Midlands Regional Winner - THE NATION'S FAVOURITE GARDEN COMPETITION!

 WELL!!  Can you believe it??  We can't!!  We were amazed - truly!  Our Under Gardener was bowled over to learn that we were even a finalist - particularly as I hadn't bothered to tell him the garden had been entered!  All the other regional winners are sitting in their beautiful sunny gardens for their videos but it was a really filthy day here so I'm sitting in a pretty dark and very echo-eee greenhouse!  Yes of course it's cheesy.  I'm not used to talking to a camera.  Anyway it's super exiting and we're looking forward to the arrival of our plaque.  Let's hope it enables us to make even more money for charity!!

A big BIG thank you to both our voters and our loyal supporters!!

Radical but Super-Efficient Saturday!

 

Having been away for a couple of weeks, there was no stopping Chris this weekend!  He strimmed all the meadow grass, raked it up and lugged it to the compost heap,  I weeded and edged around the tree bases and then it was time for the big change!  Out with a really badly placed apple tree (now grafted and growing away happily on its neighbour) and out with a fruitless, miserable and diseased cherry tree! 

 Both were obscuring our fabulous views across the valley and both will now help keep us warm over winter!  We're now awaiting the arrival of Chris avec stump grinder.  In the meantime, a bird house sits on the cherry stump and a mini theatre with players on the apple stump!

Here we have before and after and our restored view!!

Harvesting our First Szechuan Peppercorns!

 

Chris wouldn't allow the first ever Szechuan peppercorn harvest to happen without photographic evidence!!  They are now drying on the kitchen windowsill.

This extremely thorny shrub was planted about 2 years ago and was bought in a sale for £3 when it was about 18" tall.  It not only recovered from its pot bound state but has thrived.

The REALLY Perfumed Garden!

 

Colours are beginning to change and leaf drop has well and truly begun.  It's very definitely autumn now! 

I'm so pleased to have so much scent in the garden at this time of year.  We have an Eleagnus down by the Compost Yard which is a joy to walk past.    Along the Fernery Path is a Heptacodium which is just blasting out fragrance from its tiny flowers! Actually, both these shrubs have such tiny flowers and yet the perfume just blasts out!  Totally worth bottling!  

Also by the back door is an elevated pot of Cyclamen - not quite at nose height but, again a seriously wonderful whiff when passing.  I promise you - another perfume worth bottling!

Adding Accessories to the Outdoor Kitchen!

 I've been given a few more accessories for what's fast becoming an outdoor kitchen in the Herb Garden.  Since the old cast iron range was installed, I've acquired an old enamelled saucepan, some old cast iron scales and weight, a flat iron and, most recently, a little brass kettle!  The Pelargonium which has provided the flames all summer long is due to spend the winter back in the safety of the greenhouse and remerge next year.  Now I need to think of something to mimic flames over winter!  Ideas?

Accessorising the mini outdoor kitchen!

Dragon Border Progress.

 The days are getting noticeably shorter but we've been lucky weatherwise enjoying warm sunny days.  The new Dragon Borders have been very successful and we've enjoyed prolonged colour since May.  As few things need moving around to optimise heights and planting a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) at the front was never going to work!  However, the flowered its heart out and the bees loved it!  At the moment the Phlox are over and the Rudbeckia are fading. However, the  Hesperanthus are following on with a blaze of colour and the Penstemons are still going strong, A couple of low growing Michaelmas daisies are also ablaze and probably need moving further forward as does a Scabious.  Note to self: support the Hesperanthus MUCH earlier! Left photo taken this week. Right photo taken in August. 

Bottom photo demonstrates the wisdom of supporting plants early and not allowing them to flop on the grass!

MORE WINNING SUCCESSES !!

  We had a few successes in the homecraft and produce sections at this year's annual Stoke Bliss & District Ploughing Match,  We came home with a total of 3 x 1st's, 5 x 2nd's and 2 x 3rd's!  That's a  surprisingly respectable number of prize cards.

My homemade garden book won 1st in the homemade craft class!  This much used garden jobs book was made from unwanted ply which I decorated with pyrographic illustrations. As well as a first for 'Farm Life' in the photography class, I had another 1st for a floral arrangement.  I really did some panic picking to achieve all the colour.  Other successes were with watercolours, foliage plant and dahlias.

Despite these successes, we still desperately need your votes as the garden has been shortlisted in 

The Nation's Favourite Garden Competition.

 There is still time to vote here:

PEAR TREE COTTAGE GARDEN