I’m not a “list” person by nature but here are the three areas I consider ahead of spring…

1)  Tidying up after winter – simply clearing your lawn of leaves or creating small leafy refuges for wildlife or turning over soil, etc. few of us want to, but it’s got to be done! So perhaps it’s time to finally replace that much-loved rake, you know.. the old heavy one that gives you that blister? Modern designs now incorporate strong but lightweight materials that’ll make your life easier in the long run. Take a look at the Grumpy Gardener 3-in-1 telescopic Leaf Rake, it’s affordable and versatile! I can also highly recommend the Radius range of shovels and spades.

2)  Pruning existing shrubs (if necessary). Some plants and shrubs need pruning back in the spring, such as roses, and some varieties of clematis, so make sure you have a good pair of secateurs. The Grumpy Gardener Ratchet Bypass Secateur duo will prove invaluable and make short work of pruning and cutting back.

3)  Planning new planting ideas and getting the most enjoyment from our space. Winter is a good time to take stock, think about what you would like to see grow in your garden, maybe buying some summer flowering bulbs, improving your lawn or getting a better show of flowers from existing shrubs? You might also want to attract more birds or other wildlife into your garden, patio or balcony or add garden furniture or decor this year. If your lawn suffers from moss or is looking a little shabby after the heatwave last year perhaps Richard Jackson’s excellent Premium Moss Remover and his Lawn Magic are worth a try? They worked wonders for me last year as did his ever popular Flower Power.

Put out nutritious food for the birds and they will come to your balcony, patio or garden. There are various designs of feeders available at QVC together with “no grow” bird seed mix from Richard Jackson and The Grumpy Gardener DeLuxe Fat Balls. Online at QVCUK.COM  we have curated a really comprehensive selection of fantastic Plants, Flowers, Fruit and Vegetables from our top quality brands giving everyone with access to a balcony, patio or garden the opportunity to grow something special. On top of that we have a wonderful selection of gardening furniture, lighting and decor to help you enjoy your own space even more this year, however big or small!

Dale

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It’s been a bumpy start to summer with thunder and lightening and plenty of cloud – I hope it didn’t mess up any  Jubilee celebrations for you. I’ve attached a very short video I captured on my car’s dash cam on the way into work last week of just one of the huge bolts of lightning to hit West London that day.

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Still, the gardens of the UK appreciated a good drink and to be fair, the sun did put in a few appearances. This led to some excellent growing conditions especially for lawns which might have needed two cuts in a week!

Having presented the Cocoon Chair many times at The Q I decided to order one for myself and I’ve included a picture of me relaxing with Ellie in the chair, who to my surprise actually stayed with me in it long after the photo was taken. She wasn’t too sure to start with as I gently swayed the chair with my feet but she soon realised she was safe and nestled down for a while, until a rather fat squirrel started munching away on the bird feeder and she leapt into action to chase it away.

We have a variety of garden chairs and other outdoor furniture online at qvcuk.com so it’s always worth a quick check before you consider buying elsewhere. Another garden feature that is popular with our customers is garden lighting, particularly solar powered, and on Monday the 13th of June we have the Luxform Kensington three-headed lamppost, boasting 105 lumens (our lovely Luxform guest Gill Gauntlett describes it as the approximate equivalent of light from 105 tea-lights).

Luxform are masters of utilising the sun’s rays to power their garden lights and this lamppost has a beautiful lantern atop a post with rails and a planter at it’s base. Simply screw together the post itself, attach the lantern to the top and the post to the planter base. Make sure you place some ballast (perhaps sand or bricks, broken paving slabs etc.) in the base, then fill the rest with compost or place smaller pots inside with your favourite bedding plants, perhaps some trailing geraniums or begonias? Beautiful during the day and evening, when you can sit back and enjoy the warm glow from the lamppost as the sun sets.

Then on Saturday the 18th we have a brilliant corded stick vacuum cleaner from Shark. This one features the brilliant Anti-Hair Wrap technology and Flexology, meaning the stick has a clever “elbow” joint to get under low furniture, coffee tables, raised sofas or beds etc.

The Anti-Hair Wrap technology has been so useful at home with our two especially hairy bearded collies, Toby and Ellie, as you can imagine.

So until next time… stay illuminated and hair free!

Dale x

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Well, the Jubilee plans definitely seem to be well underway and everywhere I go people seem to be getting into the spirit of the long weekend that will soon be with us. We are fortunate enough to have lovely neighbours and we don’t need much of an excuse for a get together! With that in mind the bunting is going up on the Thursday in preparation for a fabulous Friday – let’s just hope the weather will be kind to us all. So wherever you are and whoever you will be with over the long weekend, I hope you have a great time.

I’m away from The Q this week making good use of my time in the garden and taking long afternoon walks into the countryside with my youngest dog Ellie, along with my camera. Toby is now approaching 14 years and although doing very well, only needs one walk a day (vet’s orders ). We have to sometimes wait until he nods off before making a hasty exit for Ellie’s 2nd walk – I know I’m humanising him but he doesn’t realise that we do it for his own benefit. Ellie on the other hand is nearly eight years’ old but acts like a dog half her age and certainly needs a long walk later in the day.

I’ve shared two wildlife pics this week, the first a beautiful red squirrel I photographed last month on Brownsea Island in Dorset (see above). The second, a tender moment, as a male great spotted woodpecker feeds its youngster in the woods close to my home.

The start of the Jubilee week on Monday sees the return of The Andi Peters’ Food Fest as Andi and I are back for a two hours from 7pm. I can’t tell you how much Andi and I really appreciate all the lovely feedback we receive from you… we will of course be joined by many of your favourite guests who make the show such a joy to present.

Prior to the Food Fest at 5pm, I’ll be showcasing the Today’s Special Value (TSV) from SBC. It’s a great four-piece Cool & Refresh Day to Night Summer Collection on pre-sell already, from a brand that has been a firm favourite of our household since I joined QVC many years ago.

A few weeks ago I was selling the Holly Folding Cocoon Egg Chair from Innovators and couldn’t get over how relaxing that gentle sway was. It comes with a super comfortable padded cushion and needless to say, I got straight onto the website and ordered one for myself. What is so great is that when not in use, the chair doesn’t take up much room, simply unhook it and it folds pretty flat, so if space is restricted it could be just the answer.

I have to say, since it has arrived it doesn’t stay empty for long! On Friday the 3rd of June our TSV is a double version of this and as well as a great price, we’ll have a great interest-free instalment (Easy Pay) offer too.

I believe it’s going on presale from 1st June so if it sounds interesting then I would swing into action and not hang around too long before ordering (puns intended).

Well I’m off to photograph some more of our wonderful British wildlife, so until next time… relax and enjoy your bank holiday.

Dale x

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As May shows off its spectacular spring finery, we once again unpack our fave short sleeves, trousers and dresses or shop for new styles purchased in preparation for summertime – or is it partytime? With al fresco lunches, get togethers and barbecues!

This summer is extra special as next month, over an extended bank holiday weekend, the nation celebrates her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, marking an incredible 70 years on the throne. Communities and families across the country will come together enjoying street parties, fetes and carnivals.

At the Q we want to do our best to help you prepare for this special summer in the form of our Summer Garden Celebration Event, which is also held over four days from this Friday (9pm) until the end of Tuesday (17th). Saturday and Sunday will be geared towards preparing your garden and/or party food for the Jubilee and Monday and Tuesday will be more focused on fashion and beauty ideas, to help you achieve your best summer look.

On Saturday we also have a Bell & Howell set of four 21 Lumens Solar Flame/White Stake Lights as our Today’s Special Value (TSV) to add an evening ambience to your patio, garden or pathway, powered by the sun.

Then on Sunday Andi Peters and I will be presenting two Andi Peters’ Food Fest Specials from 11am – 1pm and again at 3pm – 5pm, brought to you live from our fabulous QVC garden (weather permitting). Andi and I will  be showcasing the Ninja Ice Cream Maker TSV with Gail Samways, which makes it so easy to make your own ice creams, gelatos, sorbets etc. just as you like it – ready for the celebrations! It features seven one-touch churning programs and comes with five dessert storage tubs and of course, a recipe guide.

You simply create (or buy) your own mix, be it custard, crème fraiche or smoothie, then pop it into one of the supplied storage containers, freeze it for 24 hours and pop it back into the Ninja Ice Cream Maker to let it churn away on your chosen setting. The result is a smooth, soft and delicious treat to enjoy immediately or put back in the freezer for later – ideal for any ice cream lover with special dietary requirements.

There’s also a setting for “adding in” your favourite ingredients. I experimented with salted caramel chocolate flakes and a tiny wee dram of Chocolate Velvetised Liquor from Hotel Chocolat added to my shop-bought luxury custard base – naughty but nice!

In our 11am show, Andi and I will also be introducing you to the “Baking Boys” who specialise in creating mouth-watering cakes and tarts… but who are the Baking Boys? Tune in as we to welcome back a familiar face to the Food Fest. You can also expect gourmet treats from the likes of the two Simon’s from The Original Cake Company and Chunk of Devon, 6’Oclock Gin, Altham’s Butchers, new brand Charlie & Ivy’s and many more. As always we’d love you to get in touch on social and hope you can join us for either or both shows.

But what will I wear you may think? Well… Monday’s TSV sees the launch of a Wrap Fronted Printed Maxi Dress by Du Jour in a choice of Regular or Petite length and then on Tuesday we feature a TSV from Tan-Luxe with their two-piece Super Glow Hyaluronic Tailored Tan Collection.

Oh and across the whole four days you can enjoy four interest-free instalments (Easy Pays)!! YES! You can use the code ALL4EZ on everything that’s in stock (including clearance prices) at QVC across this special weekend!

Until next time… get set to celebrate in “tasteful” style!

Dale x

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Whatever the weather, a gardener’s work is never done, albeit a labour of love.

Mrs F and I have been very busy in the garden tidying up, removing moss and planting out new flowers including this beautiful rhododendron from Plants2Gardens (pictured above), which I think sold out in super quick time. We cut some of our fabulous Plants2Gardens “Gudoshnik” tulips as well and put them in a vase indoors – see for yourselves how spectacular they are!

If you’re lucky enough to have a garden or allotment to maintain, one of the jobs that needs doing on a regular basis is turning over the soil and/or planting new plants or vegetables etc. This job can be made three times as hard when we raise our spade high in the air and bring it down only to bounce off a hidden root, sending a jarring shockwave through fingers and wrist and ends somewhere around your neck! I’m sure many will relate to that unpleasant sensation!

If so… you may be interested to learn that we have the excellent Radius Garden Multi-Purpose Root Slayer as our Today’s Special Value (TSV) this Monday the 9th of May.

It has an ingeniously designed “arrow” like shape with sharp serrated edges that will carve through tough or compacted soil with or without roots. It also has a tough bar at the widest point as you can see in the images, which enables you to give that extra “welly” for particularly tough jobs.

We’ve a great price and I’ll be with Tommy Cross at 4pm on Monday in our Tools for the Home & Garden show, then back again with it at 6pm in our DIY hour. I hope you can join us!

I’ll be back with another blog next week as we have a great upcoming Summer Garden Celebration weekend including four hours of Andi Peters’ Food Fest.

Until next time, stay vibration-free and well!

Dale x

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I promised an update on Richard Jackson’s Moss Remover that I treated my back garden with in a previous blog video and I am so far very impressed with the speed at which it seems to have killed off the moss, already I’m seeing the shoots of grass starting to break through – so far so good Richard!

My ‘Gudoshnik’ Tulips from Plants2Gardens are about to burst into glorious bloom (see top photo) and I believe they are available to order this weekend in a pack of 20 bulbs for next season. Talking of which, I wanted to tell you all about some other great gardening ideas also featuring on-air this Easter Bank Holiday Weekend.

On Easter Saturday (16th April) the well-established brand of Thompson & Morgan have a Today’s Special Value (TSV) featuring two clematis ‘Taiga’, which come complete with a growing tower! The popular tower set up is ideal if you’re looking to add colour and height to your balcony, patio or garden.

The clematis ‘Taiga’ is the result of some clever Japanese breeding and has beautiful bluish purple and green flowers that look a little like passion flowers and will bloom from June to September and grow over six feet high! Another benefit is that with regular watering and feeding the flowers will come back year after year.

I remember a very well respected clematis expert once telling me that clematis like cold feet but a warm head! The tower planter comes in four stages so you can plant up your clematis in a good quality compost (I used Richard Jackson’s Peat-Free Compost) and add the stages as the clematis grow or assemble all at once as I did and wait for the Taiga’s to reach the top! Clematis are renowned climbers and will find their own way up the tower but you can give them a helping hand in their early growth stages if you like.

On Easter Monday (18th) our TSV is the Luxform Westminster 200cm 80 Lumen Lamppost with Planter, which has been designed especially for QVC UK. Luxform are masters of utilising the sun’s rays to power their garden lights and this lamppost has a beautiful lantern atop a post with rails and a planter at it’s base.

Simply screw together the post itself, attach the lantern to the top and the post to the planter base, then ideally place some ballast (perhaps sand or bricks) in the base. Fill the rest with compost and your favourite bedding plants, maybe some trailing geraniums or begonias? Then sit back and enjoy the warm glow as the sun begins to set. We have a choice of Black, White or Bronze in a durable weather-resistant blend of plastic and coated stainless steel.

I hope you can join myself and guests for an hour of Outdoor Living at 11am and later for the Enjoy Your Garden lunchtime show at 1pm.

Just a quick mention that the following day (Tuesday 19th) we have a great TSV from Margaret Dabbs London. My wife Tracey is a huge fan of Margaret’s amazing products and this offering comprises a Hands, Legs & Feet Treatment Trio. All three products are supersizes and our TSV includes a new launch – the fantastic Pure Exfoliating Hand Wash! Watch out for a great price saving and interest-free instalments (Easy Pays)!!

So until next time… stay towering, illuminated and supersized!

Dale

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Just a quick heads up for you this week as I wanted to highlight our weekend offerings – we have great Today’s Special Value (TSV) offers on both days that I wouldn’t want you to miss taking a closer look at.

On Saturday Richard Jackson has the honour, with a combo of his amazing Flower Power and Root Booster!  These two fabulous products are a powerful aid to getting the very best from your flowers, fruit and vegetables this season and of course we have a tempting price for established and novice gardeners. The same day we’ll also be considering the enormous wellbeing side of gardening and the many benefits of exploring the great outdoors.

I’ve put together two short videos, in the first I share what I love doing and how it helps me to relax when I’m not “on the box”. I hope you enjoy it and please let me know in the comments section below how you like to relax. I realise not all can romp around the countryside on a whim, but I hope whatever your circumstances you may be able to cherish the outdoors to some extent.

In the second video I talk about Richard Jackson’s Flower Power  and Root Booster combo TSV, which although is on air this Saturday, can be ordered RIGHT NOW at a great saving by simply following this link – it may still be relatively early in the season but I’ve been using both already to great effect.

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This Sunday we’ve another fantastic offer from the amazing British spa brand Elemis. As usual we have a great saving compared to buying the contents of either collection individually from QVC, and you can opt to get it in five interest-free Easy Pay instalments (yes!). Elemis fans you can also order online RIGHT NOW too by following this link.

Until next time,

Stay relaxed, pampered and of course… well!

Dale x

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I wanted to try and start off this blog with some cheery news and that has to be that spring has arrived in the UK. In the south we’ve enjoyed some really beautiful weather this week and I hope you’ve been lucky with it too.

As regular readers will know, I love the great outdoors including my garden, but I’m not a fastidious or meticulous gardener. Whilst I marvel at the colourful spectacle and skill of show gardens, at home we try and achieve a more natural look. My wife Tracey loves to spend time planting up and re-arranging pots and planters usually with the help of Ellie and Toby, who get so excited when we’re working in “their” garden.

Although our garden is south facing we do have a lot of dappled shade from trees and consequently a big problem with moss. I mentioned this to our gardening expert Michael Perry and he suggested I give Richard Jackson’s Premium Moss Remover a try – it’s still available as our Gardening Pick of the Month at a great price and with no P&P.

I’ve included a short video showing the problem and would remind anyone still considering giving it a try that we are very close to the end of the month!

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I’ve been away from The Q this week enjoying a relaxing time at home in the garden, together with a few days in Dorset and West Sussex. I’m back in at 6pm this Saturday with Butler & Wilson jewellery and I haven’t worked with Simon for some time so it should be a fun show.

Later that evening at 9pm I’ll be launching a fabulous Today’s Special Value (TSV) from Ken Evans’ Plants2Gardens. Ken has been a busy lad this season and is excited to bring us a collection of ten Mini Fuchsias or “Fuchsitas”.

These compact fuchsias are the result of new breeding over the last couple of years and they’ll flower earlier than most other varieties, from May through to as late as October/November! In shades of pink, violet, red and whites, they’re ideal for hanging baskets and containers and grow hundreds of upward facing bi-coloured flowers all summer long.

I believe they’re also half-hardy so if you overwinter them in a greenhouse or conservatory/porch etc. they’ll come back year after year – nice one Ken. And watch out for a fantastic saving compared to buying direct from Plants2Gardens! I hope you can join Ken, our gardening expert Michael Perry and I at 9pm Saturday for the pre-launch of this exciting collection.

If you’re looking for great gardening ideas and advice, flowers, plants, lighting, ornaments or furniture, then you’ll be pleased to hear that as well as Ken’s colourful TSV there will be a host of gardening shows throughout Sunday. Hopefully you can join us at some point throughout the day.

Until next time… stay well-protected and moss free!

Dale x

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QVC is always on hand with gardening expertise from the likes of Michael Perry and Mark Lane, together with an array of expert guests such as Richard Jackson, David Ponton, Ken Evans, George Clowes to name but four! If you miss any of our informative and fun gardening shows, then you can always visit qvcuk.com for our whole range of plants, bulbs, tools, ornaments, lighting and furniture with video presentations on most items in stock.

On the 16th we have a Sale day together, with a great Today’s Special Value (TSV) from Blendtec in the form of the Blendtec 650 Blender with additional Mini Wildside Jar. This two-piece bundle features the designer 650 Blender with it’s 6 pre-set cycles and an 8 speed touch slider, along with the single-serve Wildside blending jug. You’ll be able to whip up an array of smoothies, cocktails, dressings, dips and more more . Sleek and super fast! Watch out for Easy Pays and a hugely discounted Sale price.

I couldn’t wrap up this blog without paying tribute to the wonderful Tova Borgnine, who so very sadly passed away at the end of February.

Tova, who was of course famously married to the love of her life, the late great Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine, was also an extremely hardworking, dedicated and successful award-winning businesswoman.

I first had the pleasure of working with Tova back in 1999 and we hit it off immediately and went on to work together on many many shows over the following two decades.

I will always remember and cherish her warmth, charm, elegance and friendship as I know will also many reading this today. She was, as I often introduced her as, “Hollywood Royalty” and in this month of Inspirational Women at QVC she is especially remembered by us all.

As a consummate professional, Tova would undoubtedly say with a graceful wave , “the show must go on”, and so it must!

Until next time… Be inspired, be kind and stay well!

Dale x

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As you can imagine my family received a lot of teasing when one of the storms was names Franklin! Compared to many we actually escaped quite lightly, although we were without power for 24 hours. I know many weren’t so lucky and it does certainly remind us just how much we rely on electricity these days. We do have candles but a quick trip up to my loft and the box of battery-operated Christmas lights came to the rescue… I wasn’t expecting to see Christmas lights again so soon!

Whilst clearing away all the branches blown down into our garden, it reminded me how amazing nature is as I spotted so many shoots appearing in the pots dotted around in the garden, including my Plants2Gardens tulips. So it’s quite timely that on Friday 4th March we have a mini garden event with many of your favourite guests and various plants, flowers and gardening tools providing plenty of inspiration. If you enjoy a balcony or shared communal area on which you can plant up containers, you may like to tune in at midday on the 4th with Chloe for a whole hour of Container Gardening.

Our Today’s Special Value (TSV) on the day is from cleaning brand Crikey Mikey. It’s a 5L Hard Surface Cleaner with a manual pressure sprayer that’s designed to help clear algae, mould and lichen – particularly on your block paving, patios, fences and walls. This is a powerful and effective cleaning product so as always, please take the time to read the safety instructions fully, use the included gloves and eye protection, and plan your cleaning ahead of time. It could save you a lot of scrubbing!

As I’m sure many of you are aware I love my technology and last year I was selling a fantastic smart TV from the brand Hisense. Now to be fully honest with you I didn’t know much about this brand other than I noticed they had been sponsoring pitch side on a major international sports event. However, I now know a lot more about both the company and their fantastic TV’s – a quick internet search gave me plenty of info on just how huge a company they are!

They were formed in China in 1969  making radios and have grown into a multi-billion dollar company with offices around the world employing around 80,000 people! Affordable, high spec smart TV’s being their forté. So I didn’t hesitate and bought one from The Q just before Christmas as an upgrade for my trusty old “not-so smart” TV that had served us well for years.

I must say my faith was rewarded as the TV performs extremely well and after some tinkering with the many fine adjustments on offer (I can’t help myself!), the picture is now fantastic (my wife said it looked fantastic out of the box!). So if you’re in the market for a new smart TV I’d invite you to join me on Wednesday March 2nd at 4pm and 7pm for two hours of top tech with Hisense, featuring their 40″ Full HD Smart TV with Built-in Alexa.

As well as Alexa, it also features various apps, giving access via your home network to Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, BBC iPlayer and iTV Hub (subscriptions may apply). To make it even more tempting it’s available in four interest-free instalments (Easy Pays) and of course, a great price!

The very next day (Thursday the 3rd) the March fun continues at The Q with our Triple Day Event. There’s something for everyone as every item that’s one, in stock, and two, not on a clearance price, qualifies for you to use the code ALL3EZ for three interest-free split payments.

Until next time… stay well, entertained and interest-free!

Dale x

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