October

The garden is now firmly in its downwards slide to the end of the year. The Paulownias are loosing their leaves and the bananas are decidedly battered. There is still an overwhelming voluptuousness, and things such as the Cosmos and Nicandra have finally come to life. However, the voluptuousness is more like that of a charismatic drunk trying to make his way home from the pub gradually loosing possessions with a high chance of falling in a ditch

But, there is still a need to enjoy it whilst we can! hopefully Ive got at least another month before the frosts...fingers crossed

East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden

Last weekend as part of a birthday escape we went for a weekend away to Norfolk, the main driver being to visit East Rushton Old Vicarage Garden. I had heard a lot about the garden from friends who had said how wonderful it was, and they weren’t wrong!

Despite it being a drizzly day I was blown away by the garden, it is certainly now one of my favourites…jostling with Great Dixter for the top spot.

What impressed me was the scale and overall design. It was laid out as a series of garden rooms with lots of unexpected drama resulting from breath-taking vistas and contrast. The planting was amazing and there was great contrast from densely planted ‘rooms’ with empty spaces of lawn and simple topiary. 

There was much to excite and exoticist…in particular I was blown away by the size of their Tetrapapax, many of which had incredibly thick trunks. The succulent /arid garden was also inspiring…I will plant out some of my Agave! Then to top it all the best selection of cake I have seen in a long time and a great nursery with some exciting plant buying opportunities.
If you haven’t been go next year as it is AMAZING!

All Done! 2016 NGS opening is over!

So our 2016 National Gardens Scheme opening is over! In the end we had 196 visitors and made just over £1500 for charity.

I love the opening as it is a bit like a giant party, and it is so nice to see people enjoying the space from kids running around to brave people climbing up the lookout mound. There were lots of first timers whom were suitably surprised by the size of the garden and the 'secret' bit and lots of returners impressed by progress.

Overall the garden was also looking super jungly and full....it definitely wasn’t a floriferous year. The slugs and slightly cold summer had set the dahlias way back. My seedling ALL sucked as the Tithonias were all only just thinking about flowering and Ricinus were tiny. I had also put a lot of faith into Polygonum orientale, using it a lot to fill gaps and add colour but all had failed and were only 1ft tall despite being planted in March! However, despite these issues all was very lush. 

14 people helped out on the day which was wonderful, and this enabled us to open the 'Cava Cave' for the first time offering gin fizz and rhubarb Bellini’s. They were a wonderful bunch.

THANK YOU to everyone who came and helped out

So some pictures of everything at its best....