Open Gardens 2016

A village about twenty minutes from where we live had their Open Gardens on Sunday, so, as the weather was reasonable and I do enjoy nosing round other people's gardens, off we went.  We visited last time they were open, in 2014 and you can see the posts here and here . There was a variety of sizes of gardens but all had lots to interest the visitor.  Many of them had large borders, which showed the plants off beautifully.

 This poppy had escaped into the next door field.

 I liked this arrangement with peonies and delphiniums.  A nice place for a G & T (or cup of tea), depending on your preference.

There were small gardens behind a terrace of cottages which were beautifully maintained.  The owner of this garden made me laugh.  She told me that one of the organisers of the afternoon had sent all the owners badges to wear, but "mine's still in the envelope...I'm not wearing that!"

There were roses, lupins and geraniums a-plenty.

In the next door garden, there was some fiery planting with the orange and red of the potentilla.

 There was a very inviting deck chair in a quiet corner.

Hardy geraniums were everywhere and this one caught my eye with its gentle apricot and lilac tones.  It is a double flower, which meant it wasn't good for wildlife, but it was still very pretty.  I think it may be Geranium 'Summer Skies'.

These photos were from my favourite garden, which was very photogenic (and looked very labour intensive).

 There were some inviting shady area with lots of foxgloves...

 ...as well as some sunny borders with hot colours.

 The screens and trellis dividing areas of the garden provided some pretty views.

 Doesn't this archway make you feel that you want to explore?

 The rose had climbed right to the top of the tree and looked amazing.

The front garden was full of roses, cat mint and geraniums.  Scruffy would have loved the cat mint - it is a good job he wasn't with us!  We had a lovely afternoon and enjoyed sandwiches, cake and tea at the Village Hall.  A perfect Sunday afternoon.