I'm inspired by Oxlip www.oxlip.com  to have another go at a flowery meadow from seed, but it's such a hit and miss affair in my experience, I'm not sure I can spare the space for another trial.

I have had some success in Oxford with a flowery meadow from seed; so lovely was it that I felt compelled to paint it, and it led me in a circle via landscape design back to painting.

But last year I sowed a strip of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' a mix from Moles Seeds which I had seen in glorious flower in Ayrshire at Culzean Castle - I was enchanted - and so perhaps was the castle, because my careful attempts here came to nothing!

I have had a lot more success with the mini meadow (see 9 June 2010) where I just let the grass grow and popped in a few cornflower and  poppy plugs. Shall I sow the Bohemian Rhapsody in plugs and put more than usual into the mini meadow and see how that works? It could look a bit too contrived as the flowers already in there are all native to the area - or am I getting too purist about it?

I'll only know how it will look if I try it.

There's always something to learn in gardening - one of the reasons I love it I suppose!

I've often said I feel most alive when I'm learning something new.

The garden photography taster course with Andrea Jones was fascinating and worth the long journey there and back in foul weather (I wish I had thought to stay in their lovely B&B).

In the morning, warmed by the welcoming fire and some good strong coffee, we watched Andrea set up a shoot of a plant, explaining the pros and cons of various bits of equipment and giving us tips on manipulating both plant and light for the best results. We then set up a still life of our own from a selection of beautiful natural materials (mushrooms in baskets, seedheads, squashes and plants) and she helped us experiment using (and in my case getting to know the capabilities of) our own cameras.

After a delicious three course home cooked lunch, Graeme Cookson talked us through some of the wondrous things you can do with Photoshop. As an artist I was interested in colour theory using light, and how it differs from using pigments. Graeme stressed achieving natural balanced colour in our photographs, while also illustrating how other creative effects can be achieved.

I learned an awful lot in one day, but fully alive to all the new possibilities, I am also aware of how much I have to learn....

Maybe there will be another course.

Keep an eye on  www.andreajones.co.uk