Wichenford Open Gardens 2015 - SUCCESS!

Head Gardener has been just too busy to do any blog entries as she's been preparing for Wichenford Open Gardens!  Soooooooooo much to do and so very little time!  Anyway; following too many late nights and very early mornings, most things got done and the weekend was a huge success - despite a couple of equatorial showers on the Saturday!  We send both our thanks and our apologies to Roger & Sarah Walker whose field gateway got very muddy as a combination of just 2 heavy showers of rain & vehicles.  It was such a shame it happened despite all good intentions and especially as they were so kind to offer parking.  

A HUGE thank you to Rob who allowed parking the following day in his orchard.  A massive thank you to all helpers: Maureen, Suzanne, Lyn, Eve, Jo, Lindy, Pauline, Di, Dave, Mike & Adrienne.  Lastly  a BIG thank you to all those who made so many really delicious cakes and biscuits of all kinds!  Without these, we would have had nothing to sell.  We should also like to thank the members of the South Worcestershire Bonsai Society for putting on such an amazingly professional exhibition which was both admired and appreciated by all our visitors.

My prize winning (edible)Bonsai entry!!

Well, after 450 pairs of feet, our little garden made the grand sum of £748.66!! More photos can be seen at:  Wichenford Open Gardens 2015

PS A couple of visitors wanted to know the name of the bright pink Gladiolus and I've mislaid an email address.  Just in case that person thinks they've been forgotten: it's

•          Gladiolus communis byzantinus

World Gin Day

Sometimes the Head Gardener feels a bit of a thirst coming on!! Here we have the perfect handy cure - hic!!





Despite these important celebrations, things are really moving in the greenhouse.  The Arabian Jasmine (Jasminum Sambac) is in flower and the power of its fragrance is quite staggering.  No wonder this jasmine is so sought after in the perfume industry.  Checkout:  Greenhouse Progress  The tomatoes have put on a lot of height and the fruit is setting nicely.  Lord Bute is looking his usual immaculate self with his satin finish pink edge flowers.  Meanwhile, it's time to remove the forget-me-nots and cut the hedges .....................in the POURING rain.  Thank goodness we shall have an excuse for celebration later!

Pelargonium Lord Bute

Jasminum Sambac

Creature Feature

Sid

Sid's head

Our home made tree snake has evoked quite a response on G+ so here's a couple of photos of Sid.  He was made out of an old coil from a hot water cistern which was coiled around the bough of an old pear tree.  His head was made from a watering can rose with old brass knobs for eyes and a strip of left over copper cut out for his forked tongue.  Over the years, a clematis has scrambled up through Sid's coils and whilst we have quite a few visitors, I think he largely goes unnoticed. Maybe we should introduce a competition - find the snake in the garden!

Sid's pear tree.

Judgement Day!

Well it was judgement day for 'Britain's Best Gardeners' Garden' at PTC and, thank goodness, the sun decided to shine.  If we'd had Monday's gales it would have been a disaster!  Instead, the cuckoo was singing and the garden was full of baby robins and blackbirds scuttling around in the borders.

Having mowed the day before, I managed to finish the edging and have a really good tidy up everywhere before the judges arrived. 

That meant sweeping out the greenhouse - again, rushing around placing cushions on every seat and trimming the Jasmine (nudiflorum) from around the stone seat. I even remembered to top up the pond levels from the well. The telephone kiosk wasn't forgotten and Janine waged war against spiders.  In fact - it was looking so tidy, I even found time to run around with the camera. Judgement Day Photos 

The three judges arrived at 2pm and stayed until 4pm. Having established that afternoon tea and home made lemon sponge cake wouldn't be considered bribery and after walking round the garden; tea and cakes were duly served on the terrace.  They were very nice and seemed to enjoy the garden - they definitely enjoyed the cake!!  We're still on a knife edge as they have yet to visit another competing garden in Yorkshire.  

In the meantime, our local radio station expressed an interest so I was able to participate in a radio interview on BBC Hereford & Worcester and help promote Wichenford Open Gardens on 20 & 21 June 2015 - in case you've forgotten!!  Hopefully punters will be queueing up at every garden gate!

Breakaway Garden Visit to PTC

Check out the feet!

On one of the coldest and stormiest evenings, a group of lovely ladies from Breakaway Club.  Despite the atrocious weather conditions, they explored the garden - I actually knew they hadn't sneaked back to their cars and cowered away from the gusting winds because they asked all sorts of questions about the features they's found!  They were some of the few visitors to actually witness the rain chain at its best!!  Instead of sitting outside and enjoying a sunset, they wisely retreated to the conservatory for tea and cakes!  It was so cold we put on the central heating and lit candles for them.  Their generosity means more money to give to charity!  We really hope to see them all again at Wichenford Open Gardens on 20 & 21 June and again on 31 August for our candlelit evening opening.

NGS Open Garden Weekend

Some of the team!

Our youngest visitor: Felix with his Daddy:Alan 

Despite unseasonably glacial temperatures and gusty showers, Open Gardens weekend was a great success.  We had the most brilliant team serving teas and washing up for over 100 visitors.

 A BIG thank you to all helpers including those who drove shuttle buses from and to the world's most scenic orchard car park, those who helped with signs and Rob Holloway who provided that scenic car park! Absolutely everyone deserves a mention so here we go: Lyn, Maureen, Di, Dave, Paul, Eve, Alan, Sheila, Pauline, Kathryn, Jenni & both Chris's!  Another thank you to all the ladies who made so many delicious cakes.  Many visitors left kind comments in the visitors book - many of which referred to the cakes!  Those which weren't sold have all been carefully frozen for Wichenford Open gardens on 20 & 21 June 2015.

Even 4 legged visitors!

The sun did break through on a few welcome occasions but we wished it could have been warmer. Chris was entrusted with my camera so most of the photos are thanks to him. See: NGS Open gardens 2015 . Dave made many journeys up and down the bank to and from the car park and, after a few difficulties alighting from the rear seat of Mellings - a 2 door mini, we decided to upgrade the shuttle bus so Rex was pressed into use.  We met many genuinely lovely people and we thank them for visiting in less than ideal weather conditions.  We hope to see them all again in 3 weeks' time! Oooh - I nearly forgot to say: we raised the grand total of £740.00! How brilliant is that??

Spilt Paint in the Garden!

The Actinidia Kolomikta is flowering for the very first time.  This intriguing climber is a close relation of the kiwi fruit and at this time of year looks as if some one has spilled paint over the leaves.  As the season progresses, the leaves lose their variegations so it's nice to enjoy the many shades while they last!  This climber is a close relation of the kiwi fruit so it will be interesting to see if fruits of any kind appear later!