have moved to France and are creating their own English garden to amaze the French. The old team of James, Sylvia, Gill and Fran are still working hard. We have two new recruits Carla and Zoe who are settling in nicely.

The snowdrops were stunning surprisingly so after the cold winter. Sorry if you missed it! The hellebores were amazing too and we think they stole centre stage from the snowdrops. We are planning to make them an even bigger feature next year with a 'Hellebore Festival' so watch this space.

The Tulip Fest is well under way. There is a riot of colour in the garden. We have Blueberry and Raspberry Ripple, Parrot and Fringe tulips, and our gorgeous Lily Flowered varieties, particularly Ballade which is my personal favourite. Come and see if you can name any more. The iris and peonies are on their way and the very first rose is in flower on the house wall. And we shouldn't forget the primroses which have surprised us all - they are fantastic.

The vegetable garden is looking smart. We have planted the potatoes Charlotte, Sutton Foremost and Pink Fir Apple and the vegetable seeds are all now appearing. We have our first crop of asparagus. Our award-winning Cerney Goat Cheese is now on sale in the garden.

Most Sunday afternoon the potters are working in the pottery. So don't forget to serve yourself a tea or coffee and a delicious home-baked cake and browse round the pottery and paintings for sale. You are very welcome to bring a picnic and use our picnic tables.

You may be greeted by a welcoming four-legged trio consisting of Dora (the sensible one), Poppy (the glamorous French tart) and Lily (the naughty terrier). You may also be guided round the garden by Pansy - our little tortoiseshell.

Introduce yourself to the two Kune-Kunes George and Charlie who are definitely never going to be on the menu. Our new project is the pond in the bottom of the front garden. Make sure you visit this part of the garden and see the new fish.