Old-fashioned roses, lavender and fruit trees

As I write this, my sitting room is absolutely filled with the scent of lavender.

A few months ago, I spent the day with a most generous friend who has a rose and lavender nursery down in the Charente, France. Veronica promised me some lavender flowers from the plants she nurtures - the flowers are a bit of a by-product for her and unwanted.

So, I am now the proud owner of a sack of lavender flowers, so I'd better get my sewing machine out and make a few scented bags...

In the meantime, you can check out Veronica Steadman's nursery La Roserie Anglaise here - she grows beautiful old-fashioned roses, full of perfume and colour, lavender plants - as mentioned above - and fruit trees and bushes. She's very happy to post plants, especially bare-rooted stock, anywhere in the world. Take a peek at her website, it will transport you to garden heaven...

Her husband Gordon Steadman is a carpenter and makes the most wonderful one-off kitchens, but due to a back injury is now not able to continue presently on large-scale projects so has turned his hand into making smaller wooden items: sweet little egg stands and salad bowls.

You can see his web-site here with a link to his Flickr page and photos of his work - some really lovely and original designs...