greenbenchramblings

Bridgemere Show Gardens – our new year’s monthly visits – January 2025

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 10, 2025
2 Comments on Bridgemere Show Gardens – our new year’s monthly visits – January 2025

The show gardens at Bridgemere Garden Centre are situated alongside the sales area selling shrubs, and are described in a leaflet as “An award-winning day out for all”. It is now an RHS Partner Garden and is open all year. We decided we would visit monthly and report back as monthly posts in my greenbenchramblings.wordpress,com blog.

The 6 acres here are home to 15 individual gardens with extra planted areas and pathways to give a sense of cohesion. Several of the gardens were first seen at RHS Chelsea and RHS Tatton Park shows and many of those were awarded gold or silver gilt medals.

The first show garden we came across was “The Cottage Garden” which was complete with a little brick built cottage and a typical garden which would be busily worked to provide fruit, vegetables and cut flowers for the owners and their family.

We moved on from there towards the pond, finding many mature trees and shrubs along the way. We also searched for plants of the season.

First siting of the pond was this view below but we could hear the sounds of the waterfall. We love the sound of moving water be it freshwater of rivers and streams or the sound of moving tides at the beach.

This sign of winter reflects the gardeners’ wish to grow plants that are not hardy such as these Tree Ferns (below left). A complete contrast and much more attractive than plants wrapped tight are the red stems of Cornus nearby (below right).

From the pond area we made our way towards the Spring and Winter Garden, passing the “Bandstand Garden” and the “Folly Garden” along the way.

The sign for the Spring and Winter Garden described it as “A garden to savour and lift your spirits with pockets of spring colour and an abundance of fragrance.” This Witch Hazel, Hamamelis vernalis ‘Purpurea’ gave both colour and fragrance.

There were plenty more winter flowering shrubs as well as spring bulbs. But another Witch Hazel first caught my eye with its colours enriched by the winter sun, Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Old Copper|”.

The coloured stems of dogwoods, Cornus add vertical elements of colours mostly reds and greens.

Hellebores are one of the most popular winter flowering plants so we expected to see some in the Winter Garden. The white one was full of flowers but they kept their heads down.

Before we move onwards I will share with you two more flowering shrubs both fragrant but with very different aromas. On the left is Viburnum tinus and on the right Lonicera “Winter Beauty”.

After enjoying The Spring and Winter Garden, we made our way through the Tatton Garden where the structure of neatly trimmed hedges and topiary looked very sharp in the bright winter sun.

We made our way through several more gardens as we made for the exit and all the time we searched for typical winter garden features. I will finish with a gallery of some of them.

We will visit the show gardens again sometime in February the second of our monthly visits.

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

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My Garden Journal January 2025

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 1, 2025

A new month and a new year, January 2025. Let us hope that we gardeners and our gardens are dealt a better hand weatherwise than in 2023 and 2024.

I began this new year by writing, “January, a new month and a new year as well as we move into 2025. We hope this will be a kinder time for our garden and us looking after it.”

Then I considered some of the garden jobs for the month. “We tidied up the roof garden on the wood store” and then “We planted some new hellebores and revamped the planting beneath the stepover apples. Carex ‘Ice Dance’ became too invasive so we removed them and instead planted different carex cultivars to give variety.”

Onto the next double page spread I consider Birches and tree barks. I noted that, “I think Betulas, birches, are possibly the best tree for a smallish garden and so we have several specimens in both our front and back gardens. In winter on a sunny day they come to life. Their bark colour is accentuated and peeling bark turns orange.”

Still on the theme of trees my next page is all about variations of the properties of the bark of some of our trees, the colours, textures and patterns. Concerning this I wrote, “I wandered around our garden, camera in hand, to look at the trunks of our many trees and to compare their textures, colours and patterns. There were many worth photographing.”

Here I share nine of my photographs taken on that day.

The next double pages I looked at cloud pruning on the left page and opposite I showed a couple more garden jobs we completed in January.

“We have long admired cloud pruning of conifers often seen in Japanese gardens. In our garden we have cloud pruned a box hedge.Up until now we have never attempted to work with a conifer. We recently bought a cloud pruned pine, a Pinus nigra ‘Marie Bregeon’ and a Pinus nigra ‘Nana’ to cloud prune ourselves.”

Pinus nigra ‘Marie Bregeon’. Pinus nigra ‘Nana’

Tools of the trade Needle clump

Nearly there! All done!

On the opposite page I wrote that, “After too many days of frozen solid soil, when we passed mid-month the temperature shot up from -5C to +7C. So maybe we can get a fork or trowel in the soil.

We have now completed the planting of a variety of Carex plants beneath the stepover apples.”

“I fixed a solar light in the toolshed.”

Opposite the page about a couple of tasks is a more colourful page about Rose hips. I noted that, “Roses give us colourful blooms for many months starting late May flowering on into December. But roses don’t stop then. Several of ours give colourful hips in shades of red and orange and various shapes and sizes.”

My pencil crayon sketches below show the hips of Rosa ‘Summer Wine’ a climber and Rosa ‘Bobby James’ a rambler. The actual pencil crayons used were Derwent Inktense Crayons.

It is good to finish this month with some cheerful colours. We can now look forward to what February brings!

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, plants, pruning

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Our Week in the North York Moors – The Gardens at Yorkgate

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 28, 2025
1 Comment on Our Week in the North York Moors – The Gardens at Yorkgate

A garden we have always wanted to visit is Yorkgate on the northern edge of Leeds. Thus on our homeward journey after our week in the North Yorks Moors we took a short detour to allow us the chance to visit. The garden is now maintained by the charity, Perennial which ensures it has a healthy future.

The planting alongside the driveway to the carpark set the scene nicely for us. Naturally our first stop was the cafe where we had coffee and breakfast.

We were handed a simple plan of the garden so after leaving the restaurant we set off to discover what the garden had to offer.

Firstly I will create a small gallery of interesting plants.

The following selection of interesting plants is all about perennials, deserving of a close up look, the only exception is the rose and the miscanthus grass below.

Yorkgate is a garden where you must keep an eye out for longer views giving interest possibly group of plants but equally unusual garden features.

The garden presented us with surprises too, such as the way this shrub was shaped in such an unusual way. Later we found a similarly shaped climbing shrub on the gable end of a building.

A selection of garden cameos which lift a garden above the normal are found here frequently as we explore.

After waiting so long to visit the garden at Yorkgate, it was as good as we had anticipated. There are so many design and plant ideas, that it doesn’t matter how experienced a gardener you are, there is plenty to look at and lots of ideas to take away with you.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, gardens, plants

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Our Week on the North York Moors – Visiting Villages – Danby

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 23, 2025

As we crossed the moors driving towards Danby we could see and smell where the heather was being burnt to encourage new green shoots for grouse to eat. I really disapprove of this practice because it must destroy habitat for lots of creatures and the grouse are encouraged so that they can be shot.

After coffee and cakes (fancy brownies) we followed a footpath out towards Danby Castle. We crossed over a river after only walking for five minutes or so and nearby we found a sculpture depicting the river bailiff.

After crossing the river over the wooden bridge we followed the footpath onwards until we met a narrow country lane. On the footpath we found plenty of wildflowers, although mostly now turned to seedheads, and rich hedgerows.

One feature of the North York Moors is the big skies and on the day we walked this path they were blue with small white clouds adding extra beauty to the landscape.

The moors also boast some beautiful single span stone-built bridges with flood river depth signs nearby. This bridge no longer carried traffic which instead had to cross by ford.

The two padlocks locked together to the metal fencing are a traditional symbol of love. They are known as ‘love locks’ and often locked to fences or bridges so this one must be double strength as it is on a fence on a bridge.

We turned back at the bridge and retraced our steps back to the centre. We decided to look for seed-heads and berries and perhaps an odd late flower or two.

We had a surprise, well two actually as we returned to the information centre as we spotted a large dragon created in metal and wood and behind that a circle of leaning posts to encourage visitors to lean back on a post and look upwards.

With those two surprises we ended our walk and made our way back to the car.

Back at the cottage I took a photo of this railway poster featuring Goathland/Aidensfield.

Tags canal, hiking, photography, travel, walking

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My Garden Journal 2024 December

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 13, 2025
1 Comment on My Garden Journal 2024 December

This will be my final visit to my Garden Journal in 2024 as I share my entries for December.

I began by writing “December is going to be a month of repairing all the damage that rough weather has caused in the garden. The worst affected plants are tall grasses and perennials, all bent flat to the ground.”

“Patches of the garden are now unrecognisable.”

Below I share eight photos of the destruction.

On the opposite page I considered hellebores especially the ones already flowering and I noted that, “Early flowering hellebores are such a special treat when they open up in December. There is a smaller range of colours now than in the new year. Some also have beautiful foliage.”

Over onto the next double page spread I featured hellebores with interesting foliage and opposite I look at gardening tasks for December.

I wrote, “The foliage of hellebores can vary so much in colour, texture and shape. Many are silver or delicately patterned.”

Delicate yellow pattern. Glaucous with jagged edges

Patterned foliage. Glaucous smooth foliage.

Palmate bright green foliage. Patterned foliage.

Most cut leaved of our hellebores. Removing old foliage.

Moving on to consider gardening tasks for the month, I wrote, “Throughout December we tried ticking jobs off our winter jobs list. This was totally in the hands of the weather.”

Bundling up clump of broken tall stems. Tidying fastigiate Yew.

Trimming ‘Buddleja lindleyana’.

The next page features our hollies. I wrote that, “When we revamped the two large terracotta pots by our front door we added a holly to each one. These new hollies called Ilex Golden King, have foliage of glossy gold and green. They sit alongside another holly called “Little Rascal”.

Little Rascal Black stemmed holly

Our native holly in our hedge. Topiary hollies

So December in the garden has come to an end and likewise the year 2024. My next report of “My Garden Journal” will be for January 2025.

Tags flowers, garden, gardening, hellebores, plants

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Our Week in the North York Moors – a Seaside Town

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 6, 2025

After our walk from Danby we decided to go to a town by the sea called Saltburn which neither of us had visited before. It turned out to be a really good choice as it has a pier, colourful beach huts, a long sandy beach and a water balance cliff tramway to get from the village down to the beach. And of course a very big blue sky!

The cliff tramway is a water balanced funicular and was built in 1884. Everything to do with the tramway looks so well looked after and looks smart in its red and cream colour theme and stained glass windows.

If you take the ride down you arrive on the promenade straight opposite the pier.

We walked along the promenade until we found a row of brightly painted beach huts. The paintwork was glossy and the brightest shades of pinks, reds and many others. They were so well looked after which isn’t the case everywhere. Each one had a name sign above their door and a few were used as a beach shop and others boasted faded signs depicting their purposes.

From the beach huts we took stone steps down to the beach and wandered back towards the pier following the line where sand met pebbles. Here we found some beautiful pebbles and sea glass.

The beach is certainly a great place to fly a kite especially with a bright blue sky above.

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My Garden Journal 2024 November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 14, 2024

In my Garden Journal 2024 I have reached November, where I began by writing, “November is all about leaves from its beginning, leaves turning shades of yellow, orange and red, leaves falling creating multi-coloured carpets covering the bark paths.”

Then I shared eight photos of November foliage.

Then we have a double page spread featuring one of my quick watercolour sketches of hypericum berries as they begin to go over, a few already being glossy black. On the opposite page I celebrate those plants that still give colour through their flowers.

“All these beautiful varied hypericum berries are slowly turning black so I decided to sketch the last berries still showing colour.”

I wrote, “In November it’s easy to concentrate on leaf colours and bright berries but we must not forget that many plants are still flowering.”

I then showed nine photos of just such flowers.

Over the next double page spread I take a look at some garden tasks and then consider grasses.

I wrote, “As the weather becomes drier but colder we remain as busy as ever. We finished off Arabella’s Garden and pollarded the quince.”

“Grasses come into their own as the light levels are lower. Our many grasses provide highlights of biscuit, ginger, brown and ivory in their seed heads. The top three photos below show different cultivars of miscanthus.

Panicum “North Wind” (left)

Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinacea ‘Transparent’ (Right)

Hackonechloa macra ‘Nicholas’ no name Stipa tenuissima

Over the page we have another double page featuring more autumn coloured foliage and opposite we look at surprise weather which covered the garden.

I wrote,“In the second half of the month the rich colours of autumn became much brighter.”

The weather is the subject of the final page of my November entries in my Garden Journal 2024.

I noted that, “Within a week of taking the photos on the previous page, the stunning colours were hidden by a fall of snow, first of the season.”

“The garden turns monochrome.”

Hopefully the snow will be short lived and we can defy cold temperatures and get outside again.

Tags autumn, flowers, garden, gardening, nature

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A Monthly Wander Around the Garden and Nursery at Oakgate – November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 2, 2024

Early in the month we made our monthly visit to the gardens at Oakgate Nursery and Garden.

As usual we had coffee as we arrived and then began our usual route-way around the garden starting from the outdoor seating area then taking the metal bridge over the fish pond, stopping halfway over to admire the fish.

Once over the bridge we spotted some flowering shrubs and some beautiful fungi on the wooden bases of sculptures.

Nearby were two Callicarpa, one with the usual purple berries the other carrying white ones.

I love the look of autumn’s carpets leaves covering the ground and falling on plants adding colours to the borders.

So many shrubs and small trees in the garden are looking at their best with their autumn coats on.

I will finish off with a gallery of colour.

It has been almost a whole year since we started visiting at least once each month to take photos and create a post to share.

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Our Week in the North York Moors – Our Holiday Home on the Moors

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 1, 2024
1 Comment on Our Week in the North York Moors – Our Holiday Home on the Moors

We made the long journey up to the North York Moors for a week’s holiday. I had just had an operation on two of my fingers on my right so was not allowed to drive so Jude had to take on all the driving.

In order to get to our holiday home we had to follow google map directions sent to us by the owner. She said that if we used our satnav it would take us to wrong side of the valley. However google maps diverted us along tiny bendy lanes with hairpins and steep gradients. We even had to stop at odd gates to open them up to allow us to pass through. It did take a long time to cross the moors and finally we had to follow a very rough and steep farm track, frequently having to brake to avoid running pheasants over who walked along in front of us.

But it was worth it because the barn conversion was beautifully executed. Our cottage home was called ‘Foxglove’.

The ram’s head metalwork was the handle of a boots scraper. The gateway in the stone wall was the way to get to the rear of the property.

A really special feature of the barn was the view out the back over to the far side of the valley. Along the valley the steam engines pulled their long snake of carriages. We could hear them long before we could see them among the wooded valley side. It was the North York Moors Railway, which we aimed to travel on later in the week.

Tags art, photography, postaday, travel

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Our Week in North Yorkshire Moors – Part 1 Stopping off at RHS Bridgewater

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 21, 2024

As September ended and October began we took a week’s holiday in the North Yorkshire Moors where we stayed in a cottage on an isolated mixed farm hidden in the wilds.

We decided to stop on the journey up at RHS Bridgewater, the newest RHS garden, on the outskirts of Manchester. We had visited twice already so looked forward to seeing how it had developed.

The car park, roads and paths surrounded by gardens designed by Tom Stuart-Smith afforded visitors a very warm welcome, with grasses in their biscuit, coffee and ginger colours of early autumn, sitting below young deciduous trees.

We did not have long enough to explore the whole garden so decided to concentrate on just two areas, the walled garden and the Chinese Stream Garden. To get to the walled garden we walked closely along colourful herbaceous borders with occasional shrubs.

The photos below show tall white-flowered actaea to the left while on the right the border featured geranium and

Below one of my favourite perennials, sanguisorba is mingled in with an umbel possibly Selinum wallichianum to great effect. The small tree to the right is a Zanthoxylum simulans or the Sichuan Pepper.

We turned left into the first part of the walled gardens, the vegetable garden designed by the design team Harries Bugg. Sadly weeds had invaded several of the raised beds and the overall effect was of sadness and neglect. I did find a few interesting places though.

In total contrast to the garden above the Tom Stuart-Smith designed area of the walled garden was as good as we expected after enjoying it so much on our previous two visits. There were so many highlights deserving of a closer look.

The lean-to greenhouse in this part of the walled garden was a contrast to Tom S-S’s design around it.

The rest of Tom S-S’s area is so satisfying that picking out highlights is difficult, but I shall have a try.

We then made our way across the gardens towards the Chinese Stream Garden, which we had heard had moved on nicely now, so we arrived there with eager anticipation.

We were not disappointed. We saw how well the plants had become established and the stream had become a sparkling central feature running down the slope through the garden.

To make our way back to the car we approached the welcome building taking a circuitous route through the ‘Worsley Welcome Garden’.