NOT THE OPEN GARDENS
This weekend should have been our village open gardens, which we hold every other year. For obvious reasons it was cancelled, but to mark the event, this week's Six on Saturday is a virtual open gardens. So pour yourself a cup of tea, munch on your favourite cake and pretend the sun is shining bright as you wander round the garden.
1. The Rose Garden
The roses are smelling wonderful, and I've been out to dead head them so they are looking their best.
Compassion is flowering so profusely, the arch is looking slightly overwhelmed.
2. The Long Border
The Long Border is starting to fill up. There are some dark red hollyhocks at the back and the first of the dahlias started flowering yesterday. Scarlet Lychnis and Crocosmia add fiery reds.
Cooler colours dominate at the other end of the border. The lilies, nearest the camera, are looking lovely just now.
3. The Knot Garden
Up in the Knot garden, the iris and lupins have finished flowering I'm afraid.
4. The Woodland Walk
The Hostas are nice and leafy and the Hydrangeas are just starting to flower. Nice to get into the shade and escape from the sun for a bit (as if....)
5. The Potager
Herbs on the left, onions on the right and beans in the middle. Raspberries were fruiting well, but are making an escape bid and need hacking back.
6. The Front Garden
It's the end of the tour, so rest a while on one of the benches and watch the horses in the field and the squirrels chasing each other up and down the Scots Pine.
Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed it. It was a shame you weren't here earlier in the week when the Red Arrows were practising nearby. It was very exciting to hear the roar of engines and suddenly see them swoop down over the tree tops.
More Six on Saturday fun can be had by visiting The Propagator.
Your garden seems so big to me! Very nice...
ReplyDeleteMine is already big enough but yours is worthy of gardens that we visit for the pleasure of the eyes ...👏
Thanks Fred
DeleteOne of the most obvious differences between gardens is size and I often wonder what sort of garden I'd have if I had either much more or much less space. Would I have the same plant packed garden but on a different scale, trees and big shrubs, or alpines; or could I bring myself to be content with uncluttered space. Would I create rooms, gardens with their own individuality within a bigger landscape? It being impossible to have all the gardens you might have had, it's great to be able to concentrate on the one you've got and let other people create the ones you might have had yourself. I feel I could relax in yours, I rarely do in mine. You're probably thinking you need to dead head the roses or mow the grass.
ReplyDeleteYep - there's always a list of jobs to be done, so I don't spend as much time relaxing in the garden as I should do. I think the question you raised about gardens is an interesting one. All the gardens I've had before this one have been at the back of terraced houses, so this is the first time I've had space to indulge all my ideas. Russel Page sets out his ideal garden in his book 'Education of a Gardener' which seems to be a checker board of beds so he can grow many different plants. For me, if I had to keep just one part perhaps it would be the Rose Garden, and I'd live with the fact that for much of the year there wasn't that much to look at.
DeleteIris and lupine have such a short bloom time. At least they aren't ugly when they aren't in flower! your rose garden is so lovely and looks so inviting. Lots of work!
ReplyDeleteMr B was asking me what the next project was going to be - but I told him this was it - no more new garden areas since I won't have time to look after them.
DeleteI enjoyed my visit. Thank you! Jim's comment is good. I often wish I had a bigger garden, but then it would be a lot more hard work. I took on a very small mature garden, but now I'm wishing that I'd had it cleared and started from fresh with my own design. Oh, well, we love what we have anyway.
ReplyDeleteMost of this garden was grass, but there were still things I had to work around. We all have to manage with soil and aspect I suppose which limit us. But having said that some things had to go - the Leylandii for example.
DeleteWhat a pity you weren’t able to have people in to enjoy your garden - but, technology to the rescue.
ReplyDeleteI’m in awe of your Rose Garden, it looks the perfect spot. Your garden must be a huge amount of work (and I’ve read the previous comments). My garden is a fraction of the size but I can appreciate how much time and work goes into creating a beautiful space. My own small space has been taking up so much of my time, but during lockdown, I’ve enjoyed every minute.
I’m being realistic now when I say that I need to make changes to my borders, taking away difficult planting and putting in shrubs and perennials that need a bit less attention. I’ll be starting that in autumn. If somehow I could add in a beautiful rose arch like yours that would make me very happy. The thinking cap is on.
Thanks for treating us to a garden visit.
One of the nicest parts of opening the garden, which compensates for all the work involved, is meeting other enthusiastic gardeners and having a chat about plants. It's great to be able to do that virtually too.
DeleteI certainly wasn't aware how much time it takes to look after a garden until I got stuck into this one. I would visit other peoples and think how pretty they were, but without any real appreciation of the time it takes to achieve that. I hope you find a spot for a rose arch - ours was from Agriframes in case you were interested.
i might have indulged in a little garden "phwoooaaaar" looking through your pictures today. all looks smashing. i'm sure you feel very fortunate to have such a space and you are doing fab things with it. i'm pleased to see compassion doing well. i have one on my sunny fence. it hasn't done much the last couple of years as it has been obscured by shrubs but this year it has put on a spurt of growth and like yours is flowering great guns.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your rose is doing well - and Compassion smells good too. I'm very lucky to have all this space to garden in. It's been great fun planning it and then turning it into reality.
Delete