competition

Competitions, News, Press Releases, Zoe

Care Home Garden

Primrose is giving away £1000 cash to a lucky care home in the UK to use towards their communal garden

We recognise the phenomenal difference a garden can make to the lives of the elderly: myself especially as I worked as a care worker before starting my journey at Primrose. I saw firsthand the joy a garden brought to my client’s lives and learnt all I know about gardening from them. There is a wealth of research that suggests time spent in a garden can help reduce stress and statistics show 79% of people believe access to a garden is essential for quality of life.

Primrose want to reach out to the elderly community and help improve the lives of others with this latest competition. Anyone can enter a care home that is special to them, regardless of whether you are a resident there or not.

Care Home Competition Requirements:

– email marketing@primrose.co.uk with the name and location of the care home, and then a story of why this care home deserves this £1000 prize. Photographs of the communal garden would be gladly received. The competition will end on the 31st of July.

We also need your help to spread the word about our competition so we can find a care home that will really benefit from our donation. So please, tell friends and family, share blog on social media, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram for regular updates!

 

Primrose Care Home Competition

 

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Zoe at PrimroseZoë works in the Marketing team at Primrose, and is passionate about all things social media.

After travelling across Europe and Asia, Zoë is intrigued by different cultures and learning more about the world around her. If she’s not jet setting, Zoë loves nothing more than curling up with a good book and a large glass of red wine!

She is an amateur gardener but keen to learn more and get stuck in!

See all of Zoë’s posts.

Alex, Current Issues, Decoration, Halloween, Heated Clothing, How To

It is Halloween again and for many of us this can be a scary time of year. I am not referring to the fear inflicted upon us by small children wearing strange costumes knocking on your door threatening to perform some sort of no doubt dastardly trick unless we immediately hand over confectionary items. No, not this doorstep intimidation racket or even the B list horror flicks that emigrate from their usual late night spot onto primetime viewing hours. It is the terror of the annual pumpkin carving ordeal.

Thankfully, we have some ideas for you. Some inspiration gathered from the great minds of the interweb. If that wasn’t enough we follow this up with a few handy tips to ensure you achieve pumpkin perfection this Halloween.
Here are 5 pumpkin designs we found particularly inspiring/amusing:

1. 

Pumpkin Pi
Pumpkin pi – For the intellectual carver

2.

Star wars pumpkin
Episode 8 – Attack of the pumpkin

3.

Sick Pumpkin
November 1st

4.

Weird baby pumpkin
This is just weird…

5.

Scary Turnip
Turnips are genuinely terrifying

Tips for Carving your Pumpkin:

  1. My number 1 tip is cheat – Download a template from the internet and trace it on to your pumpkin. No one has to know, there are so many great ones out there. Simply trace the template onto your pumpkin and carve carefully around the outline.
  2. Use the right tools – Don’t spend hours hacking away at your pumpkin with a desert spoon. Take a minute to plan ahead and utilise the best tools for the job. A sharp knife is a must. A hammer and chisel may be too far, but saying that there are those on the internet who swear by using power tools for this task.
  3. Clear the area – This task is always more difficult, dangerous and messier than you remember. Don’t start the dissection in your lounge on that new rug you got just last week. Lay down some newspaper, give yourself some space and make sure you’re in appropriate clothing and you will be much better off.
  4. Preservation – If you want your pumpkin to last a while and not go all mouldy and horrible there are a few techniques that will do the job. I’ve read about using Vaseline and similar products but apparently it can be a slippery, dangerous process with mixed results. You can use vinegar but surprisingly the most effective solution is to soak your pumpkin in 1 tsp. bleach/ gallon of water solution for around 8 hours. It may seem a bit excessive, and you will want to keep any children away during this phase, but the results can be great prolonging your pumpkin’s display time by up to 10 days!

Make sure you send in pictures of your finished article via our Facebook page. Points will be awarded for originality, design and overall effort. The winner stands to win one of our brand new Warmawear ™ hand warmers, perfect for the winter months, and of course will be awarded the prestigious accolade of Primrose Pumpkin of the Year 2015! Good luck!

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AlexAlex works in the Primrose marketing team, mainly on online marketing.

As a psychology graduate it is ironic that he understands plants better than people but a benefit for the purpose of writing this blog.

An enthusiastic gardener, all he needs now is a garden and he’ll be on the path to greatness. Alex’s special talents include superior planter knowledge and the ability to put a gardening twist on any current affairs story.

See all of Alex’s posts.

Competitions, Primrose Gardens, Sally

We have loved seeing you vote for your favourite gardens. Thank you to everyone who participated and not to worry if you missed out this time, there will be more chances to win in the future so keep a lookout.

Now here is what you have all been waiting for, we are pleased to announce the winner of our Primrose Gardens Top Garden as voted by you is:

Teddie’s Garden Well done for taking the top spot!

And our two runners up are:

 

Congratulations Contained Contentment!
Congratulations Contained Contentment!
Well done Lyndhurst!
Well done Lyndhurst!

Teddie’s Garden has won a £25 voucher to spend at primrose.co.uk and the runners up will both receive £5 vouchers. Thanks again to everyone who entered and we can’t wait to see who will take the Top Garden title next time!

Primrose Gardens allows you to create a beautiful pictorial record of your garden where you can show off your garden to family and friends to enjoy over the years. It’s also a community of garden enthusiasts and the perfect space to discuss tips and tricks, as well as getting plants identified!

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Sally primroseSally works in the Marketing team here at Primrose.

She spends most of her spare time looking into the latest developments in social media. Sally loves travel and wants to step foot in every continent in the world. When not travelling the Globe or working, she likes to relax with a bit of DIY.

She is a novice gardener and doesn’t claim to be an expert, anything she learns she will happily pass on.

See all of Sally’s posts.

Competitions, Hampton Court Flower Show, Harriet

Garden Story Contest - Winner!

We really enjoyed reading your garden stories in our competition – thank you to everyone who sent one in! It was a tough decision, but we would like to say congratulations to our winner Lorraine F. who sent us this touching story about how she got into gardening:

I’m a patio/balcony gardener as well as studying gardening and I’m also disabled with my knee. My Mum never, ever thought I would stick with gardening after a Cousin of mine set me a challenge in May 2014 to grow some tomatoes and I was scared stiff lol.

Hence over a year later I am hooked on gardening, I don’t even have my nail extensions no more nor extensions in my hair I’m just all natural now thanks to my gardening and proving my Mum wrong.

Gardening is also good for bipolar sufferers to well it’s helped me so now I’m helping the Mentally ill adults to do gardening to with the Master Gardener Project to give something back for how gardening has helped me. I’m even running a gardening group on Facebook to show you can do gardening even in the smallest space.

Lorraine won two tickets for the show, and has shared some fantastic photos with us which we have loved looking through! Here are some of our favourites:

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Harriet works in the Primrose marketing team, mainly on online marketing.

She’s a big fan of reading, TV quiz shows, and is a highly experienced user of gardens (especially when it involves lounging outside on a sunny afternoon).

As a trivia lover whose favourite book when growing up was an illustrated factopedia (true story), she likes to write for the blog about interesting things she has found out whilst wandering the internet.

See all of Harriet’s posts.