RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate has welcomed some new additions to the garden in the form of four lovely hens! The Garden team enjoyed a hen keeping lesson from Liz Milner of ‘Clucking Hens’ with advice on how to look after the new arrivals, however the hunt is now on to find the perfect name for all four hens! Visitors to the garden and members of the public alike are invited to choose appropriate titles for the four very different birds! There is a ‘Brown Hen’ which are known for their friendly and docile nature and lay more than 330 eggs per year; a ‘Nero’ with lovely jet black plumage and sheens of green, purple and ginger; a ‘Blue Star’ which is a slightly chunkier hen (!) with a placid nature and dark steely grey plumage which is derived from a Maran and a Rhode Island Red; and an ‘Old Sussex Star’ which tends to be calmer in nature although the one at Harlow Carr seems to be rather fierce! This one is white in colour with black tips on its wings, tail and collar. Readers who think they have come up with the perfect name for any one of the hens can submit their entry by emailing carolinesimpson@rhs.org.uk and writing ‘Name That Hen!’ in the subject box; posting their entry to: Name That Hen competition, RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, HG3 1QB; or using one of the entry boxes at the garden. The four winners will receive free entry to the garden for themselves and two guests on a day during Budding Gardeners week (28th May – 5th June) to meet the hen they have named! The closing date for entries is Friday 27th May.
