Author: greenbenchramblings

As promised I am back to look at more of the Minsterley Show where we will be considering the livestock show classes.

There is so much tradition to keep to in the livestock judging enclosures, including black bowler hats and white coats. Even the youngsters showing their calves dressed smartly in white, which does not seem a sensible colour around these calves. The patterns on some breeds are really interesting to look at.

No patterns or markings on these breeds just beautiful colours. The greys certainly looked attractive on this breed unknown to us. The ginger bulls were much more familiar as they graze in several fields not far from us.

On to the goats, a small category, none of which wished to have their photographs taken. Instead they just turned away as the shutter was about to act.

The sheep show pens were many and very busy as stewards collected sheep for judging. Sone breeds are coloured for showing but no-one seemed to know why – they just do it!

And these are the rosettes that every exhibitor is hoping for, the more the better.

As we returned to the car parking in the neighbouring field we liked the design of the wigwam-like tent. Opposite was a display of modern tractors the sort that speed through our hamlet and make a ridiculous amount of noise. Not good when we are gardening in the front borders.

That is it for another year but we will be back same time next year.

It has been a few years since we visited the Minsterley Show which is held in fields about a mile or so from home. It was covid that prevented the show going ahead for a couple of years and then a date clash stopped us attending last year.

But nothing stopped us enjoying our local country show this year. For a few days prior to show time we had watched the marquees, tents and livestock pens going up and even heavy rain failed to stop everything being ready.

The day of the show dawned bright mostly sunny but with periods of cloudy skies. The threatened rain came to nothing.

The show celebrates the things that are locally important, so we saw vintage tractors, competitions for sheep and goats of all kinds, a huge variety of cattle and horses from Shetland ponies to decorated heavy horses.

Various sized marquees were home to artists and crafts people, bee keepers and producers of all types of food, savoury and sweet. Between the marquees were stalls and display areas featuring all sorts of companies selling vintage tools, solar panels, country clothing etc. Of course there were all sorts of food and drink sellers too and of course the purveyors of ice cream.

We began at the display areas exhibiting vintage transport, as well as tractors. We were then drawn to the sports cars of our childhood days.

Nearby was this beautiful piece of engineering!

A short walk away was the marquee housing exhibitions of home made crafts, cookery and a section all about plants. Here we found a display created by the WI and tables of plants from hostas to dahlias.

I couldn’t resist pointing my lens at this treasure chest of garden flowers and foliage.

So that is part one of my post all about Minsterley Show ………….

In part two we will look at by far the largest section of the show, livestock!

I have decided to start off with a look at the seats in our own garden as we have moved some and bought some new ones.

From our own garden we move on to the seats in a garden of one of our gardening friends patches.

See you sometime with a fresh collection of garden furniture photos.

Back visiting my garden journal for 2023 and we should be well and truly in spring, feeling the changes in both light and temperature.

To begin with I wrote, “April arrived but bring its expected ‘April Showers’ with it. Instead we had alternating sunshine and storms. Luckily we had jobs to do both out and inside the glasshouse. One job was to sort out my aeonium collection which overwinters inside the glasshouse. In spite of this protection we lost quite a large percentage of them. We potted on cuttings and bought on others purchased from specialist nurseries.”

From aeoniums we moved on to look at alpines. I noted that, “We grow alpines in various places around the garden, in a scree garden behind the glasshouse, in pots and stone containers and along the edge of the drive on the Chatto Garden. Our et and cold autumns and winters are not appreciated by alpine plants which often don’t last long.”

On the opposite page we look at more small scale plantings, a spring bulb called muscari. Here I wrote how “Every gardener loves spring bulbs, which manage to brighten our gardens with daffodils and tulips probably the favourite. But I have a soft spot for muscari. Over the last few years I have been searching for less well known varieties, so now have a small but interesting collection.”

Below are photos of just ten of the collection.

From muscari growing and flowering closely to the ground I moved on to look at clematis, a climber which flowers much higher up. Here I noted that, “We have been busy buying clematis since we moved so now we have so many. We must list them one day to see what we have. At this time of year we enjoy many ‘alpina’ types which tend to have white, blue or pink flowers whose long slender petals hand down gracefully. Below we show a few we have in our garden.”

On the opposite page I looked at a few of the gardening tasks we performed in April.

Next the journal displays a double page spread featuring tulips, that most colourful bulb flower of all. To introduce them I wrote,“Most of the strong April colours are gifted to us by tulips. Te tiny ones below tend to be species tulips, with the larger more developed flowers are cultivarsbred for size, shape and colour.”

On the final page of entries for April I returned to show some more gardening jobs tackled during the month. I noted that,“April is no different to any other month as there is a list of jobs to tackle.”

The next visit to my Garden Journal might show that we are getting much closer to summer.

Back with the fifth post in this post Covid-19 occasional series of posts celebrating garden seats. Here are three spotted while enjoying a wander around Wildgoose Walled Garden and Nursery the colours of which caught my eye. The third shot is of seats created by the volunteer gardeners to use when weeding the borders. The gardener we spoke to reckoned they were really comfy.

The next photo is of a very comfy and inviting seating area from another NGS Yellow Book garden.

Finally seats we found while wandering around the wonderful Bodnant Gardens in North Wales. These wooden benches were situated in the highly scented rose garden.

See you next time with number 6 in this occasional series.

Already I am creating the third monthly entries for this year, March, the month when the weather should be looking better and more conducive to gardening.

On the opening page I wrote, “March, according to the meteorologists we are now in spring, but as gardeners we know it is still well and truly winter. So far the weather has been cold and very dry. This type of weather however doesn’t stop us getting out into our garden.”

I show this with a set of photos of us at work.

Hebes feature on the opposite page where I wrote, “Hebes enhance our garden every day of the year, both interesting foliage and delicate looking flowers. Foliage comes in different sizes, shapes and colour from glaucous to almost black, but they are always glossy. Plants themselves vary in size and shape too, and flowers come in white plus shades of pink, purple and blue.”

The following photos show just a few of our collection.

On the next two pages are featured how we continued to develop the new outdoor dining area. and then the snow came! The large glaucous leaved bush bottom left is about 4 feet in diameter. A big, old healthy shrub!

The next double page spread features one of my sketches on the left hand page plus early flowering bulbs opposite.

Writing about working to finish our new outdoor dining area, I noted “We have just finished changing our ‘Secret Garden’ into an outdoor dining area.’

I repurposed this unwanted futon stool, making it into a planter. Jude planted a selection of herbs, giving us an herb garden right next to the table.

On the opposite page I celebrate the arrival of our first snow of the winter, and share a selection of photos taken in the cold.

Over the page we find that I wrote, “Emerging from beneath the snow this small piece of fennel dried and delicate. Drawn to actual size.”

I then looked at bulbs that were in flower, about which I wrote, “Early flowering bulbs and perennials provide food for early emerging bees of all sorts. Crocus are very important to wildlife.

On the final page of my entries for March I considered signs of wildlife in our garden. I noted that, “I am amazed at how many signs and sights of our garden wildlife we experience in cold weather. Our hedgehogs have come out from the houses we have provide for them and those they build for themselves. Poos are the most obvious sign! Birds remain busy on the feeders, and some are already nesting.

Early flowers on shrubs, bulbs and perennials are a delight for early bees.”

“The snail on the terracotta flower pot stops bees getting a chance to nest which is why it is there.”

“This sparrow terrace had a nest starting in the bottom compartment but then a swarm of Tree Bees took it over. I opened it up recently and found both nests tightly crammed in.”

So that is all of the entries for my garden journal for March 2023.

The crocus we have were mostly bought ‘in the green’ several years ago so we have not got as many as we have had. We need to order more ‘in the green’ collections. However this year we have discovered that some have started moving into grassed areas.

The first snowfall of the winter arrived well into March which the meteorologists think is Spring. Several forecasts have been threatening us with snow recently almost every day.

It was very light when it came – you could almost wander between the flakes. As you can imagine I was soon wrapped up and out in the garden with camera in hand. Here is a gallery of those photos.

And finally, a photo I have wanted to take for a while now – a snowdrop in snow!

On the last day of February, we met up with my sisters, Penny and Alison and Penny’s husband Tony for a wander around the arboretum at Bodenham near Kidderminster. We have visited several times before at different times of year, but never in February, so we did not know what to expect.

As we arrived the rain started and the drops of rain added a new texture to the surface of the lake that we could enjoy from the windows of the restaurant. This period of rain meant that we sat in the cafe for longer, long enough to enjoy two coffees each. But as soon as the rain eased off we donned coats and hats and set off towards the entry gate.

We soon spotted signs of just how damp the area is as any stump or fallen tree were carpeted in rich green mosses and lichens decorated standing trees and any wooden gate or fence.

Any shrubs or trees that flower in the winter months are extra special simply because they show up so well or are scented to attract predators and pollinators. There are fewer insects around at this time of the year than at any other, so plants need to be special to attract them.

Below are photos of a flowering quince, Cydonia, on the left and an evergreen member of the prunus family alongside.

The next four photos show a clump of birch catkins and Cornus mas flowers on the top row and below that two photos of a shrub completely unknown to us. It had the overall look of a will but it had white flowers. None of us had a clue to its identity.

The next pair of pictures show two different daphnes, on the left is the wonderful Daphne bhuloa ‘Jacqueline Postill’ and on the right Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’, both beautifully scented.

Variegated foliage comes into its own in the winter months, with hollies probably being the most prominent.

Coloured stems of shrubs and coloured and patterned bark of trees become more obvious once the leaves have fallen and exposed them.

At this time of year there only a few perennial plants that flower but everyone that does so is very special and noticed by almost everyone.

Wherever you visit in a garden or an arboretum you often find a surprise or two. At Bodenham it was ‘The fernery’ which seems to be taking advantage of an existing sloped pathway leading to a filled up feature. Ferns dominated the slopes and ivies covered the feature. One fern had beautifully shaped foliage and it is one we have been looking out for for years!

We shall be back later in the year in a different season.

Even as early as January and February there are several plants showing flower buds, that will be producing flowers in the first few months of the year. Buds are fattening up and splitting open to reveal clues concerning their colour and flower shapes.

Flowers that open this early on often give out rich scent to attract the few pollinators around in the winter weather. The two really early bloomers in our garden, both with rich scent flower early in January, are pink flowered Daphne bhuloa ‘Jacqueline Postill’ and white blossomed Sarcococca confusa. They both manage to send their sweet aromas far and wide.

Below – Clematis napaulensis and Hamamelis ‘Harry’.

Below – Clematis ‘Wisley Cream’ and a yellow flowered magnolia.

Below – Hamamelis ‘Diane’ and another clematis.

Two photos of a hebe early flowers and buds.

Below now we have two highly scented shrubs, Cornus mas and Viburnum tinus.

Another Viburnum again scented is V. bodnantense and another hebe trying to open its flowers.

A mediterranean herb seems the most unlikely of plants to flower during the winter months but Salvia rosemarifolia previously known as Rosemary, has china blue buds soon to open up into tiny pale blue flowers.

So, you certainly don’t have to wait until spring or summer to enjoy the wonders of flowers. Get out in the garden whatever the weather during the winter to see and appreciate what there is to offer.