dear all, I feel so delighted that my last few posts have helped some of you as often I worry that I'm just going blahblahblah (especially as I am particularly dippy and over emotional right now). Katsch, you gave me a good reminder about a thought which is hard to have, but we are still our babies' mothers, even if they are only with us for a few weeks.
Ejt, don't be sad about your hellebore. I think it is the act of gardening, and keeping in there and learning about growing things that is the real memorial to our little ones rather than the plants in themselves. Plants are going to go belly up all the time
Rubles, the garden centre I go to now and again is the Ally Pally one: although there is a little one nearby in Stoke Newington. As we don't have a car, anywhere is a hoof, but they do deliver. The special garden and garden centre I went to (and this was a schlep - an hour on the train and a £10 taxi!) was the Beth Chatto garden, and nursery. The nursery is amazing - especially for someone like me, who has a garden which is half in shade, plants are arranged according to sunny/shady/dry etc and this is excellent. Their website and catalogue is also great, as I am still a new learner on plants and to have plant lists with nice photos helps to understand what is being talked about. There's a great book about being a London gardener called 'the London Gardener: guide and sourcebook' by Elspeth Thompson which has lots of recommendations of good places to get plants and materials (even things that had stumped me in the past, like where to get plenty of manure/compost etc) and all her recommendations have been excellent.