This was probably my first garden visit since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Its a new garden and only 30 minutes from me and the most northerly RHS garden in this country so I have been eager to visit for a while. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was very pleasantly surprised as I don’t think there was a part I didn’t like. I love cottagey garden long borders with lots of flowers and that’s a lot of what I saw yesterday. We also had the unique opportunity to see some of the only professionals in the world trimming a cloud bonsai tree with tiny scissors and being watched by several other staff. The garden isn’t finished yet and I’m sure if and when I go again it is likely to be different again as more areas currently in progress are finished and opened to the public. I took lots of pictures and here are some of them.
Smelling and looking beautiful in my garden at the moment. I’ve had 4 new roses over the past 2 years including this one and I think it’s been a good year for them, they and the others mores established ones have flowered very well this year and are still going
I’m sad to say the end of summer is here and as much as I hate the hot weather that come with it and the lack of rain I like the garden in summer. I’ve had a mixed year with seeds and my vegetable growing but a good year flower wise.
I grew Tithonia, sunflowers, poppies, sweetpea and cosmos from seed this summer. The Tithonia are lovely but only started flowering in late August, however, I will definitely grow them again as they are still flowering and we don’t have much orange in the garden.
The sunflowers have done really well and are still going at more than 6 foot tall with multiple flowers per plant.
The poppies did ok but they never last long and so I often miss them flowering and therefore have no pictures. The cosmos I sowed late and as per their usual habit haven’t even considered flowering yet. They start later every year. The sweetpeas have been lovely although eaten by the greenfly. I have a few ladybirds on the plants but they are overcome with too much food I think.
The vegetables have been interesting, I sowed carrots, courgettes and tomatoes. The carrots I harvested today and look more like radishes.
The courgettes keep flowering but don’t create any fruit and my tomatoes while very healthy plants didn’t have many fruit but were largely neglected I think. I planted them direct into ground this year for the first time and I’m not sure I’ll do it again.
However, the roses including 2 new ones have been beautiful this year. The helenium, penstamen and many other cottage garden plants have been good and are still flowering or at least they were when I last checked but today it’s been so wet I imagine they may have suffered.
And sidalcea Elsie Heugh and penstemon