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A Short Break in Devon Yeo Valley Organic Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 11, 2024

On the final day of our break in Devon we visited the organic gardens at Yeo Valley. The weather was far drier and warmer than the previous two so this visit seemed so much more casual.

The garden here was divided into several different ‘rooms’, each with its own atmosphere, design and planting choices. Quirkiness however featured throughout so it was a garden of surprises.

The beautiful planting throughout the gardens is full of inspiration. Planting combinations are a real feature of the garden.

Sculpture has a big part to play in making the gardens at Yeo Valley as interesting as they are. The pieces are in many different styles and are positioned to enhance the spaces around them and vice versa.

Several of the different planting areas featured large clumps or blocks of one or two plants, such as the grass border and this meadow. This makes for strong planting design.

Equally single plants can attract us in the same way. These individuals draw you in and entice you to take their portraits.

After we had explored what we thought was most of the garden, we discovered a couple of completely different areas, a meadow with a yurt and a gravel garden affording the opportunity to grow such different plants. We continued to come across more pieces of sculpture.

The gravel garden covered a larger area than most of the other areas giving opportunities to plant many different and interesting plants.

We enjoyed this garden because it was full of fun ideas, interesting planting and joyful sculptural pieces. We were so glad we finally made it to the Yeo Valley Organic Gardens. They were as good as we expected them to be!

Tags garden, gardening, nature, plants, travel

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My Garden Journal 2024 October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 8, 2024

When starting my garden journal for October 2024 I wrote “October is when autumn really gets going and evidence of the new season is all around us in our garden and in the countryside. The most obvious changes to look out for are changes in leaf colour and ripening fruits.

The main fruit for eating that we pick this month is the apple. We have 20 different apple varieties in the garden, 4 trained over arches, 4 stepovers and 12 cordons.”

“Crabapples are in our garden for their decorative qualities, but they also help desert apples to get pollinated effectively.”

“Autumn colours are starting to develop early in the month.”

Onto the next page where I looked at some of our sorbus varieties all in berry. I wrote, “Sorbus give the garden so many different coloured berries and autumnal leaves all together. They are closely linked to our native Rowan or Mountain Ash.”

On the page opposite I looked at other berried trees and shrubs where I wrote, “But it is not just sorbus that have coloured berries. There are plenty more – cotoneaster, lonicera, hypericum, holly and arum lily

Next page featured some of our hardy fuchsia and I noted that, “It’s amazing how you can discover plants that you have ignored for years. This is what happenedto us when we started to grow fuchsias again. This happened when we found plants F. “Thalia” and F’ microphylla at Stocktonbury Bury and Croft Castle respectively.”

The final photo in the set above we grow mostly for its unusual blue-grey foliage. It is almost worth growing just for its long name which I can never remember the whole of! Fuschia microphylla ssp. hemsleyana ‘Silver Lining’.

On the page oppsite the fuschias I feature roses! I wrote, “In some years some roses seem to keep flowering out of season, usually to the end of December. Hips are now getting fatter and redder. Sadly October’s strong winds snap off whole branches loaded with flowers and hips.”

Then I shared six photos of late flowers.

Next page ,which is the final page for this month, shows some of the garden tasks we found time to do. I noted that, “October has been a very difficult month with so much rain that the ground has been saturated. We had several jobs planned and then delayed by wind and rain. We had to repair wind damaged branches and tie in wild shoots. In the first photo Jude is tying in a wild rose branch. The other photos show us emptying and re-planting the Prairie Garden.”

I finished off the October entries into my garden journal with the words, “We now have to wait to find out if our work has been successful.”

Tags autumn, garden, gardening, nature, plants

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A Short Break in Devon – A Walk on the Wildside

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 3, 2024
1 Comment on A Short Break in Devon – A Walk on the Wildside

Our short break in Devon in mid-June presented us the chance of visiting a garden I had wanted to visit since it was first open, Wildside, the creation of the well-known horticulturalist Keith Wiley. Keith was originally head gardener of the nearby Garden House, a garden we really liked when we visited several years ago.

Keith moved to a flat site on which he and his wife would develop a garden and build a house. Sadly his wife died before the garden was completed, but Keith carried on with their plans. The key to his design ideas was to shape the land into hills and valleys, which created more habitats for planting.

Even on the short walk walk from the carpark to the garden entrance we found these stunning hydrangeas in flower.

Keith’s first purchase had been a small JCB style digger which allowed him to shape the land and start planting trees and shrubs. Gravel pathways meandered throughout the landscaped areas enabling us to see so much of his planting close up.

We arrived in torrential rain which just refused to stop or even give over a little, so it was no surprised that we were the only visitors. But this did mean that we were greeted by Keith himself. He gave us a lot of his time, telling us about how he had developed the garden and advised us on the best routes to take to enjoy what was currently looking at its best. The planting was on different layers with herbaceous plants looking colourful beneath shrubs and small trees.

We returned to the the garden entrance before exploring the opposite side of the garden following more instructions from Keith who suggested areas that we just had to see. Several parts of the garden on this side were planted to remind him of his travels.

The furthest parts of the garden illustrated just how serious some of the earthmoving exploits were.

As we were wandering around these parts of the landscape the winds increased and the rain became even stronger so we returned to the garden entrance and made our way back to the car. At the garden entrance we admired flower arrangements using materials from the garden.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, gardens, travel

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A Monthly Wander Around the Gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – October

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 29, 2024
2 Comments on A Monthly Wander Around the Gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – October

Mid-October and we visited Oakgate Nursery and Garden in order to purchase a few new plants, asters and grasses for our Prairie Garden which we are currently revamping.

It was so good to see salvias still looking so floriferous. They seem to grow really well in the garden here. We were hoping to see some early signs of autumn so we looked out for shrubs and trees showing early rich coloured foliage. We also hoped to see plenty of flowers around as every month manages to produce some flower colours.

Around the outdoor seating areas for the cafe, autumn had arrived with Acers and Cornus contraversa ‘Variegata’ commonly called ‘The Wedding Cake Tree’ showing extra colour on their foliage. Hydrangeas were still flowering well!

A general view across the first part of the garden showed how foliage colour can add so much interest, while looking downwards just in front of our feet this lovely circle of cyclamen was flowering well.

On our October visit we also witnessed several shrubs and trees displaying berries, such as Callicarpa bodinieri and Euonymous alata with its startling orange and deep pink berries

And berrying trees are performing well this year especially Sorbus. Each cultivar has its own berry colour.

Other shrubs were showing that autumn has arrived by developing their leaf colours into yellows, oranges and reds and occasionally pink.

Taking a small path through a wide border and then a coniferous hedge we realised how the orchard trees were full of fruit, mostly apples but also a medlar.

The Rose Garden presented us with a surprise as there were so many roses in flower and bud. There were a few other flowers around giving welcome colour to the border.

A good way to finish this look at Oakgate gardens is a gallery of photos showing autumn foliage colours.

Tags autumn, garden, gardening, nature, plants

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My Garden Journal 2024 September

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 12, 2024
1 Comment on My Garden Journal 2024 September

Some people think that September is the first month of autumn, but I like to tag it onto summer in the hope that we get an ‘Indian Summer’ which is always such a treat.

Sadly September this year failed us in that regard, as it was colder and wetter than usual. But there was still plenty to look at in our garden.

There were plenty of jobs to do too! We decided to revamp Arabella’s Garden, the garden we made for our granddaughter. We began by clearing the areas we had become uncomfortable with. Once clear we improved the soil with compost and set the plants out where we wanted them to go to check the layout looked okay.

The key plant was a bright greenish-yellow grass, a hakonochloa. We added some ajuga with variegated foliage and a muckendenia. The idea was to keep the overall planting height quite low, so other plants would sit among the hakonechloa neatly.

We planted low growing bulbs too, Anemone blanda and Narcissus golden bells.

I ordered from Ebay 10 tiny baby plantlets of Kalanchoe daigremontiana so planted them into cells to get them started.

While moving a succulent in a terracotta pot I noticed this rather handsome moth with beautiful markings, in particular its pale yellow ‘Y’ shape on each wing. Using my Apple mobile phone I found out it’s called a ‘Silver Y’ but on my specimen the ‘Y’ shapes definitely look yellow. The rest of its colours and patterns are in shades of grey with some chocolate brown markings. The ‘Silver Y’ is a migratory moth and is likely to be the commonest of our migrators.

Sadly throughout 2024 our unusual cotoneaster, the yellow berried Cotoneaster rothschildianus has been looking increasingly unhealthy until late summer when it lost all its foliage and looked dead. On close inspection we found this to be the case, so Ian our gardener and I worked together to take it up.

The photo below left shows the place where roots should have been but they are completely missing.

An important task to be done at this time of the year is to thin out the branches of our Malus ‘Butterball’ so Ian set about thinning out badly shaped, crossing branches as well as any dead or diseased ones.

We soon had an audience of very nosey sheep who fancied a nibble of the malus leaves, sometimes pulling branches from us or having a sort of tug of war trying to pull branches through the fence.

The view outwards once the butterball was cleaned up was more open and we could see the hills better than before.

One of the brightest flowering plants in our September garden is this orange, yellow and red Mahonia called Mahonia nitens ‘Cabaret’. It attracts so many pollinators that it buzzes with sounds of bees, wasps and hoverflies.

So that was September in our Avocet garden. Fingers crossed that October is kinder to us and the garden.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, gardening-tips, plants

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A Short Break in Devon – RHS Garden Rosemoor Part 2 Looking at the Themed Gardens

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 10, 2024

As neither of us are keen on rose gardens, preferring to see roses used as shrubs in mixed borders, we missed out the “Queen’s Mother’s Rose Garden” and the “Shrub Rose Garden”. As the Winter Garden had been redesigned by well-known garden designer Jo Thompson it was in the middle of a rebuild so we had to miss out that garden too.

Thus the first of the themed gardens we explored was the “Cool Garden” designed in 2019 by Jo Thompson and was based on imaginative use of water rills lined with granite setts with curved stone walls. The planting features grey foliage and blue, white and pastel flowers.

Sculptures of birdlife added liveliness and extra beauty to the Cool Garden. The wren added a strong contrast to the birds of prey.

We also enjoyed how the crisp white pieces featuring seabirds and a barn owl sat within the greenery.

It never ceases to amaze me how sympathetically sculpture fits into gardens. The RHS is very good at exhibiting sculptural pieces in their gardens and over the years we have enjoyed several.

The next garden room we entered was a strong contrast to “The Cool Garden” being “The Hot Garden”. The planting was so different as was the feel of the garden. It was a clever decision placing these two gardens next door to each other.

There was a strong contrast in the planting within “The Hot Garden” utilising stronger, brighter colours.

Another of the themed gardens here at Rosemoor that we have always enjoyed is the Cottage Garden, so I will share some photos of that area next. On the way to the cottage Garden we stopped to have a look at this lovely wildflower bank and these two strongly coloured, cheerful looking roses.

The Cottage Garden itself was full of interesting plant combinations and some old apple trees.

I will finish off looking at RHS Rosemoor with a gallery of photographs taken as we explored these wonderful, inspirational gardens.

We will be visiting other RHS gardens before too long and we know we will really appreciate the expertise of the staff and volunteers.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, nature, photography

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A Monthly Wander around the Garden at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – September

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 4, 2024

On a dark sky day with frequent showers, some of them very heavy, we visited Oakgate Nursery and Garden as we needed some plants to redo a section of our garden and some compost.

As usual we started off with coffee and cake and while doing so the heavens opened and hefty storms followed closely one after another. We were hoping for a break in the clouds so that we could get out into the garden or nursery.

Eventually a time came when the rain became much lighter so we decided we would don waterproof jackets and go into the nursery. Further storms broke up our perusal of the plants so we took refuge in the covered areas. We were eventually successful in making our purchases. Then as the rain stopped we quickly took off on a wander around the gardens.

Many perennials were showing early signs of autumn, seed pods were forming and petals drooping and beginning to dry.

Other perennials were just beginning their flowering periods, those autumn flowering plants that give extra colour at autumn time.

Foliage on some trees and shrubs were showing premature signs of autumn colours in their foliage.

One change in gardens at this time of year which is appreciated by ourselves and even more so by birds and mammals is the appearance of berries.

One of our favourite features of gardens at this time of year is the spiral seed-heads of clematis. I will finish off this report of our September exploration of the Oakgate Gardens with a couple of photographs of these seed-heads.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, native-plants, plants

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A Short Break in Devon – part one – RHS Rosemoor

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 2, 2024

In mid-June this summer we took off southwards for a long drive down the motorways for a mid-week break in Devon, taking in some visits to 3 gardens, RHS Rosemoor, Wildside and Yeo Valley Organic Garden. The weather forecast promised heavy rain!

Day one saw us breakfasting at the restaurant at the RHS garden Rosemoor, which we have visited a few times before.

There is so much to see at Rosemore that we never know where to start or which route way around the many acres to follow. The above rather beautiful map helped us in planning our route.

We made our way towards the woodland area passing some beautiful plants along the way such as this Cornus kousa and deeply coloured rose.

Just as we reached the woodland edge we were surprised to find this beautiful rustic building.

Behind the building a stone wall covered in plants acted as the boundary to the woodland.

We enjoyed wandering along the footpaths through the cool calm woodland, an antidote to the warm humidity outside.

In the woodlands we came across some sculptural pieces, starting with the wood carving of an acorn above, and still within the trees a bronze deer, a wooden cone and an owl carved into the trunk of a dead tree.

In the children’s woodland play area were large metal sculptures of insects and invertebrates.

We discovered other sculptures in wood and stone, the one stone piece being a balancing work.

It wasn’t long before we met the first of the themed gardens which we were looking forward to exploring as they had been developed since. we last visited. I will continue with these themed gardens in the next Rosemore post. As weather often seems to be at the forefront of gardeners’ minds I will look at the Cool Garden and the Hot Garden.

Tags garden, gardening, gardens, nature

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My Garden Journal 2024 August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 18, 2024
1 Comment on My Garden Journal 2024 August

I began my August entries in my Garden Journal 2024 by writing, “August, according to our childhood memories of the 1950’s, is a month of permanent sunshine, pure blue skies and calm days. This year such days mingle with dark grey, but the garden is so colourful it makes up for it.”

I then share a set of pictures of colourful patches in the garden.

On the page opposite our Crocosmias I wrote, “May is the month when most of our Alliums are in flower enhancing the garden with so many shades of purple, but their flower heads are fascinating through the rest of summer and on into autumn and winter. I have drawn a flowerhead as its seedheads are developing and still green. Not all of the flowers were pollinated however.”

On the next double page spread I shared gardening jobs for the month of August and looked at some of our many colourful sedums.

I noted that, “In the summer many garden jobs need doing almost daily such as deadheading and tying in climbers. Others are done less frequently but regularly such as brushing up the drive edges . Hedge cutting happens once a year, a job we leave to Ian.”

Now for a look at some of our sedums about which I wrote, “We grow so many different types of sedum and we chose them for the different flower colour and foliage colour and shape. Below are just a few of our many sedum.”

The final two pages are all about wildlife and phlox.

When looking at some of our insect friends I began by writing, “As we sat enjoying a coffee at the big table in the ‘Secret Garden’ we were entertained by bird calls. Our local Jackdaw flock, known as a ‘clattering’, regularly gave us a noisy flyby. Smaller flocks of starlings joined in on occasion. A swooping ‘gulp’ of swallows appeared for the first time in weeks,’ possibly a group from further north taking a well-deserved rest break. All around us insects explored flowering plants.”

Green Shield Bug eggs and youngster (left) adult (right) Palomena prasina.

Left: Pimpla rufipes ichneuma Right: European Potter Wasp

Anciotroclerus gazell

Opposite the wildlife little bugs I focussed on phlox and wrote, “We have been gardening together now for over 5 decades and until 2 years ago we refused to grow phlox. We both disliked them but slowly we started adding them to some of our borders as we both totally changed our minds about them.”

Below are 9 photos of some of the phlox we now grow!

So, with Phlox we finish the look at our garden in August 2024. I will look at my garden journal next time in September.

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A Monthly Wander around the Gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 10, 2024
1 Comment on A Monthly Wander around the Gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden – August

Not as warm or sunny as recent visits to Oakgate have been but we still found plenty to interest us as we followed the well-worn grass pathways taking us around and between the garden beds.

We were sat outside enjoying our coffee and cake and once finished we followed the pathway that took us over the bridge across a pond. This clematis was back in flower as was the water lily. Young Rudd and Goldfish played follow the leader in and out of plants.

Within a few yards of the garden entrance we had discovered several interesting perennials, including this Lysimachia with flower heads like the head and necks of ducks.

Hydrangeas are a real feature of the Oakgate borders, some we like others have flower heads that are just too large.

All the photos of hydrangeas so far have been white varieties, but far more cheerful and interesting were the more colourful ones in shades of pinks and blues.

Although not many of the resident perennials were in flower the day we visited the sunlight when it appeared lit each petal up for us to enjoy.

It was a surprise to see that the old orchard has been repurposed as a picnic site for visitors to enjoy.

I shall finish off my report of our August visit to Oakgate Nursery and Garden by sharing photos of two berberis with very different variegated foliage. The darker one I think is called ‘Harlequin’ but the other is new to me.