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Our June Visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nursery

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 3, 2026
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We visited John’s Garden late in June because the temperatures had dropped a little after a week of temperatures well in the 30s, so we felt we would appreciate the garden more fully.

We were impressed with the two triangular beds running outwards from the greenhouse. the planting was impressive with a rich mixture of shrubs, climbers and perennials. We particularly liked seeing a Dierama, the Angel’s Fishing Rod flowering away and gently swaying in a gentle breeze and a yellow flowered texensis type clematis rambling through perennials.

Seeing this clematis so early in our visit I thought I would keep an eye out for others throughout the garden. I found plenty so here are just a few.

Hydrangeas were so prominent throughout the garden where they can take advantage of the shade from deciduous trees. We both particularly like the sort with flatter flower heads rather than the paniculata ones so we noticed the flat heads in particular.

Whenever we wander around John’s Garden we come across a few surprises and our June visit was no exception. This first plant made us scratch our heads even though we knew we had seen it somewhere before. The blue flowers gave it away as a sort of solanum, so a member of the tomato family. It also had beautifully coloured foliage of a glaucous grey-green

Solanum pyracanthos is a real show off plant but not one to get too close to with its orange spines running along orange central veins of the glaucous unusually shaped leaves. This plant teases you. After pulling you in the study its beautiful colours and foliage shape, you are made to stop and not get too close so to avoid its spines.

The second plant that fooled us was a shrub with white scented flowers. We couldn’t remember ever seeing it before. Research told us it was Clethra possibly Clethra barbinervis.

Some borders stopped us in our tracks simply because the colours were so exciting together. The plants here have been placed so beautifully and work together so well.

Sometimes using different coloured cultivars of the same plants, in this case astilbes, can be equally exciting. I am not a great fan of astilbes but I couldn’t help being impressed by this mighty patch.

This colourful patch of plants were all in pots allowing John and his staff to recreate the area whenever they wish to, when new plants await their turn or when some pots are passed their best.

We moved on right to the far end of the garden as we had heard John on his saying it was looking at its best. So that will be the subject of my next post.

Tags clematis-hydrangeas, containers, flowers, garden, gardening, nature, plants

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Our May Visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nursery

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 19, 2026
1 Comment on Our May Visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nursery

We made our way out towards the West Midlands from our home in South Shropshire on 23rd May on what was to become a warm, bright day. As has become our habit on arrival we ordered coffees from the converted horsebox on the grassed area where picnic tables allowed us to sit outside for coffee in the fresh air. The horse box is called ‘The Oss Box’ and is a converted horse box with the characteristics of a vintage Citroen van.

Once refreshed we made our way through Adam’s Garden, this time keeping to the left side boundary fence where a beautifully fresh looking meadow of fine mixed grasses was coloured in with purple lupins and shining yellow meadow buttercups.

At the end of the long thin meadow we encountered two beautifully planted mixed borders.

Iris were definitely strongly featured in John’s Garden on this visit, showing some rich coloured specimens deserving of close up study. The first two photos show examples of bearded iris but the third with their much flatter flowers are Iris ensata which enjoy moister conditions. Bearded iris much prefer to live in dry patches in the garden.

One of the elements of this garden that help make it special is that there is beauty in the detail but equally in the long views. You can concentrate on the detail of a plant then look up and be absorbed by the beauty of a long or wide view.

Bright colours always managed to lift a planting area especially on bright days when such colours glow. Orange is perhaps the strongest of all such colours

We will return in June with perhaps another bright blue sky day.

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Our April Visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nursery

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 26, 2026
1 Comment on Our April Visit to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nursery

We were so lucky with our choice of day for our monthly visit to John’s Garden in April because we had choosen a day when John was holding his first ever plant fair. It was far more than the usual plant fair because there were 19 specialist nurseries attending and the sales pitches were spread out around the garden. We could enjoy the garden and the plant fair. A great two for one day!

We arrived just before the plant fair was due to open and were surprised to see the queue to enter was a hundred yards or more long and slowly growing into the car park. So we sat and enjoyed a tasty coffee while waiting for the queue to abate. Once there was no-one queueing we simply walked in to enjoy our day.

And we certainly enjoyed our day. we bought some amazing plants some of which we had been searching for a few years such as Paeonia daurica subs.”Mlokosewitschii” commonly known as ‘Molly the Witch’ and a shade loving perennial Disporum longistylum “Night Heron”. We met lots of plantaholic friends mostly fellow Shropshire Hardy Plant Society members and nursery owners we hadn’t seen for a while.

We were also there to have a look at John’s Garden for our monthly visit leading to this series of blog posts. I was taken by the colourful fresh growth on these conifers in ‘Adam’s Garden’ which seemed odd as neither of us are great fans of conifers in general.

From Adam’s Garden we passed through a wooden gateway into the main garden where we found lots more interesting nursery stalls as well as the usual rich assortment of plants. John always has a special way of planting in the shade seeing them as an advantage as opposed to problem areas.

We always find some plants that we do not recognise at all so need to turn to our iPhones for help such as this most unusual of Rhododendron with its finely cut pink petals. We discovered it was Rhododendron stenopetalum ‘Linearifolium’.

We are always impressed at the number of different Berberis here which show so many different bright foliage colours. I particularly loved this bright orange cultivar which shone out against bare soil and would be a great partner for so many other plants to enrich or contrast. The labels told us it is Berberis thumbergii ‘Orange Ice’. One to look out for!

The area in front of John’s home is a place for containers giving a great opportunity to play with bright colours, foliage and flowers alike.

Now that I have looked closely at individual plants or plant groupings I will finish off with a selection of wider views of the garden.

Our next journey out to John’s Garden at Ashwood Nurseries will be on a Saturday in May.

Tags april-gardens-april-gardening, flowers, garden, gardening, nature, plants

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Holehird Gardens

Fellow members of the Shropshire Group of the Hardy Plant Society recommended this garden to us so we thought we would visit and find out what it was like.

The garden sign included a map of the gardens and was a welcoming sight as we entered the garden. It was such a good idea to include a map for visitors to study before entering the garden itself.

When we entered the garden we were delighted to see so much colour and structure in the form of mixed planting in island beds and long borders alongside the boundaries. We realised we were actually inside a walled garden.

Holehird Gardens is a 10 acre site in the Lake District fells and is home to the Lake District Horticultural Society and it is their volunteers who made and now maintain the garden. This makes this garden even more remarkable. As we explored this area of raised beds and herbaceous borders we knew there was so much more to see in other parts of the garden. These borders were created using interesting plants and plant combinations. Plant pairing worked so well using the various colours of flowers and the textures and shapes of foliage.

On the far side of the walled garden we found a seat to rest on and had a good look around and back over the borders towards the society’s home.

We then made our way down the gentle slope towards the wooden building, home to the society and luckily a self serve coffee shop. We enjoyed a coffee and next looked along the borders alongside the building and continued where the brick-built wall turned a ninety degree corner. Here the planting was different with some alpines and acers.

After spending a good amount of time on the garden in front of the society’s home we decided it was a good time to move to the other side to see what was on offer there. Here it was much more open with larger sweeping areas of lawn.

Once we had slowly walked up the slope and reached the end of the lawned areas we met a beautiful dry stone wall decorated beautifully by mother nature using mosses and lichens. Here we took the gravelled path meandering across the borders keeping quite close to the wall.

Along the way we found plenty of places to sit, rest and enjoy the view.

We met several interesting trees long the way but particularly enjoyed this group of beautiful, colourful Betulas.

From here we made our way down the sloping lawns back towards the wooden buildings from where we started our wanderings. We took a path around the building to a wildflower meadow with meandering pathways through and around it.

As we crossed the drive along which we walked from the carpark to the gardens we discovered another section of the garden which looked to have been recently brought back to life.

What a beautiful way to end our day!

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, nature, plants

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Christine’s New Garden

We have known Christine for a long while now and often visited her large garden up in the Welsh Hills beyond LLanrhaeadr. A stunning garden with beautiful meadows to one side, a large pond being developed and an original looking veg garden. Closer to the house were several beautifully planted borders and corton steel troughs.

Circumstances changed for Christine and late husband John meaning a change of location and a smaller house and garden became the order of the day. They lived temporarily in an apartment in Shrewsbury before settling for a townhouse on the outskirts of the town. John didn’t live to see the new house, cancer preventing him from doing so.

So Christine moved into the new house on her own and turned it into a home and turned her new small patch of land into a beautifully designed and planted garden. This garden was at a much lower altitude and a fraction of the size of the hillside garden.

Christine invited our Shropshire Hardy Plant Society mini-group to view her new horticultural creation. The four photos below were taken on the kerbside and indicated what a treat we had in store.

We had to walk through the house to get to the garden which we could see was already coming on well. Winding gravel paths meandered between borders, allowing us good views of the planting.

There were carefully positioned pieces of sculpture throughout the garden and one area had a small pond under construction planned to be good for wildlife. Many of Christine’s plants will also be explored by wildlife of all sorts.

Interesting sculptural pieces pop up just where they are needed giving a chance to stop and get a really good look at each piece.

As with any garden whatever the size, it is the plants that matter the most.

We all know that Christine’s favourite colour is orange. She is rarely seen without orange somewhere within her outfits, so it was no surprise to see this glowing orange Kniphofia in the garden.

Every garden needs plenty of places to sit and relax or enjoy shared refreshments. Christine had invited us for refreshments as well as discovering her garden. This calm welcoming table surrounded by plants awaited us.

We knew that Christine had not been creating her beautiful garden for very long and she claimed that there wouldn’t be much to see but at least we could have some coffee and cake. In fact we found so much to enjoy in her garden and the refreshments were good too!

Tags a-young-garden, colours, flowers, garden, gardening, herbaceous plants, nature, travel

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A Canal Walk on a Cold Bright March Day

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 8, 2026

After a day of gardening the day before, we decided on the 11th March that we needed a walk preferably somewhere flat as my hip was going through a bad time. Jude had an early appointment so we left straight after making our way towards Queens Head along the A5 towards Oswestry.

The beginning of the walk took us back under the road we had just driven on. On leaving the carpark we followed the road in front of the Queens Head Inn and soon stopped to look at a very floriferous Blackthorn Bush. Immediately afterwards the path dropped steeply and took us alongside the canal where we started our walk along the toll path.

Long shadows crossed the path in front of us as the sun was still low in the sky. The hedgerows showed little sign of spring and the hedges and trees alongside them remained bare affording us views through to the farmland behind.

It was only a short distance along the pathway when we spotted the first lock, a narrow but deep construction.

The low light gave the reedmace seed heads silver rims.

In the base of the hedgerow we spotted signs of last years mares tails with a few new recently revealed fresh shoots. They are such prehistoric looking plants.

Nearby we could see through the hedges to a different type of farmland where sheep busily grazed taking no interest in us passing by.

Soon after the sheeps’ field we turned back along the tow path which gave us a completely new look at the canal and its surroundings. We discovered a wonderful looking nature reserve alongside the canal which is entered from one of the locks. It has an impressively large lake with seats around as well as areas of reed beds and small patches of woodlands. We decided it would be worth a visit in the future.

One of the special features of canals is the reflections of trees on the opposite bank which fell on the water towards us. All canal walks have evidence of the past and the importance of the canal systems.

We will probably return to follow this walk again in the summer when we can visit the nature reserve for a good look around.

Tags hiking, nature, photography, travel, walking

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Bodnant Gardens: Part Two: Beyond the Winter Gardens

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 2, 2026

Once again looking back to earlier this year, I continue on our journey around the wonderful Bodnant Gardens.

Leaving the Winter Gardens we then had to decide where to go next, which pathway to take and what route we could follow for the afternoon wanderings. We decided to make our way across the sloping area dotted with specimen trees, all worthy of a look. Once we started however we were thwarted by black rope barriers which closed off several of the pathways. We supposed this was to help worn pathways recover from too many feet passing over them when wet.

The grass was interspersed with lots of groups of different daffodils joined by the occasional celandines.

We next took a gravel pathway down a slope towards the stream at the bottom of the Dingle, where we stopped to look at red rhododendrons which had had lower stems pruned away to lift their heads and reveal their lower structure, their soul.

Our track took us along the valley side following the direction of the stream stopping to take shots of plants that took my fancy. It is still sad here to see the signs of the devastation to trees caused by those named storms we have come to know over the last few years.

We were fascinated by this rhodo shrub with its foliage arranged like a crowd of two toned green shuttlecocks. The green bracket fungi were too far down a steep slope for us to get a close up look at so I let the camera zoom in the best it could do.

Our stream led us to a small lake where we crossed the water to follow a track on the opposite side of the stream. Around the lake side was a curve of beautiful biscuit coloured hackenochloa.

The light was low and spotlighted this bright pink magnolia in bud, giving it a silver rim of light.

Magnolias featured along the path that we took back towards the house and the Pavilion cafe where coffee awaited.

Those cups of coffee, latte for me and capuccino for Jude finished off our visit well, but no doubt it won’t be long until we return.

Tags flowers, gardening, hiking, nature, sprong-bulbs, travel, winter gardens

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Our March Visit to John’s Garden at Ashwoods Nursery

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 24, 2026

We made our monthly visit to John’s Garden at his Ashwoods Nursery quite early in the month and little did we know what an unexpected treat we were in for! I’ll return to that at the end.

The first photo shows what a wonderful sunny sky we had as we arrived, but this was a little confusing because it was so cold.

We were expecting to see plenty spring flowering bulbs and as John breeds hellebores (the legendary Ashwoods Strain) we were anticipating dozens of absolute beauties wherever we wandered.

So now for the hellebores!

John grows some unusual coloured Fritillaria imperialis and several other shade loving spring flowers, blooming away before the shade from deciduous trees increases with the opening of leaf buds.

This clump of cardamine looked so special caught in the sunlight with the canal as a backdrop.

Trees and shrubs always feature strongly at John’s Garden whatever time of year we visit, with some shrubs in flower when we visited in March.

Birches shine out strongly in John’s Garden as well as several other trees, both deciduous and evergreen.

Shadows of trees still in their silhouette forms cast beautiful shadows across the close cut grass.

The special treat I mentioned earlier will finish off our visit well. John is a well-known collector and breeder of hepaticas, little delicate beauties of deciduous woodland edges. The treat was that John had opened up his greenhouse containing his private collection of literally hundreds of gentle coloured specimens all in terracotta pots. John was there potting up seedlings in readiness for shows and plant fairs and we had a long chat with him when he explained his obsession and warned us about it. Jude has always wanted to have a go with these and John kindly shared his advice. He advised us to start with the nobilis type so obviously we came home with a selection, some budding up nicely.

Hearing such an enthusiast sharing his love of these specialities was an heartwarming experience.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, hepaticas, nature, spring

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My Garden Journal March 2026

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 19, 2026
1 Comment on My Garden Journal March 2026

March, according to the Met Office is the first day of spring but as gardeners we know it isn’t. Or is this year going to be the year when early March does feel like spring? Many plants seem to think spring has definitely arrived as we have strong fresh growth on many perennials and buds fattening on trees and shrubs.

These photos illustrate haw many different colours fresh growth comes in.

Over onto the next page I summarised some of the garden jobs we worked on.

“The first few days of March were bright and mild so we spent them in the garden. Our new shed is close to being finished – it has a door! I hand weeded the gravel bed alongside the conservatory as Jude tackled our Beth Chatto Garden. Ian, our garden helper, planted three new euphorbias while Jude made the new water butt area level.”

The next page in my journal featured purely hellebores and I noted that, “Hellebores are still going strong with some only just with buds fattening up preparing to flower. Here is a small selection.”

From hellebores we move onto coloured stems and the bark of trees. I wrote, “Coloured stems and bark of trees and shrubs are there to be appreciated early in the month prior top coppicing and pollarding before the month is over.”

“The second half of March means fresh growth. Plants bursting into growth, buds opening revealing so many shades of green from chartreuse to almost black. Flower buds open alongside.” Below are photos to illustrate this huge variety of colour in fresh foliage.

Instead of opening leaf buds on the next page I look at opening flower buds on climbers, shrubs and perennials. I noted that, “These opening flower buds offer shades of pink, yellow, orange, white and purples.

We have done so much in the garden this month that I added a second page relating to getting more tasks done. I wrote, “Of course throughout March we carry on gardening whenever the weather allows. But we got so frustrated with rainy days that we went out and just got wet – sometimes very wet!

A really colourful page comes up next with the array of colours coming from our tulips. “Towards the end of March tulips became a definite star of the garden even though they are more likely to be flowering in April.”

Below is a selection of just ten of our large collection of tulips. We plant more each autumn to make up for the inevitable losses.

So that gives us a very colourful end to my March journal, just like a jar of old fashioned sweets.

It is so hard to predict what our April garden will give us – it is already a confusing year.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, nature, plants

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Bodnant Gardens in Late Winter: Part One

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 8, 2026
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Bodnant is a National Trust property in North Wales just a few miles from the coast and close to the River Conwy. Its complex landscapes and closeness to the sea give it extra protection and variety in its micro-climates, from large open spaces to the steeply sided ‘Dingle’.

We began by making our ways towards the Winter Garden which we always enjoy and it is not as predictable as most other winter gardens we have visited elsewhere. It is full of ideas for anyone’s gardens at home and shows great plant choice. Before reaching the Winter Garden itself we spotted lots of interesting eye catching specimens.

We soon realised we had reached our destination.

Plant combinations are key to any form of garden but especially so in a winter garden.

Of course in any garden at this time of year you would expect to come across spring bulbs, many of which flower in winter rather than wait till spring. Here at Bodnant we enjoyed the sight of many, especially some outside the realm of common and garden. Unusual narcissi in particular were very showy.

Looking upwards and we could seek out the beautiful and often richly scented flowers of shrubs such as Daphne, Hamamelis, Camellia, Lonicera and Edgeworthia.

Although the main aim of our journey today was to appreciate this beautiful winter garden, there was plenty more to enjoy among the acres and acres of Bodnant. But that will be the subject of my next post.