A little more to enjoy in the garden

I grew some pot marigolds from seed this year but they got rather long and leggy. I have put some in a pot for now and they have rewarded me by starting to flower.  They are such happy looking flowers, looking particularly pretty with a sprinkling of raindrops.

Clematis Princess Kate is looking the best I have ever seen her.  I potted her on into a big tub and she obviously likes it.  You can spot Rose William Shakespeare 2000 in his attempt at garden domination on the trellis at the back.

She has very elegant flowers.

My own cosmos were a disaster this year and eventually were eaten by slugs and snails, so I bought this one in.  Again, such a happy looking flower.

The blueberries are staring to crop now and I have enjoyed two raspberries so far too, from my autumn fruiting raspberries. They are a bit early, but very welcome, nonetheless. Some more pot watering and feeding is on the cards as even with the heavy rain showers we have been getting, the pots don't get very much water.   

Barnsdale Visit (part 2)



Here are some more photos of my visit to Barnsdale Gardens.  I wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea - the gardens didn't all look perfect and there were areas which needed weeding, plants which needed cutting back and some places which looked unkempt.  However, these areas made me feel as though the gardens were real, not show gardens, but changing and growing gardens.  (Of course, I am a little protective about them, as I really enjoy visiting, but if you visited, I wouldn't want you to be disappointed!) The photo above is of the Japanese Garden which is not one I usually linger at (not enough flowers), but I can appreciated the meditative qualities it has.  I did think the art work really complemented the garden as it used the same colours and was painted in really thick paint, with whirls and swirls which reminded me of a Van Gogh sky.

 The woodland painting was placed in the perfect location at the end of a garden vista, in front of real woodland.

The painting in the box garden reminded me of an aerial view of a tropical river, such as the Amazon.  The colours really appealed to me too.

 This is a view across the allotment area, through the orchard.

 Another intriguing vista - where does this lead?

 The Ornamental Kitchen Garden was made for the series of the same name and shows how vegetables and flowers can work so well together.  Again, there was companion planting of marigolds.

 Serried ranks of vegetables, from onions up to beans, which created some lovely lines.

 Here were some of the individual plants which caught my eye, from the dainty alpines...

 ...to the giant artichoke (I think).

 This delicate Californian Poppy is from the 'Thai Silk' range and has the most beautiful shading from cream to buttery yellow to blush pink.

 I really liked the combination of the tall stately agapanthus and the swishy, billowing grass which moved like a wave in the breeze.

Finally, to end on a real splash of colour, here is a dahlia, complete with hover fly; the brilliance of the fuchsia pink contrasting with the deep purply green of the foliage.

As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will not leave it another two and a half years before I go again!

A visit to Mum and to Barnsdale Gardens (part 1)

I have been a little quiet over the last few days (an unusual occurrence for me!) as I have been staying with my mum.  I had intended to go and stay in June, but she got a cold, so the visit was postponed until now.  It was lovely to be able to spend some time helping her in the garden, re-potting tubs, planting new plants and pottering.  There was just one thing I definitely had to do while I was there and that was to visit Barnsdale Gardens, which belonged to the late Geoff Hamilton and are run today by his son, Nick.  I used to be a frequent visitor to the gardens, but hadn't visited for two and a half years!  I took a mass of photos, but will split them up into a couple of posts, so I hope they will be enjoyable to look through.  The garden above and following was created by Dan Pearson (something I didn't know), who is now known for his prairie style of planting.  This one shows a productive garden with a mini-maze, and the most beautiful rose 'Crimson Showers', entreating the visitor to enter.

 Isn't the rose wonderful?  I do enjoy looking through an arch and wondering what is on the other side.
Barnsdale Gardens are made up of lots of small gardens or areas, showing many different styles of garden design.  Geoff Hamilton built several of them for television series, such as the Cottage Gardens and Paradise Gardens. I always take a few ideas away with me from all the different areas.

 This garden is a complete contrast to the rose filled one, with muted colours and lots of green.  It was a very calm space, with just the trickle of an unobtrusive water feature.

 There was also some artwork on show in the gardens (always interesting, sometimes controversial!) and this was the first piece I spotted, which looked at home in the wooded area. 

This was a new garden to me and did give the feeling of a coastal garden, with a shingle beach.

 Another lovely arch; really dark inside but with the light tempting me onward.

 A productive apple and pear arch, leading towards the allotment area.  It had a lot of fruit on it.

 I enjoyed the 'mad hair' of this ornamental grass, its exuberance contrasting with the formality of the urn.

 One of the vegetable gardens which was also very productive.  Most of the vegetable areas had been companion planted with marigolds in bright yellows and oranges.  Normally, I am not drawn to those colours, but the planting was so cheerful, how could I resist?

 Beautiful bright and cheerful colours.

 My favourite seat in the gardens.  I love to sit here for a while and listen to the birds and just relax...

This is the view from the seat, looking back towards the entrance, which was lovely and restful.
More from my visit in the next post.