We reach number 32 in this very occasional series of simply beautiful things found in gardens. Today I am featuring an extremely unusual Berberis with the most rich orange flowers I have ever seen. Sadly I do not know its name and there was no label on the shrub. We found this lovely plant at Moors Meadow in Herefordshire.
So there it is the most amazing Berberis I have ever seen, and I don’t know what it is!
Simply beautiful no 27 was about the catkins of Hazel and as a follow up to that here is Simply Beautiful no 28 where I share my photos of the beautiful catkins of one of our Salix shrubs, Salix gracilistyla Melanostachys. A willow with a mouthful of a name but also the most amazing of all catkins coloured black and red.
We are so lucky to have so many great gardens that we can visit in a day from home. I thought a week of posts all about revisiting gardens would prepare us well for the warmer weather and get our creative gardening juices flowing again.
There are many in our home county Shropshire itself and we have easy access to Herefordshire and Powys where there are even more. Several of our favourite gardens we like to visit every year or so, so that we can see how they develop over time and change with the seasons. In this occasional series we shall do just that. I shall be featuring those gardens that we like to keep going back to.
For the first of these we travel down the trunk road southwards, the A49 which will take us through South Shropshire and into the Herefordshire border. It is just a few hundren yards from this road that we find the gardens of Stockton Bury which are described as the “Gardens in the Orchard”. The garden was born in 1900 and has never stopped developing. The present gardener, Raymond Treasure has developed it into rich tapestry of unusual trees, perennials and even a few follies, all wrapped around the old farm buildings.
It is a garden with a surprise around every corner, and however many times you visit this still happens. A living garden!
The mixed borders are rich in perennial plants that the wildlife enjoy.
At any turn in the path you can find a surprise, brightly coloured planting, secret rooms, unusual plants you can’t name,
Please enjoy this special place by browsing through my gallery of photos. There are probably too many but Stockton Bury is such a photogenic location it becomes hard to edit your shots.
Our return visit to Stockton Bury was as special as the first we ever made, full of special plants, secrets and surprises and touches of humour.
My chosen garden f0r my monthly visits in 2018 is so much smaller than Attingham Park which we enjoyed throughout 2017. The Dingle is a Nursery just over the border into Wales situated on the edge of the market town of Welshpool. The garden is accessed through a little wooden gate in the bottom left corner of the nursery where a large selection of Acer shrubs are displayed for sale. It is a garden centred around a huge collection of shrubs and trees, many unusual, growing on a gentle slope down to a lake.
The garden like ours opens at times under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme, but opens every other day of the year bar Christmas Day. I have already featured the gardens four times in my past posts. Here are a few photos to give you a taste of what we might discover during the year.
I hope these few photos will give you an appetite for the 12 posts to come about The Dingle in 2018.
The penultimate visit to my garden journal for 2017 is here – hope you enjoy it. I began by referring back to a development we started in the garden back in September which we finished off in November. We are very pleased with how it has turned out and look forward to seeing the new plants flourish.
“October continued with damaging winds and days with brown skies and orange sun as we received the effects f Hurricane Ophelia, downgraded to Storm Ophelia as it hit our shores. The last few weeks of October and the early days of November, saw us busy continuing develop our “Oil Tank Garden”.
“We screened the ugly tank with panels of beautiful diamond latticed panels and soon got on with the planting. Always the exciting bit!”
Over the page I continue to describe our development of this border and wrote “Behind the tank we have planted two trees, the Heptacodium mentioned in September and a stunning Sorbus called Joseph Rock with yellow berries in stark contrast to its deepest red autumn foliage.
“Hundreds of miniature daffodils were planted with crocus, Anemone blanda and other small bulbs.”
“A new solitary bee home was sited in the new garden. We gave it a miniature green roof!”
“We soon had a selection of climbers planted to clothe the trellis panels, Roses, Clematis, Honeysuckle and a Coronilla”.
“Behind the tank we planted for wildlife and hedgehogs in particular. We placed a nestbox for hedgehogs among dense planting of ferns and Euphorbias. We added stone piles, leaf piles and log piles.”
Turning over another page I featured some words by Dan Pearson and looked at some autumn flowering plants.
“Taking a look at Dan Pearson’s writings about Autumn in his “Natural Selections” book he wrote,
I want to invite the seasons into the garden, vividly and in layers. I use asters, autumn crocus and gentians at ground level, and shrubs that perform for this season to take the eye up and away, to straighten the back. I weave berrying trees and shrubs into the garden as much for their jewel-like fruit as for the birds which flock down to gorge when the fruit is ready for feasting upon.”
We aim to do exactly the same in our Avocet patch. Below are a few of our Asters which feature in our “Shrub Border”, a border that brings Autumn in.”
“Another herbaceous perennial that features strongly in our November garden are the Salvias. We leave a few to over-winter in the garden but most will be brought into the cool greenhouse.”
Turning over again I take a look at succulents, plants rarely mentioned in the context of the autumn garden.
“When considering Autumn colour, succulents are rarely mentioned, but just check out the photos below of some of our succulents taken in November“
Below are my paintings/drawings of two multi-coloured succulent stems which I created with water soluble pencil crayons.
“Taking succulent cuttings.”
“Final pots of succulents waiting to go into their winter home.”
The final page of my November entries in the Garden Journal celebrates my “Plant of the Month”, which is one of only two Irises native to the UK, Iris foetidissima.
The next visit to look at my Garden Journal in 2017 will be the last one for the year, December.
Here we are back at Attingham Park for another wander, this time to see what is going on in the walled garden and woodland pleasure gardens in July.
We arrived in the rain and carried on regardless. Foliage was glossy with moisture because of the steady drizzle, and large puddles had formed on the path.
The gardener’s cottage garden gave a little colourful cheer to the day, and water droplets hung on flowers and berries. The heritage rare breed cattle in the field at the start of the track ignored the drizzle and continued tearing at the grass heads down.
The walled garden gave protection and the day began to feel a little warmer as the rain stopped.
The beautiful, recently restored, vintage glasshouses are now becoming productive with melons, grapes, tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers.
We particularly liked the amazing textures of this melon and its subtle mix of greens.
As we entered the gardeners’ bothy we could instantly enjoy the fresh uplifting aroma of bunches of freshly picked lavender, and the sight of simple flower arrangements and freshly harvested lettuces.
After taking in the sights, scents and sounds offered by the walled garden we continued on our wanders, following the One Mile Walk trail.
Come with us as we take you along this track in a gallery of photos. As usual click on the first and navigate with the arrows. We will return for another wander in August.
The second new area we were able to develop this winter was a very small border created when we rationalised our sheds. The bed was originally used for a selection of mints which we used for cooking so the soil had to be removed and very bit of mint root removed. Some is bound to come back though as it seems impossible to rid yourself of mint in one go. We will have to keep our eyes peeled. As yet we have not named this little patch but I guess it may end up being something akin to “The Old Mint Patch”.
We began by erecting a screen wrapping around behind the bed and one end and we chose willow hurdle panels for this as it lets some wind through but gives some protection. We also love the natural rural look of it, and have used it effectively elsewhere in our garden. To match the natural look of the fencing we added a border edge of log-roll.
We planned our planting in three layers. First plantings were climbers, followed by shrubs and finally herbaceous perennials including grasses. The first climber we planted was Trachelospermum asiaticum, chosen for its flowers which are creamy coloured and scented in strong contrast to its dark green glossy foliage. We partnered this climber with a Honeysuckle and a Clematis. Clematis Fragrant Auberon has creamy-white, heavily scented flowers in spring contrasting strongly with its evergreen foliage. The Honeysuckle was Lonicera Spring Purple, where the purple refers to its foliage.
The shrubs we selected were favourites of ours which had graced our wishlist for a few years now so this new, unexpected planting opportunity meant they could now leave their place in the wish list and grace the new border instead. Firstly we planted a Hydrangea aspera, a summer flowering shrub called H. a. “Hot Chocolate”, so we look forward to its lacecap flowers consisting of pink florets surrounding violet florets in the summer, and of course its foliage which is a chocolate colour above and wine-red velvety textured below.
We are always pleased to find space for another deciduous, so we planted a specimen of Euonymus planipes in this new border. We put it in when it was leafless and we spotted its beautiful mahogany long thin leaf buds. Later it will boast bright pink fruits with vivid orange seeds hanging from within, an incredible colour combination.
Our third shrub was an Abeliophyllum distichum, which was showing its gently scented pale pink almost white flowers. We look forward to its foliage turning rich purple in autumn.
The final planting later to put in place was the herbaceous layer where we selected plants mostly for their unusual foliage but a few will flower. Thus we planted three Saxifrages – S. stolonifera called “Hime”, S. fortunei “Blackberry and Apple Pie” and S. stolonifera “Maroon Beauty”, strongly textured, coloured foliage and unusual shaped flowers. We planted a fern too to link across to the one in the container which I write about later. We chose Dryopteris erythrosora “Prolifica” which features copper foliage each spring. Three Libertias join in to give spikes of foliage some with coloured stripes and white flowers in the summer and autumn. These Libertia are L. ixioides “Taupo Sunset”, L. peregrinans “Gold Leaf” and a third is an unknown species we grew from seed. We finished with our usual grasses, essential in every border, so we placed between the other perennials three Uncinia rubra,
We also had space adjacent to the new bed for a large stoneware pot which matched the one at the far end of the path close by. We planted this up with a Gaultheria mucronata “Sneeuwwiyje” which I think translates as “Snowdrop”. It sports red stems and shiny dark green foliage and in summer white flowers with hints of soft pink followed by white berries later. Beneath this shrub we planted a fern and a couple of trailing ivies for year long foliage colour and texture. The ivies Hedera “Golden Kolibri” and Hedera “White Wonder”, the names reflecting the colour of the leaf variegation. The fern was Polystichum setiferum “Plumosum”, with soft textured foliage.
The final flourish was installing a wildlife “village” of varied insect homes, some coming from the old garden shed others newly made.
A few weeks later we added spring flowering bulbs from pots, a few more grasses and a third Saxafraga, S. Blackberry and Apple Pie.
We then had to sit back, let Mother Nature and all her soil workers and the weather do their best and watch the new patch develop. Maybe it will develop well enough to appear in my garden journal later in the year.
There are certain plants that are full of interest most of the year but they usually have powerful peaks. Such a plant is Clerodendrum trichotoma var fargesii, which we grow in our spring border. It is one of those plants with lots going for it and to recommend itself to us gardeners.
We love visiting small gardens listed in the National Garden Scheme’s famous Yellow book but even more enjoyable is visiting the NGS gardens of friends. So as we drove along miles of narrow lanes winding their way in and out of the counties of Shropshire, Powys and Montgomeryshire we couldn’t wait to arrive at Holly Cottage, the home of Allison and Martin. As we approached the gateway our anticipation levels rose steeply as we spotted beautiful brightly coloured plantings running along the drive banks. The planting here varied and flowed from meadow planting to prairie style plantings and other areas of Alison’s own style. What a beautiful way to welcome visitors with a garden that embraces you so warmly.
Alison met us at the end of the drive and took us up to her home and garden. We had to wait a bit longer to explore the drive side plantings.
This is also a garden with wide spreading beautiful views affording vistas of farmland leading to distant hills.
Allison and Martin have built the garden to wrap around the house. The design is such that the garden surrounds the house and feels and looks as if it hugs the house. There is a beautiful link and bond between home and garden. Martin has built borders, walls and terraces in which Alison gardens with flair. A great team!
Wildlife is welcomed into the garden.
We started our tour of the garden in the courtyard behind the house where Allison is developing a collection of delicate Violas. Placed on shelving on a wall means that you can look these little beauties in the face and be engulfed by their scents. Such a clever idea!
Moving around the side of the house we turned a corner to be greeted by more scent, but this time the scent came to us from shrubs, Philadelphia, Buddlejas, Rosa and more. There was also a richness of colour and texture. We wandered the narrow paths to study every beautiful plant and appreciate the way each plant worked with its neighbours.
Through an archway beneath scented roses we moved into the little front garden enticed by the gentle bubbling sound of water.
Exploring further steps took us around a series of raised beds holding herbs, cut flowers and nursery beds. Scent was evident here too, the warm relaxing scents of herbs. Soft coloured flowers burst from glaucous blues and grey of herb foliage. Temptation made us rub leaves between our fingers to savour the aromas and flavours.
After a break for a chat enriched with tea and cakes, we excitedly wandered off towards the amazing borders clothing the two sides of the long drive.
The simple and very common Moon Daisy is as beautiful as any rare tropical plant. Against a blue sky viewed from low down they present ethereal shapes, colours and patterns.
To one side tall trees grew skyward from a native hedge and gravel paths invited us to discover the borders of meadowy prairie planting.
What a beautiful afternoon we enjoyed in Allison and Martin’s garden. We came home with gifts of plants grown from seed by Alison in the greenhouse designed and made by Martin.
The garden at Holly Cottage
We were expecting March to bring some signs of spring but really our seasons remained confused and muddled. March has brought us warm sunny days, days with cold biting winds, days with heavy persistent rain and many combinations of these.
My March report started with references to the weather as it controlled when we gardenened and days when it prevented us from getting out in the garden.
“During the first 2 days, March had delivered so many different types of weather, clear skies, sunshine, dark heavy cloud cover, rain and sleet. I wonder what else this month might have in store. This unseasonal weather delayed the arrival of our frogs until March whereas February is more usual a time. They soon added large clumps of spawn down one side of the wildlife pond.”
To help the smaller creatures that share our garden with us and help with pest control and pollination of our fruit we had great fun creating a new habitat for them, in the form of a log pile. The log pile is aimed specifically at beetles who are great pest controllers. We particularly appreciate their love of slug eggs!
On the page opposite my frog photos I feature some of our large collection of Hellebore.
“Each year we add a few more Hellebores to our collection. This year is no exception! We are also getting a few interesting seedlings appearing, and some are worth keeping.”
Turning the page I moved on to looking at the bird life we enjoyed in March, where I featured a gouache painting of a pair of Chaffinches and wrote about them.
“We have been entertained by our avian friends, already showing signs of their beautiful dawn chorus. If a day dawns bright we are already hearing territorial calls of our thrushes, finches and titmice. A finch we see more of during the colder months is the Chaffinch. They move into our garden to take advantage of our three feeding stations. They have not mastered the necessary skills or dexterity required to feed from the feeders so they wait beneath them as others feed and feed on any seeds that drop to the ground.”
I then moved on to look back at previous garden journals from a decade or so ago.
“Looking back at my original Garden Journal I am surprised to read “First mowing of grass! This year our paths and lawn areas are sodden and slippery so far too dangerous to get our mower out.
I read a page alongside, “A pair of Yellowhammers fed today under the feeders catching the crumbs.” We rarely see these beautiful farmland birds any more as the effects of modern farming methods have decimated their numbers. Modern insecticides kill off some of their food and herbicides destroy the banks of wild flowers, the seed heads of which provided the Yellowhammers with sustenance through autumn and winter. There seems to be no will either from Government or the agriculture industry to firstly recognise the problem and secondly to do something about it. Sad!”
I then reported on progress we had made with our recently constructed propagation bench.
In my January entries to my journal I wrote about making a propagating bench in the greenhouse and then in February I looked at how we had prepared the greenhouse in readiness for seed sowing. Now in March we have seedlings showing well.”
Flowering shrubs feature over the next few pages, looking at those that flower and provide scent, starting off with the shrubs in the Ribes family.
“The genus Ribes is a family of some 150 species of shrubs, mainly deciduous with just a few evergreens. We grow 3 species on our allotment to give us Redcurrants, Blackcurrants and Gooseberries. In the ornamental garden at home we grow 5 species and 4 of these are flowering in March, Ribes sanguineum “King Edward VII” and Ribes s. “Elkington White”.
“The other two March flowering Ribes are very different to the Ribes sanguineums. Ribes laurifolium has thick evergreen foliage, each leaf shaped and textured just like those oa a Laurel, hence its name. The flowers at first glance appear white but close up they are pale cream with a hint of green – absolutely beautiful! Beautiful and scented! The final Ribes to flower in March is Ribes speciosum with crimson flowers. To be fair though this Ribes species shows flowers on and off all year. It is generally evergreen for us as we planted it in a sheltered spot. Its flowers are like tiny Fuschias hanging along most of its branches. The downside? Every inch of every stem is covered in thin spines, so pruning can be difficult. On our open days so many visitors ask about Ribes speciosum.”
“In the autumn we took cuttings of Ribes s. King Edward VII. What a surprise we had when one of them produced these pale gentle pink flowers. One more shrub of the Ribes family still has not yet flowered, Ribes odorarum.”
My journal then tells of other unusual flowering shrubs we grow here at Avocet.
“Abnother unusual shrub we grow for March interest is a special willow. Salix gracilistyla melanostachyla has amazing flowers, red and black catkins. Early flying bees love them.”
“Two other March flowering shrubs are grown for their large umbels of flowers but also their scent. The first, Edgeworthia chrysantha grandiflora, has unusual bright yellow flowers which add scent to the late winter and early spring garden. Their second is a Viburnum, Viburnum x burkwoodii, which does not open its flower buds until late March.”
Turn over the page of my journal and you will be delighted by photos of Iris reticulata in all their glorious shades of blue and purple.
“Flower of the month for March has to be Iris reticulata, of which we grow many varieties in various shades of blue and purple.”
My final page for March takes another look at what is going on in the greenhouse as the month comes to an end.
“In our greenhouse our sowings of seeds of vegetables, perennials and a few annuals have continued to germinate well and grow strongly. We have pricked out many tiny seedlings into cells.”
Our next visit to my garden journal will report on what will be happening in our garden at Avocet in April, the month traditionally associated with showers.
A Vegetarian | Nature Lifestyle Blog
.....and nurturing my soul
Journeys In St. Louis Gardening and Beyond
Consult the genius of the place
A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.
Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
...an emerging social science
'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
Grow Naturally
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
The www.gardeningwithchildren.co.uk Blog
birding through the seasons, why birds matter and how to conserve them
with a camera in hand
Transform your outdoor space
My allotment, cooking and other interests
my gardening life through the year
Trying to live a creative life
trying to live as lightly as possible on our beautiful planet
Nature lovers from Leicester living the good life.
Finding the beautiful in the everyday
Michelle's Allotment
thoughts from and about my garden
Big plans for a small garden
A Walled Country Garden in South East Scotland
Life at the fruity chicken
Off grid living. Self sufficient. "PERMAGANICS RULE".
Nottingham's Grade 2* Listed Allotments and Community Orchard
a journey in suburban vegetable gardening
The madness of growing your own
A novel approach to vegetable gardening
Sustainable living in the Irish countryside.
Master Gardener, amateur photographer, quilter, NH native, and SC snowbird
Recent work and work in progress and anything else that interests me
a chaotic cottage gardener
a weekly blog that creates a personal philosophy through photographs and words
Stories from a sassy and classy Southern farmbelle.
Simple Organic Gardening & Seasonal Living
turning dirt into dinner
today the world is created anew
Notes from a Devon garden
Life Through The Lens
A photography blog showcasing the best photography pictures and videos on the internet
Just another WordPress.com site
personal observations from the natural world as the search continues for a new approach to conservation.
The Wonders of Life through my Eyes, my Heart, my Soul
greenbenchramblings 