Greenhouses and Raised Beds in May.

A tour of the greenhouses in May, the cold winds and frosty nights dictate that tender plants have to remain inside. This time of year is always over crowded greenhouse time!

The tomato, Amateur, new to me this year, Amelia from https://afrenchgarden.wordpress.com mentioned it as a favourite of her fathers. I was attracted to it because he grew it as a bush tomato.

Amateur tomato plants.

On the side shelf are trailing pelargoniums growing on for the hanging baskets. Pelargoniums are one of my favourite summer plants.

Pelargonium cuttings and three purchased P. Ardens on the heated propagation bench.

Alongside are Courgettes, Genovese Basil in pots. In the root trainers are Coleus, ‘Festive Dance’ seedlings. Thunbergia plata, ‘Susie Series’ White and at the back Hordeum Jubatum an ornamental barley that I first saw growing in Aberglassney garden

On the top shelf are climbing French and Runner Beans, Sweet Corn ‘Swift’ and Dwarf French Bean ‘Purple Teepee’.

Spinach and Rocket seedlings growing on ready to plant in the raised beds later on.

These are Dahlia Merckii seedlings pricked out into root trainers, a seed swap from Fiona Wormald at https://thegardenimpressionists.com two years ago. I did not manage to sow them until this spring, the germination has been fantastic.

The Dahlia tubers are proving to be a little slow to show this year, one of the Striped Vulcan, new this year, has started.

Rainbow Chard in root trainers along with Fennel. This is the first time I have grown bulb fennel.

These young Alstroemeria plants are from seeds collected by my brother last autumn from the ones in his garden.

In the raised beds are crimson flowering Broad Beans.

With Spinach, Sweet-peas on the obelisk and newly planted lettuce.

Now we need some sunshine.

Garden visiting…..remember that?

Aston Pottery Garden.

Having read some impressive reviews about the garden at Aston Pottery, Aston, Oxfordshire, we visited in August 2016.

On this occasion, they were open in aid of the National Gardens Scheme charity.

Created by the owners since 2009 and set around Aston Pottery’s Gift Shop and Cafe, borders flower from June until November.

In the spring 5000 tulips are planted in pots around the shop and cafe, these are then followed by lilies and agapanthus. They created a wonderful pot display when we visited.

The Garden.

60 hornbeams flank the 72-metre Hornbeam Walk, opened in 2012 by the local MP David Cameron, planted as a year-round garden with a summerhouse at the end, and a mix of perennials and annuals which are enjoyed by pollinators.

You then arrive at the 80-metre Hot Bank with kniphofia, alstroemeria, cannas, dahlias and salvias.

There are stunning Double Dahlia Borders 5m deep with over 600 dahlias and grasses edging the back. 

New in 2015 was an 80m x 7m deep Annual Border full of over 5000 annuals grown from plug plants.

A traditional Perennial Border with over 50 different perennials offers a wonderful view from the country cafe.

The garden has featured in the Telegraph, Country Living, RHS The Garden and BBC Gardeners’ World. They have been producing pottery for over thirty years suppling Liberty’s of London.

When garden visiting begins again, this is a garden I would recommend, it is a stunning riot of colour. They are planning to open for the National Garden Scheme this year on the 21st and 22nd of August and are normally open seven days a week except over the Christmas period. The pottery shop and cafe make it ‘A Grand Day Out’.

I have created the video below from photographs I took during our visit, to remind us all of the joy of Garden Visiting! 

Please watch on YouTube then select full screen.

Autumn Colours, Music and Poetry.

A video of the changing autumn colours in Our Garden@19 and some borrowed landscape. I filmed this over a two week period to record the changing colours. Please watch on YouTube

What is providing you with Autumn colour?

With the requirement in most countries to wear a face mask due to the Covid19 pandemic smiling at people is difficult. I have read that an eyebrow smile works, this Spike Millagan poem brought a smile to my eyebrows.

Autumn Colour in Our Garden@19

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The Blue Border.

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Parthenocissus tripcuspidata (Boston Ivy)behind the Banana Bench.

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Dahlia ‘After Eight’ & ‘Bishop of Llandaff’

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Dahlia ‘Snowstorm’

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Rose The Generous Gardener.

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Rose Climbing Iceberg

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Aster divaricatus

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Cirsium rivulare ‘Trevor’s Blue Wonder’

 

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Symphyotrichum n.a ’ Harringtons Pink’

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Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow’ & Solidago Fireworks

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Symphyotrichum na ‘ Barrs Violet ‘

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Fuchia ‘Mrs Popple’

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Fuchia magellanica alba

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Ipomoea lobeta with Verbena Bonariensis

 

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Sambucus nigra ‘Aurea’ & Amelanchier ‘Lamarckii’

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Sorbus ‘Eastern Promise’

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Hydrangea 

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Arum italicum subsp. italicum ‘Marmoratum’

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Polypodium Bifidomultifidum

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Cotoneaster horizontalis & Cyclamen hederifolium

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Malus ‘Golden Hornet’.

The National Garden Scheme has posted this quote on their website.

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.” William Cullen Bryant (1794 – 1878)

You can view their Autumn Smile here

What is making you smile this Autumn?

Blackmore Grange July 2018.

 

On Saturday the Black Pear Gardening Club visited Blackmore Grange, owned by Doug and Anne Robertson. A total of £206 was raised and donated to St. Richards Hospice, Worcester. The Hospice has recently launched a fundraising drive to support its £5.3m expansion plan. You can find out more via this Link

41 members visited on a beautifully sunny day (another one!), to enjoy the garden and tea and biscuits (of course). Anne also invited members to bring along a picnic to enjoy in the garden.

Anne, a knowledgeable plants women, has previously opened her garden for the NGS. This quote is from the 2011 NGS Yellow Book.

Blackmore Grange. “All year round two acre rural garden surrounds the family home. Packed with a large variety of plants, shrubs and trees. The swimming pool has been transformed into the stable garden, an outstanding area of traditional cottage-style planting. Also a mixed orchard, woodland walk, mixed planting beds and kitchen garden”. Described by Chris Beardshaw as “A natural garden full of interest and variety”.

One entrance to the garden is along this woodland path…

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…where you arrive into one of many seating ares in the garden.

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From here you have views across the sweeping lawn in front of the house towards two curved borders one edging the west facing terrace, the other viewed across the lawn…

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These borders are packed with plants, amongst those enjoying the summer sun were fennel and lavender…

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…and this beautiful dark blue agapanthus ‘Navy Blue’…

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Following this path along side the border…IMG_3740

…past a thriving kniphoia…

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…you enter the stable garden…

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…where the teas were served.

The plants which caught everyones’ attention here were the dark red dahlias, ‘Chat Noir’, ‘Rip City’, ‘Sam Hopkins’ and with its dark foliage, ‘Kamar Choc’…

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Dahlia ‘Karma Choc’.

…a double Hollyhock…

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and this delphinium ‘Faust’.

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Delphinium ‘Faust’.

 

Verbena bonariensis, agapanthus and succulents growing in the gravel and broken pots.

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Climbers including, ornamental vines, roses and clematis, cover the pergola and scrambled up through support plants.

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This dahlia and hydrangea add a splash of light colour, providing a perfect contrast to the smoke bush, several of which were flowering in the garden.

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Leaving the stable yard garden for the woodland walk, some of the roses were still flowering with their hips just beginning to develop their autumn scarlet colour.

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A welcome bench in the shade…

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Anne, on the right with club member Betty Mills.

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It is important to read the plant label to ensure you have the correct name to go with the photo.

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Turning back towards the house you see the mixed orchard, which is underplanted with spring bulbs and roses growing up into some of the more mature apple trees. In the centre of the lawn, is a magnificent tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera.

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Near the house, down some steps, is Anne’s potting shed and the kitchen garden with its fruit cage full of ripening fruit…

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…and at the rear, an impressive pot display of hostas, acers and seasonal bedding plants.

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No one was in any hurry to leave, enjoying the weather and the setting in this “Natural garden full of interest and variety”.

Tulips. (From Hanley Swan).

I am, sadly, old enough to remember Max Bygraves singing the cheerful song ‘Tulips from Amsterdam’.

Tulips along with Dahlias are a vital element to providing year round cheer and colour here in Our Garden@19

The dahlias are all now lifted and safely stored in the small greenhouse, this one is kept frost free. There are two electric tube heaters in here, with a new heated propagating sand bench, at the rear, containing some seedlings which I am hoping to carry through the winter. These have been joined by the Aeoniums, Cotyledon Orbiculata, Colocasia ‘Black Dragon’ and Pelargoniums.

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The dahlias on the bench are labeled and waiting for the ‘head gardener’ to box them up in compost similar to the ones you can see on the shelf below.

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The raised beds that edge the patio have been home, during the summer, to the dahlias and annuals, it is my nod to the Exotic Garden at Great Dixter. I wrote about the dahlias I grow here. 

Tulip ‘Abu Hassan’, now follows into the raised beds along with a few Erysimum x allionii (Siberian Wallflowers) and Myosotis (For-get-me-nots.) Hopefully these will be putting on a show for the early May Bank holiday open gardens.

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Raised Bed 1

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Raised Bed 2

The pots contain more tulips to dot around the garden in the spring, they are wintered on the patio to help keep the squirrels away.

The Tulips carried over from last year are Tulip clusiana ‘Peppermintstick’, Tulip ‘Calgary’ ,Tulip ‘Orange Emperor’, Tulip ‘Prinses Irene’, Tulip ‘Red Riding Hood’, Tulip ‘Spring Green’, Tulip ‘Tres Chic’ Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’ and Tulip ‘China Pink’. These were lifted or emptied from their pots after flowering and laid out to dry in the small green house rotating with the dahlias.

Tulipa ‘ Ballade ‘ is left in the main borders.

These bulbs are new for 2017, adding to the ones already in the garden.
Allium ‘Beau Regard’, Allium Karatavience ‘Ivory Queen’, Iris reticulata ‘Polar Ice’,
Muscari ‘Siberian Tiger’, Scilla siberica, Narcissus ‘Thalia’ and Tulip ‘Angelique’.

Some tulip pictures to show what we are hoping for.

Have you planted any bulbs for a spring spectacular?