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Take one little border.

This post will look at a small border in a Gloucestershire garden in a village at the bottom of Bredon Hill. It is a lovely garden, well designed and well cared with a calming atmosphere throughout. The gardeners and owners of the garden are my sister, Penny and her husband, Tony.

This little border in the front patch is a quarter circle in shape and covers only a couple of square metres but the choice of planting partners and artifacts together create a beautiful balanced feel.

The first photo covers the whole border in one shot which gives an indication of its size. The gravel mulch acts as a foil to enrich the colour palette, the bronzes, silvers and bronzes of the grasses and the rubies and purples of the sedums and diascias. The grasses also move and rustle in the lightest of breezes.

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Diascia personata and Sedum Purple Emperor compliment each other beautifully.

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Silken heads of soft grasses catch every iota of light and absorbs it to put themselves in the spotlights.

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Well chosen sculptural pieces crafted in suitable materials enhance the plants rather than detract from them. The rust of the corten steel is the perfect material both its colour and texture which allow them to sit beautifully with the silky heads of the grasses flowing past them.

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Clear water with a flat reflective surface borrows the colour of the sky and adds it to the composition. The simple contrast of foliage shape and structure of the plants in the bed works beautifully because of the limited number of different plants used.

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To see the rest of the garden just check back on my post published in August 2013 called “A village garden with a difference,”

 

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Sussex Prairie Garden – a prairie garden in Sussex

This is a garden I have been reading about and admiring in photographs for several years and I have enjoyed watching it develop. Imagine our surprise when we were on a mid-week break in September and discovered that we were staying in a hotel not too far from the Sussex Prairie Garden. We couldn’t miss this opportunity so it soon found a slot in our schedule. The big question was “Can it really be as good as we are expecting?” and this stayed in my mind as we drove out to visit it. Surely we wouldn’t be disappointed!

We weren’t and we knew immediately that we wouldn’t be by the welcoming entrance, an unusual, quirky and humorous way in, coupled with a distinctive and beautifully designed garden sign.

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We also loved the simple stylized plan of the garden and the welcome notes on the back.

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The leaflet described the garden as an “extraordinary garden features huge borders of sumptuous planting combinations that inspire and immerse you in an ever changing wave of texture, colour and form.”

To get to the main garden and tea shop we diverted to follow a path through the cutting garden. This area was to prepare us for the wonderful main garden we would explore after our tea and cakes.

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There are 8 acres of naturalistically planted prairie garden containing over 50 ooo plants of over 1000 varieties and these are a magnet for wildlife. The only way to share such an exciting garden with you is to create a gallery for you to follow. As usual please click on the first photo and then navigate with the arrows.

We love sculpture in the garden and here at the Sussex Prairie Garden it was used very well, integrated beautifully into the planting areas and on open areas of mown grass.

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As we reached the furthest point in the garden from the entrance we were in for a colourful surprise before we continued on our wanderings, beautiful fabric hangings on the fence.

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So the Sussex Prairie was as good as we had hoped, the planting and design was remarkable. We must return again perhaps in the autumn season.

 

 

 

 

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Mynd Hardy Plants – return to a favourite nursery.

Jude the Undergardener, aka Mrs Greenbench, and I are not fans of garden centres where things horticultural are disappearing under an avalanche of gifts, fancy foods, pet foods etc etc but we do love our independently run plant nurseries and have a handful of local favourites we visit when we need plants to complete new plantings or just fancy a bit of compulsive plant buying. Mynd Hardy Plants situated in Shropshire’s Corvedale ranks as a top favourite, so we thought you may enjoy coming on a visit with us. The fact that it opens for the National Garden Scheme like we do is an extra bonus.

As soon as we pull up to park the car alongside the outer wall of the walled garden we feel warmly welcome and this warmth increases as we enter through the old doorway. When we take our first steps inside smiles appear.

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Mynd Hardy Plants is not simply a nursery it is also a garden, and both aspects are worthy of a visit in their own right. But of course a simple tea shop selling home made cakes and beverages with seats overlooking the nursery and gardens is a real bonus.

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Comfy rustic seats invite us to sit and appreciate the atmosphere of the walled garden.

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It wasn’t just us enjoying our visit, there was plenty of wildlife around. We could see movement throughout the areas of rich and colourful flowering. Bees, Hoverflies and Butterflies were busily feeding on the most simple flowers, the daisies and spires in particular.

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There are so many exciting plants and complementary plant combinations at every turn and around every corner at Long Mynd Hardy Plants that the only way to share so much with you is by creating a gallery for your enjoyment. As usual click on the first photo and then navigate using the arrows.

On our last visit we spent time talking with nursery-woman Jill over coffee and cake overlooking the nursery she outlined their ambitious plans and explained what her and her husband had achieved since we last saw them.We expect these plans will be achieved and we look forward to seeing more changes as we visit in the future.

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Jill explained that when they cleared the derelict half of the old walled garden they discovered a range of ancient glasshouses and a long run of cold frames. Eventually these will be restored and will be an amazing addition to the nursery and garden. An old orchard is under restoration too and there will soon be stock beds for visitors to study as well.

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We hope you enjoyed this snapshot of a great little independent nursery and display garden as much as we enjoyed sharing it with you.

 

 

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The Dorothy Clive Garden in September

Back again ready to enjoy another visit to the Dorothy Clive Gardens and see what has been happening since our August visit. We expected early signs of Autumn and hoped for some colourful displays of Dahlias and Salvias. We decided to take a walk around the young mini-arboretum area this month instead of following the winding paths of the Dingle which has less interest at this time of the year.

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As we wandered over to the coffee shop we admired the views over the lower garden and the light which lit up the Pampus Grass behind the Viburnum caught my eye. This was a sign that we could be looking forward to interesting light for garden photography. fingers crossed!

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The border alongside the entrance to the coffee shop was at its most colourful so far this year, with Dahlias, Salvias, Nerine and Hesperantha sharing their colours.

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These brightly coloured plants set the scene for much of our September visit.

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I thought that a gallery of brightly cheerful flowering plants would be a good way of sharing the warm feeling prevailing over the Dorothy Clive Garden this September visit.

Please click on first pic and then navigate using arrows and of course enjoy!

I promised to share our enjoyment of wandering around the soft grass paths that led us around the little arboretum and closely studying the young trees. One surprise was the total lack of autumnal tints to the foliage.

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We were particularly taken by this unusual, in fact unknown to us, Hawthorn, Crataegus laciniata. We are now considering adding one to our garden.

The foliage presented a metallic appearance, almost pewter and the haws ranged from yellows through orange and to a dull brown – a most subtle but attractive combination.

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I feel that another gallery is the best way to share our amble through the arboretum.

 

Our next visit to these lovely gardens will be for our October report so we should be getting into signs if autumn by then.

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My Garden Journal in September

Back to my garden journal and we will look at my entries for September and see what our patch here at Avocet is up to.  According to the weather reporters and meteorologists we should now be in Autumn but the garden is showing few signs of the expected seasonal changes.

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I started by finding patches of colourful plantings and wrote, “September is a month when gardens can begin to look a little worn and frayed at the edges. We have made a huge effort over the last 4 or 5 years to ensure we have an interesting garden all year. Let us look and see if we have succeeded in making a good September garden. Here are a few shots of colourful patches throughout the borders.”

Jude, Mrs Greenbench or The Undergardener, and I have created a talk entitled “The Year Round Garden” which we give to garden societies and other clubs such as WI groups and U3A groups. It is all about how we ensured our garden was good for every month of the year. Some of these groups also visit our garden at various times of year to have a look around. Giving these talks helps us focus on ensuring we continue to develop this ever evolving element of gardening and helps us appreciate every day and what our garden gives us on every individual day.

The three photos on these first September pages show very different patches of our garden.

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Turning over the page we find a couple of my watercolour paintings of two very differently coloured and differently structured flowers blooming in our September garden, a Crocosmia and a Salvia.

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I wrote “I mentioned Crocosmia “Okavango” in my August journal entries as one of our newly acquired plants. It is now between 3 and 4 feet tall and flowering beautifully.”

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The most unusual coloured flower in our September garden has to be Salvia uliginosa. Its ugly name is made up for by its beauty with strongly symmetrical flower clumps and a shade of china blue petals with darker brighter blues too.”

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My next double page spread features those wonderful South African summer flowering bulbs, the Agapanthus. We have a large collection of these big blue or white spherical beauties.

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“From late summer onwards through autumn and into winter,  Agapanthus continue to give colour, shape, texture and architectural elegance to our “Beth Chatto Garden”. In September many are still flowering strongly but a few begin to produce their beautiful seedpods.”

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Turning over to the next double page I feature two very differently coloured Mahonias and a beautiful delicate Clematis.

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I wrote, “Twin Mahonias, one yellow, one red both bright and brilliant plants for later in the year.”

“Take two Mahonias” 

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Concerning the Clematis I wrote “I love flowers that hide some of their beauty like this Clematis. Turn it over and discover its speckles and spots of purple.”

“Turn me over!”

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The next double page spread features one of my favourite hardy plant families, the Sedums. I included photos of some flowering in our garden now and a watercolour impression of our plants in flower.

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“There are so many variations in foliage colour and flower size and colour We have several. Here are a few from our patch.”

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Over the page we discover the first signs of the changing foliage colours – the early signs of Autumn.

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“A really good garden plant has more than one period where it is a star in the borders. One shrub we grow, Ribes oderatum certainly fits this bill. We grow ours in the “Freda Garden”. In late winter it is covered in deliciously scented yellow flowers which later in the year turn into black berries. Now though it is the foliage which turns the eye as it turns from bright green to rich shades of red, from ruby to almost brown-mahogany.

Not many shrubs could boast this much foliage colour and variation before Autumn has even got going.”

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“Dazzling Dahlias! The September show offs!”

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“Spot the bee!”

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Opposite the Dahlias I look at a much more delicate flower, that of Kirengeshoma palmata, otherwise known as Yellow Wax Bells.

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“This is one of the most unusual looking flowers to adorn the garden this month. As the flowers drop their petals, beauty of a different sort appears.”

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And that sees the end of my journal entries for September. Next visit to my garden journal will see us moving into Autumn and the changes in weather and light it brings with it. Will I be reporting on the special light and colours, the colours of fire and Autumn?

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Windy Ridge – another Yellow Book Garden

Windy Ridge is a fellow “Yellow Book Garden” in Shropshire and thus like us opens for charity under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme. The gardener owners have been opening their garden for many years more than we have and we have visited several times before. We decided the time was right for a return visit to discover how it has developed over the years. The owners/gardeners are real plantspersons with plenty of knowledge to share and impart related to both plants, garden management and design.

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Windy Ridge is a garden of wandering paths, secret places, surprises around every corner but above all a garden full of plants to stop you in your tracks either because they are so well grown or very unusual.

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There are quality sculptural pieces among the plants for visitors to enjoy beginning with a huge carved tree trunk at the garden entrance.

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Secret pathways which lead the visitor onward and present choices are an important element of a quality garden.

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In our own “Avocet” garden we enjoy raising the canopy of our trees and shrubs to expose interesting bark and trunk shapes and to let in light to allow planting beneath. At Windy Ridge this is performed to perfection and helps give the garden its character. The first photo below shows how this technique even helps Laurel, my most disliked plant! To make it work the gardener must look closely at and listen to the plant before attempting the first cut. If the gardener does this he is more likely to react to the character of each tree and shrub and give it the shaping it deserves and wants.

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We enjoyed and admired the way that the formality of clipped box integrates so well into the softness of the planting.

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Berries enhance the September garden and add even more colour to that provided by flowers. Windy Ridge had colour aplenty!

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If I had to pick out one plant as my favourite at Windy Ridge it would have to be beautiful coloured and scented Clematis, C. odorata, a plant left to ramble unpruned to great effect. It is a Clematis we have been seeking for our own patch for many years so seeing and smelling it here has renewed our determination to add it to our huge clematis collection already climbing and clambering in our Avocet garden.

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Hydrangeas were well in bloom when we visited and the sheer variety of colours was to be admired.

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The highlight for many visitors is the large garden pond with wonderful marginal planting, a decked area with white ironwork seats and a narrow pathway behind it for the visitor to explore. We had a great afternoon returning to the garden at Windy Ridge and found it as inspiring as always. We were pleased to note that it had received an award in a national garden competition.

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The Dorothy Clive Garden in August

In late August we made one of our regular visits to the Dorothy Clive Gardens on the Shropshire and Staffordshire border to see how the garden was progressing. We chose a warm sunny day for our visit which gave strong contrasts and deep shadow for the trusty Nikon to deal with.

We expected to see lots of colour and much of it bright hot colours provided by flowering perennials as well as perhaps the first signs of late summer presenting a glimpse ahead to autumn, with seeds and berries beginning to show and some leaf colour on trees and shrubs.

There was most certainly no shortage of berries to discover shining brightly like jewels under a bright summer sun.

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A few very unusual berries in both colour and shape, were displayed by deciduous Euonymous and Magnolia.

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Seedheads were beginning to form on herbaceous perennial plants just as we thought we might find.

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We enjoyed the range of colours that flowers provided in the borders and these were highlighted by the August sun riding high in the afternoon sky.

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We were pleased to see that this garden’s Tetrapanax Rex was thriving having lost our specimen early in the year. One here was particularly beautiful with clean unmarked foliage.

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Ferns also provided brilliant green foliage throughout the Dingle Garden, looking fresh beneath the tall mature trees and evergreen shrubs.

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In the new Winter Woodland Garden we were fascinated by the way the gardeners were training the coloured stemmed willows. We will have to wait and see what the end result will look like.

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We enjoy watching the changes to be seen in the many unusual specimen trees at Dorothy Clive and have always liked the look of this yellow barked Prunus, P. maackii “Amber Beauty”. We are really wondering at the moment whether this would be the ideal tree for a space we have at home which awaits a tree for autumn planting. Apart from its unusual bark colouring it has a graceful growth habit and a wonderful winter silhouette. For a Prunus it also has large leaves.

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The light during this visit was so interesting whenever the sun beamed through the tree canopy. We particularly loved the way it put this Hydrangea in the spotlight.

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It is always good to see promises of things that will be happening in the future and spotting them is an important part of any garden visit. Also it provides a most positive way of finishing my report on our august visit to this wonderful garden, a true favourite of ours. And as we have not featured the giant stag sculpture standing proudly at the top of the stream in the Dingle Garden here he is surrounded by lush greenery completely different to when we saw him in the starkness of the winter months.

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The pool at the bottom edge of the garden at the lowest point in the garden reflected the blue sky and we enjoyed spotting the small shoals of young Rudd enjoying racing around below the white flowers of the Water Lily.

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We really appreciated on this August day the scents and colours of the blooms in the Rose Garden.

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Our next visit to our monthly garden for this year will be in September. We hope to see some hot colours in the herbaceous borders and perhaps a little colouring up of foliage on the many trees at Dorothy Clive.

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My Garden Journal in August

My August entries in my Garden Journal 2016 see me beginning Volume Two. On the first page I look back to my original garden journal’s August entries.

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“I made my first ever entries for our new garden in August 2003. We moved to “Avocet” our Plealey home on 8th August. I wrote, “The garden needs our love and attention after 6 years of neglect. It is a garden of straight lines and loneliness, lacking in wildlife and its inherent vitality. It lacks colour.” Things are very different now 13 years later. The garden is now full of wildlife, full of calming atmosphere and peace. It is a garden that attracts many visitors each year and people enjoy hearing our talks about it.”

Over the page I considered the way light in August changes the look of the garden.

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“On bright days in August the garden looks very different depending on the time of day. When the sun is at its highest point in the sky the hot colours really burn and shadows deepen to jet black.

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I then looked at Salvias and share photographs of some of those we are growing in our patch.

“Every few years I like to set myself a challenge in our Plealey garden. For the last few years I have been trying to master growing and keeping Aeoniums. This is coming along well now so for this summer my new challenge is to discover lots of beautiful varieties of Salvias and learn how to grow them well. We already have a large collection so the next part of this challenge will be over-wintering them. These three (in the photos below) show the vast range of colours available from the deepest blue, the brightest pink to the gentlest of yellows.”

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On the opposite page I featured a selection of eight of the Salvias in flower in our patch in August. I have included a couple more here too for you to enjoy and to help us appreciate the variety we have.

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I move on in my journal then to look at very special and very unusual perennial plant, a Diascia. On the page opposite I share a few of our new sculptural pieces in the garden.

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One plant that always attracts admiring glances is this pink gentle giant, an evergreen Diascia, which is called D. personata “Hopleys”. It is an exceptionally good garden performer, growing to a tall six feet and flowering from May to December in a good year.”

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“We love sculpture in the garden and in our patch”Avocet” in Plealey we mostly choose metal or stoneware pieces as these enhance the planting rather that dominate. Recently we have added four new new iron work pieces, two based on seed heads – Clematis and Allium – plus a new bird bath.” 

Here are three of them, the fourth appears later.

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I then move on to one of the brightest of garden perennials to grace borders in the UK, the Crocosmias.

“Various Crocosmias feature throughout the patch and in August many come into their own, showing off their yellows, oranges and reds. We have dozens of different varieties. Here are a few ……….. “

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Firstly the yellows ………….

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…………………….. and then the oranges and reds.

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Returning to the sculptural pieces we have recently added to our garden collection, I introduced another 5 pieces.

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“Two new bird sculptures joined us too, one metal, a Wren, and one ceramic, a Blue Tit. The Blue Tit piece doubles up as a planter for some of our many Sempervivum, as does our chestnut shell sculpture.”

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“A Begonia Rex adds colour, shape and texture to our stoneware Green Man planter, one of a pair.”

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“The moon-gazing Hare.”

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“We grow many different Echeveria in terra-cotta pots and pans in the Rill Garden and on our drive edge. These mostly have glaucous leaves and produce flowers of subtle blends of pink, salmon and orange. Recently we acquired a new variety with almost black succulent foliage, Echeveria “Black Prince”. Imagine our delight when it gave us these beautiful red flowers.”

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“For this month I have decided to paint two delicately coloured flowers, a yellow Linaria dalmatica and the china blue climber and scrambler Clematis jouianiana.

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On the opposite page I finish off my entries for August by looking at some of our newly acquired plants.

“We are always adding new plants to the garden at Avocet and indeed a few found their way in during August. Here is a selection ………. “

“New Honeysuckles to clamber up our new willow hurdles.”

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“A white Physostegia to accompany our pink one.”

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“Crocosmia “Okavango” and “Salvia leucantha “Eder”.

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And there ends my journal entries for the month of August. Our next visit to look at it will be in September a month that the meteorological office places in autumn but us gardeners tag it onto summer – a much better and more accurate idea. We move into a much quieter period now as we have completed our NGS open days for this year and have received the last of our visiting groups.

 

 

 

 

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A Water Garden around an Old Mill

A while ago now we visited this wonderful water garden created around an old water mill on the outskirts of the beautiful Herefordshire village of Pembridge. We decided it was about time for a return visit and also time to peruse the Old Chapel Galleries in the same village. After spending some time and too much money on new sculptures for the garden we drove a few miles on and parked up in the garden car park under lovely mature trees. We collected our hand drawn plan of the garden and set off to explore the Westonbury Mill Water Gardens. Immediately we were impressed by how fresh everything looked and were drawn to bright patches of colourful planting among the greenery.

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As in any good garden the quality and choice of individual plants is a key factor in making it an enjoyable place to visit. Take a look at these beauties at Westonbury Mill. Being a water garden designed around a series of streams and pools we searched out the water and marsh loving plants first and found many in flower including the following specimens. Irises including varieties of I.ensata, the wild flowerheads of Butomis, the flowering rush and various Primulas including P. florindae and Rodgersias.

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Even though this was a water garden there were plenty more perennials flowering well and catching the attention of visitors.

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Westonbury is well-known for its collection of follies, built by the garden owner for the sheer fun of it and to amuse the visitors, although they can also have a secondary purpose.

We discovered the first just as we approached the garden itself and so we could enjoy it from outside the garden and within. Water rose up a water ladder from the stream beneath to be released into the hands of gravity thus sending water spewing from the mouth of a stone gargoyle.

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Through a structure of willow rather than stone we moved on to discover further eccentric buildings including a glass bottle igloo, towers and shelters.

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To give you an idea of the feel of the garden and the quality of the planting and structure I thought I would finish this post about Westonbury Mill Water Gardens with a selection of broad shots taken as we wandered its many winding paths.

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What a lovely atmospheric garden this is! Full of interest and full of interesting plants and features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What our visitors saw in August

We open our garden a few times a year both by appointment and full open days so I thought it would be interesting to wander around our patch just after a group left, taking photos as I went, thus giving a visitors’ eye view of our garden. The date was early August.

Salvias featured strongly as did clematis and roses. Colours in the garden were strong and lively, helped by the sunshine when it occasionally came out to play.

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The added bonus of wildlife always delights our visitors. We will soon be hosting our final visit by a garden group for this year but we already have groups booked to come and share our Avocet patch with us in 2017.

avju-17

I now invite you to come with me and my camera lens for a wander around our garden by navigating through this gallery. I hope you enjoy the journey. As usual click on the first photo and navigate with the arrows.

This Veggie Life

A Vegetarian | Nature Lifestyle Blog

Rambling in the Garden

.....and nurturing my soul

The Arch City Gardener

Journeys In St. Louis Gardening and Beyond

Garden Dreaming at Châtillon

Consult the genius of the place

Storyshucker

A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.

gardeninacity

Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden

PlayGroundology

...an emerging social science

The Official Blog of British Wildlife

'The most important and informative publication on wildlife of our times' - The Independent. This blog is a member of The UK & Ireland Natural History Bloggers group: www.uknhb.blogspot.com

iGrowHort

Inspire - Cultivate - Grow Native Plants - Restore Landscapes

Bishops Meadow Trust

To create and protect a semi-natural wild space for the people of Farnham to enjoy and experience an array of British wildlife in our town

Gardening with Children

The www.gardeningwithchildren.co.uk Blog

UKbirdingtimeline

birding through the seasons, why birds matter and how to conserve them

NATURE WALKER

with a camera in hand

Jardin

Transform your outdoor space

Eva's space

My allotment, cooking and other interests

Old School Garden

my gardening life through the year

LEANNE COLE

Trying to live a creative life

fromacountrycottage

trying to live as lightly as possible on our beautiful planet

Good Life Gardening

Nature lovers from Leicester living the good life.

mybeautfulthings

Finding the beautiful in the everyday

mawsonmichelle

Michelle's Allotment

In and Out of My Garden

thoughts from and about my garden

Greenhousing

Big plans for a small garden

The Scottish Country Garden

A Walled Country Garden in South East Scotland

The Fruity Chicken

Life at the fruity chicken

willowarchway

Off grid living. Self sufficient. "PERMAGANICS RULE".

St Anns Allotments

Nottingham's Grade 2* Listed Allotments and Community Orchard

Manifest Joy Harvests

a journey in suburban vegetable gardening

Allotmental

The madness of growing your own

Penny's Garden: a harvest beyond my front door

A novel approach to vegetable gardening

arignagardener

Sustainable living in the Irish countryside.

NewEnglandGardenAndThread

Master Gardener, amateur photographer, quilter, NH native, and sometimes SC snowbird

dianajhale

Recent work and work in progress and anything else that interests me

planthoarder

a chaotic cottage gardener

Lens and Pens by Sally

a weekly blog that creates a personal philosophy through photographs and words

Dewdrops and Sunshine

Stories from a sassy and classy Southern farmbelle.

The Pyjama Gardener

Simple Organic Gardening & Seasonal Living

gettin' fresh!

turning dirt into dinner

JOY...

today the world is created anew

Garden Birds

Notes from a Devon garden

ShootAbout

Life Through The Lens

Adapting Pixels

A photography blog showcasing the best photography pictures and videos on the internet

Wildlifegardening's Blog

Just another WordPress.com site

naturestimeline

personal observations from the natural world as the search continues for a new approach to conservation.

LATEBLOOMERBUDS

The Wonders of Life through my Eyes, my Heart, my Soul