Category: garden wildlife

My 2017 Garden Journal – January

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 12, 2017
1 Comment on My 2017 Garden Journal – January

It feels good to be back sharing my Garden Journal with you once again. So here is the first for 2017, my report on what was going on in our Avocet garden in January.

For 2017 I will share the beauty, the happenings and the stars of our Avocet garden month by month. I will consider the wildlife that visits and shares our garden with us and see what it is up to. I aim to record the birds we spot, the creatures which live in our pond and the mini-beasts who appreciate our plants in our borders.

I hope to set up my moth live-trap and carry out a pond dip regularly. I will record using words, photographs, paintings and drawings.

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My 2017 Garden Journal opened with a comment about the weather, the favourite subject of the English and particularly English gardeners, “We were well into the third week of January when we were pleased to get typical January weather, frosty mornings followed by bright glue skies. Fog joined in on odd days. Until then every day was dull and wet, dull to the point of darkness at times. Not a good start to a new year of gardening and enjoying our garden.

Extra colour and movement, and of course sound, is added to the atmosphere of our garden by the birds who visit. This winter we moved our main bird feeding centre closer to the house so that we could observe the birds in close up. Surprisingly this had the extra bonus of increasing the birds visiting, in particular the finches.

Birds of our January garden:

Blackbird Goldfinch Blue Tit

Robin Greenfinch Great Tit

Wren Chaffinch Coal Tit

Dunnock Blackcap Long-tailed Tit

Jackdaw Siskin Collared Dove

Mistle Thrush Song Thrush Nuthatch

Turning the page finds me discussing scented shrubs starring in our January garden.

Scented shrubs add an extra element to enjoy in our Avocet garden all year round, but winter-flowering shrubs are probably the most important of all. Their rich scents, warm and sweet and spicy, spread far to attract the few insects flying in the colder months. In January we are enjoying the welcome aromas of Mahonia, Sarcococca, Witch Hazels and Daphne. The local honey bees are drawn to the Mahonia and we can hear their gentle humming whenever the sun gives some unexpected warmth and brightness.

I used my watercolours to create a painting of a Honey Bee, Apis mellifera, and it was a very difficult painting to do.

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On the page opposite my bee painting, I included photos of the “Scented flowering shrubs of our January garden at Avocet, our home in Shropshire, a very cold county in winter.”, Sarcococca confusa, Daphne bholua “Jacqueline Postill”, Hamamelis Jelena and Diane and Mahonia “Winter Sun”.

Over the page we look at “new” gardening tools, one brand new and one new to me which is a vintage tool.

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“Acquiring new tools to use in the garden is always a pleasure. Recently I have treated the garden, and myself of course, to a few interesting implements”.

Firstly a pair of Japanese secateurs, with the unusual problem of instructions written in Japanese. As I had ordered them from Japan I should not have been surprised really!

I painted a picture of my new Japanese secateurs, which was a lot harder that it looks.

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“Okatsune secateurs are the favourite of professional gardeners in Japan. They are manufactured from Japanese high carbon steel so they sharpen easily and well.”

“My second “new” gardening tool is actually a vintage piece, a 1930’s turfing spade made in Birmingham by a company called Vaughan’s. The long handle is crafted from solid forged iron and the handle is made from Ash wood. The long wooden shaft reduces the workload and the beautiful “D” handle makes the tool comfortable to use. The shape of the blade makes it efficient at even lifting an even 1 inch thick slices of turf. The unusual shaped metal shaft increases the efficiency of this wonderful old tool. So my turf lifting spade is vintage circa 1936 but “new” to me.

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I moved on to show how Ian, our gardener, used the vintage turfing spade to replace the grass on some of our paths.

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“We bought the Vaughan tool specifically to use in our garden, to lift the turf paths in our back garden. Our gardener, Ian, loved using it and found it easy to use, a real joy. Now it is part of my vintage garden tool collection, a great addition.”

“The old turf from our worn paths is soon removed and new rolls are soon down.”

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I next looked at a beautiful totally dried seed head of an Allium, which, with its spherical shape, tends to get blown around the garden with several others. We meet them at random times and places all overthe garden. We are always surprised by their simple beauty. I drew the Allium seed head using just a pencil. Looking and studying the Allium took much longer than the time spent with pencil moving on paper.

“The dried spherical seed heads of all our different sorts of ornamental Alliums remain in the garden through the winter months. They act as our own Avocet “tumbleweeds” as wind takes them on journeys.”

I hope you enjoy the close ups of my drawing below.

By turning the page we see little white birds and colourful bulb flowers. I wrote: “We bought three new stoneware sculptural pieces for our garden, three cheeky and chirpy Sparrows. We loved taking them around the garden seeing where they looked their best. We decided to keep moving them around as the mood took us. They, however, decided that their favourite place was our garden bench in “Arabella’s Garden”. Cheeky chappies indeed!

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Opposite the photos of the sculpture birds are photos of early flowers, Irises and Hellebores.

“Iris reticula, the first bulb to flower in 2017.”

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“Meanwhile Hellebores are budding up strongly, so we will have flowers in Feb.”

January frosts feature on the next double page spread.

“On the early hours of the days following cold frosty nights, the flowers which give colour to our January garden, were topped off with cold, icy halos.”

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“Cold nights also gave our sculpture pieces a thin layer of icing sugar.”

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My next page was titled simply “January Frosts” and featured a series of photographs of foliage and seedheads covered in a thin covering of frost and icy crystals.

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Turn over to the next page and we leave the frost behind and take a look at one of our Birches, Betula albosinensis “Septentronalis”, one of the best Betulas around.

“Plant of the month – Betula albosinensis “Septentronalis”. This Birch is an elegant tree with an open canopy so casts little shade. We grow it mostly for its colourful bark which peels to expose clean, more colourful bark beneath. This is best described as pale salmon coloured which peels back to show gingers beneath. This tree also produces beautiful long catkins.”

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I collected up some peeled bark from the tree and glued two pieces side by side to illustrate how different the layers of bark can be.

Betula albosinensis “Septentronalis” is probably one of the best trees for the small garden and no garden should be without one. Larger gardens can host a trio of them!

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And that is it for my Garden Journal in January. Perhaps in February winter may be biting deeper or we may be experiencing one of our occasional February heatwaves when temperatures can reach 17 celsius.

fruit and veg garden buildings garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public kitchen gardens National Trust ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture The National Trust walled gardens walled kitchen gardens Winter Gardening winter gardens woodland woodlands

A Walk in the Park – Attingham in January – Part Two – Woodland Walk

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 6, 2017
2 Comments on A Walk in the Park – Attingham in January – Part Two – Woodland Walk

Back with the second part of our report of our January visit to Attingham Park we find ourselves taking the path into the woodland at this Shropshire National Trust property.

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When leaving the walled garden the visitor has the choice of two walks and we decided to follow the 3 mile “Woodland Walk” as the weather seemed set dry for the day. Next month when we make our February visit we will follow the “Mile Walk”.

Just a short way into our walk we came across the “Burning Site” marked by a wooden deer complete with impressive antlers. We like gardens with a touch of humour so we were delighted to discover this family of owls created from wood offcuts left after trees surgery work. They were created by the gardeners as a competition. We loved them all!

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Walking in woodlands in the winter helps highlight textures and patterns not easily spotted when the trees and shrubs are in full leaf. The gentle colours of lichens and mosses are more easily appreciated too as they carpet tree trunks. Please follow the gallery below featuring bark textures and the colours of lichen and mosses. The texture of fallen trees is changed over the years by the huge array of hard-working fungi present in the woodlands. Without these fungi the fallen wood would pile up so the fungi’s function of breaking down the dead trees is essential to the well-being of the woodland ecosystem. Click on the first photo and navigate using the right hand arrow.

Woodland walks are made more interesting by the manner in which rays of light penetrate the canopy, creating patterns and patches of strong contrasting light.

After enjoying exploring the woodland following the Woodland Walk way-marked path we cut back across the parkland to the house itself. First glimpse of the house is through a framework of Cupressus trees. To find this view we crossed over two stone bridges which took the path over water and the stonework attracted as much lichen as the tree trunks did.

Our return to Attingham Park will be in February when we will look at the Walled Garden again and then follow the much shorter walk, the Mile Walk.

Tags Attingham Park, gardens of Shropshire, gardens of the National Trust, lichen, mosses, National Trust, parkland, Shropshire, Shropshire gardens, texture, textured bark, textures, The National Trust, woodland, woodland garden, woodland gardening, woodland gardens, woodlands

buildings garden buildings garden furniture garden photography garden seating garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials nurseries Shropshire village gardens walled gardens Yellow Book Gardens

Mynd Hardy Plants – return to a favourite nursery.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 16, 2016
2 Comments on 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.

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.

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.

Tags garden buildings, glasshouses, hardy perennials, independent nurseries, Mynd Hardy Plants, NGS, NGS gardens, nurseries, old glasshouses, Shropshire, Shropshire gardens, walled garden, walled gardens, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

community gardening fruit and veg garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials July National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture Powis Powys recycling sculpture town gardens Wales Yellow Book Gardens

Ponthafren – an amazing community garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 30, 2016
2 Comments on Ponthafren – an amazing community garden.

We love visiting community gardens whenever we can find one to explore. We like to see what they are trying to do and particularly how gardening is involved in their client activities. We were delighted to find one open under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme not far away just over the Welsh border into Powys. As we approached over a river bridge and first spotted the building we were taken aback by its sheer size. It looked an impressive building with its gardens sloping down to the river bank.

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We received a warm welcome from the volunteers who ran the centre and enjoyed a tasty cup of tea and extravagant looking cup cake each as we chatted and learned more about the work of the group. We were amazed at what we heard and were full of admiration.

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We couldn’t wait to wander around the garden and see what the volunteer leaders and their clients were up to on this steeply sloping wooded riverside site.

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Bunting and flags always add to the feeling of being warmly welcome in any garden and here they fluttered in profusion.

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Mosaics were popular ways of decorating features here from table tops to sundials. The clients created these in their art and craft sessions.

There were clues at every turn that wildlife was welcome to share the garden with the clients, volunteers and visitors.

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There was such a sense of humour prevailing throughout the community garden and many craft items created by the clients illustrated this.

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As with any garden whatever its primary function fine examples of plants are good to see.

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Productive gardening was all part of the work here with the produce grown and nurtured by the clients being sold to help raise funds for the community garden. Wormeries sat in one corner working away producing compost and liquid feed for the veg.

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We found some fine examples of craftwork in metal and fabrics among the plants on the slopes.

We finished our tour by taking wooden steps and gravel paths down to the riverside where we ended beneath colourful cheerful bunting just as we had started. We were so glad to have discovered this special place run by such special people and they also told us of another community not too far away which may be a place for a future visit.

Tags communal gardens, community, community gardening, community spirit, fruit and veg growing, gardening for wildlife, outdoor sculpture, productive gardening

climbing plants colours garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials light light quality National Garden Scheme photography roses Shropshire Yellow Book Gardens

What our visitors saw in August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 19, 2016
1 Comment on 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.

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.

Tags August, clematis, colour in the garden, garden wildlife, gardens, roses, salvias, summer, summer gardens

conservation garden design garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden wildlife gardening hardy perennials Herefordshire National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture sculpture water in the garden wildlife Yellow Book Gardens

A beautiful wildlife garden in Herefordshire

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 31, 2016
1 Comment on A beautiful wildlife garden in Herefordshire

Today we travelled further than we usually do for our regular visits to NGS gardens and made our way southwards through South Shropshire and down through Herefordshire to a tiny village near Ross-on-Wye. Even the approach to this garden was special as we left the temporary car park in a farmyard and followed a narrow track through a narrow band of woodland down towards the cottage and its garden. The description in the NGS Yellow Book promised a great afternoon out in a quirky cottage garden created for wildlife and managed organically. We were not to be disappointed in any way!

We found a steep driveway as we left the woodland shade and slowly made our way down it to the cottage below passing floriferous meadows all the way. We were delighted to see orchids in with more common meadow flowers.

We paid our entry fees and met the gardener who like us loved peaceful gardens full of wildlife especially. As we spoke I noticed this little selection of artifacts found in the garden. It was to set the tone for the day.

As we slowly ambled along the many meandering softly surfaced paths we kept one eye on the plants and another on the look out for more artifacts and sculptural pieces. We first found this perky looking pig! We found many more varied pieces to amuse, appeal and amaze.

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This was a garden that invited us to wander and explore its many paths, to discover its calm and restful character. It succeeded in doing what we hope our garden does, to make you feel calm and contented. The planting was gentle and brought to mind the writings of William Robinson, especially how he expressed his philosophy of gardening in his book, The Wild Garden.

We shall now take a wander around this lovely gentle garden by following the pics in this gallery. As usual just click on the first picture and use the navigation arrows.

This was such a beautiful garden which welcomed other gardeners and wildlife alike, and was so full of atmosphere. We hope we are able to return one day in the future.

Tags garden sculpture, gardening for wildlife, Herefordshire, Herefordshire gardens, outdoor sculpture, the wildlife garden, wildlife gardening, Yellow Book, Yellow Book Gardens

canals garden design garden furniture garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS nurseries ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture sculpture trees water garden water in the garden wildlife

John’s Garden – Ashwood Nurseries.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 25, 2016
2 Comments on John’s Garden – Ashwood Nurseries.

We have wanted to visit John’s Garden for a long time but have never been able to attend on any of his open days, so when we noticed that a private visit was planned for the Shropshire Group of the Hardy Plant Society we were determined to go along. It is always worth going on these garden visits which give the chance to share the experience with your friends and also share their joint expertise and interest.

John Massey is well known for breeding his own strains of Hellebores and more recently Hepaticas too. He is also an excellent speaker and he has spoken to our Shropshire HPS group several times.

As we wandered down the drive to his bungalow we stopped to admire this imaginatively clipped hedge like billowing clouds. Opposite this was a lawned area with a small collection of interesting trees and some crazy sheep sculptures grazing the grass.

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As we entered the main garden there was more smart pruning deserving a closer look, including this Pyrus salicifolia shaped into an umbrella.

Let us take a quick look at a few photos of garden vistas, views which tempted us onwards.

Sculpture featured strongly in John’s garden and here is a selection for you to enjoy.

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Some well-chosen and carefully placed sculptures adorned the area around a beautiful pool. The planting was intriguing too and called out for closer examination.

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A second much smaller water feature was surrounded by a collection of beautiful plants. The little fountain raised the water just a few inches before it dropped back creating gentle ripples and a relaxing sound.

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The area of garden around the back of the house was partly covered with a large pergola over paved areas. Imaginatively planted containers and plenty of seats made this a restful area inviting the visitor to sit and relax to enjoy the succulents and alpines. From the paved area a lawned areas sloped gently down to the canal, a lovely feature acting as the boundary to a garden.

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John and his garden team seem very good at putting plants together especially using foliage as the link pulling the design together.

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As in any good garden however good plant combinations and plant communities are, there are always individual specimens that draw the visiting gardener in for a closer look.

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We really enjoyed our leisurely walk around John’s Garden particularly as we were accompanied by John himself, who was such a generous, knowledgeable and humorous guide. We were lucky to share this garden with the owner and chief gardener.

But I shall leave you with two surprises we had during our journey, a totally unexpected border, a newly built stumpery and a lovely close-up view of a frog on top of a topiary sphere!

Tags Ashwood Nurseries, cloud pruning, garden sculpture, John's Garden, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, stumpery, succulents, trees and shrubs

colours garden design garden furniture garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public hardy perennials lakes light light quality ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture sculpture shrubs town gardens water garden water in the garden wildlife woodland

Winterbourne House Gardens – a city garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date July 22, 2016
5 Comments on Winterbourne House Gardens – a city garden

You don’t very often find yourself travelling into the centre of a major city to find a beautiful garden but that is exactly what we had to do to find a garden that had been on our bucket list for years, Winterbourne House Gardens. We travelled along three motorways, the M54, the M6 and finally the A38M into Birmingham until we found the street we were looking for and just 600 yards down there we found the entrance to the garden. Putting up with the motorway journey and the city traffic was soon lost from our minds as the entrance was so welcoming and we knew we were in for a wonderful day.

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Obviously we started our visit by obeying the sign above! The only downside of a visit to this garden is the tearoom being much too small for a wet and cold day. But the garden itself was a beauty with views, pathways and archways to invite us to explore further.

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A botanical garden though is all about special plants and the way they are grown together. There were plenty for us to study at Winterbourne and to help take our minds off the dull skies and increasing threat of heavy showers.

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Little features that draw the eye added extra points of interest to our wanderings.

An unexpected treat was found as we took a path through woodland, a shaded walk alongside a large lake. The light was very special there. Looking out over the lake we could see the skyscrapers of the city. This was the only time we were aware of our city centre location during our wanderings.

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After enjoying our lakeside promenade we followed the winding path through the water gardens where the giant leaves of Gunneras and Dalmeras dominated and the wide ranging colours of Primulas added interest to the greens.

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We love to see sculpture in gardens so were delighted to spot these beautiful slate pieces inviting us to read their words. We were amazed to discover that one piece was based on a clock – beautiful!

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So we discovered another garden that we enjoyed so much that we have added it to our favourite list. A great garden in a great city.

Tags Birmingham, city gardens, cornus, cornus kousa, garden sculpture, hard, outdoor sculpture, primulas, sculpture, water gardening, water in the garden, Winterbourne House Gardens

colours garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs village gardens wildlife

My Garden Journal in June

Half way through the year and we are also at the half way point of my garden journal. Here is my journal for June – I hope you enjoy it!

“It is June and the sky is blue and the sun warms us as we garden. These summer days mean relaxed hours in the garden and it is tiredness or aching backs that stop work rather than the dark.”

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I added four photos of general garden views below the first paragraph.

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On the opposite page I featured a tiny simple grass, a favourite but also a bit of a nuisance. It is the Common Quaking Grass. It moves in the slightest breeze.

“We have a grass growing on the Chatto Garden, our gravel patch. It is beautiful and looks so delicate but unfortunately it is a thug!”

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Turn over the page and we find two pages mostly of photographers.

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“Individual plants in our garden give points of interest, encourage interest and admiration but it is putting plants together in a sympathetic manner gives our garden its character and special atmosphere and creates different moods.”

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“Flower colours can contrast with or compliment other colours on other plants both flower and foliage. Good combinations can come from different plants’ foliage working together. These combinations can be restful or even startle us!”

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Over the next page I talk about two yellow flowering plants, the Welsh Wanderer, the Welsh Poppy and an aquilegia.

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“Welsh Wanderer – Meconopsis cambrica, decides each year where it will set up home. It is a champion self-seeder!”

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“Aquilegia chrysantha is a beautiful tall aquilegia with flowers of various yellow tints.”

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I finish off my June entries in my Garden Journal with a look at some of the tiny creatures who live in our garden with us.

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“Tiny critters who share our plot with us are mostly made warmly welcome and we enjoy seeing and hearing them as they explore our borders. Slugs and snails of course are the big exception to our welcoming attitude!”

I painted the caterpillar of the Grey Dagger Moth in watercolours and artist colour pens. It was a big challenge to show how hairy and brightly coloured it was.

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For the final page in June I painted some of our common snails, the Banded Snails that come in a mixture of colours and the Garden Snail. Again I used a mixture of watercolours and artists pens.

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For my next visit to my Garden Journal we will move into the second half of the year and into mid-summer.

Tags colour combinations, colour contrasts, foliage, foliage plants, garden journal, gardening, June

birds climbing plants colours flowering bulbs garden design garden photography garden ponds garden pools garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses hardy perennials house martins light light quality ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs roses Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs spring gardening succulents swallows water in the garden wildlife

My Garden Journal in May

Just as I completed my journal for June I realised that I had not yet posted “My Garden Journal for May”, so here it is now for you to enjoy! The June journal report won’t be far behind!

Summer creeping in can only mean that our May garden is changing by the day. Exuberance in every border with things growing before your eyes. A month of excitement! I began my May entry in my garden journal by writing,

“May means exuberance! It is the month when our garden shows us the ability it has to surprise. It shows off its strength and its artistic talents. Growth is so rapid and colour so exciting, that we are aware of what our garden means to us and also aware of its power that Mother Nature possesses and uses with pride and to excess!”

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I then turn to looking back at my original garden journey recording the first few years that we have lived and gardened at Avocet.

“Looking back in my garden journal that recorded the early years at Avocet, I read a paragraph that shows just how similar May is now.

“The garden is bursting with life – butterflies including Holly Blues, bees and so many birds. Suddenly the garden is alive with birds giving extra colour, sound and movement. There seems to be so many finches – Goldfinches, Chaffinches and Greenfinches. Swifts, Swallows and House Martins swoop overhead especially in the evening.”

Sadly though there are far fewer Swifts, Swallows and House Martins overhead. So many have not survived their long migrations. What does the future hold for these beautiful acrobats?”

Turning over the page of my journal and we see the next two pages feature Acers and Roses.

“Acers are one of the many stars of the May garden, a month when their foliage and stems are delicate and colourful.”

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“May means Roses and by the middle of the month we have many buds and pioneer blooms. Reds and pinks dominate at the moment. Yellows and oranges are still to come.”

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I moved on to look at one of the climbers we enjoy in our garden and at the grasses that have now started to grow rapidly.

“Think of climbers early in the summer garden and Clematis is the first plant to spring to mind.”

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“Grasses are growing quickly now and the myriad shades of green move skyward in our borders.”

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Turning over again and succulents are discussed. These are a recent interest and I have only been growing them and propagating them for a few years.

Succulent plants are an interest that has grown over the last few years. Beginning with Aeoniums and Echeverias I soon branched out.”

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“Troughs of succulents grace the Rill Garden in May and on into October when the risk of frost mean that they retreat to the warmth of our greenhouse.”

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When we turn over next we see that I talk of Hostas and in particular those growing in our Bog Garden. The bog garden is so full of life at the moment with plants growing appreciably by the day.

“Hostas are one of the more subtle of our garden favourites both their foliage and later in the year their flowers. The Bog Garden next to our Wildlife Pond and snuggled up to it is a place of rapid growth in May.”

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White is not a colour I particularly appreciate in the garden and as a result I do not use it much.

“White is not my favourite colour in the garden. I particularly do not like white painted garden furniture or white painted fences, trellises or walls. We tend to paint our seats in ivory or cream which are much softer colours particularly on bright sunny days. Our fences we paint in browns and trellis work in gentle shades of green which acts as a great foil for our plants. I think this dislike of white is to do with our weather as it can work so well in other countries. Where flowers are concerned I appreciate them most in May when white can look good with the brightness of fresh foliage. Below are photos of a few particularly good white flowers, Viburnums, Cornus, white Bluebells, Iberis and Camassias. Some of these are the purest of white where others have gentle hints of colour. The Camassia has a green tint to it and the Iberis the gentlest hint of pink.”

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