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A Garden Visit

21 comments


Well – it was a grey day today, heavy, threatening and very hot! But it didn’t actually rain, so I took myself off to an open day at a garden not far away, that has the national collection of viticellas. It is a nursery, selling mainly clematis, but the owner opens his private garden once a year in aid of charity.

In the event, I didn’t actually buy anything – I am going to do my research and decide exactly what I want and return later.

When I arrived, I could hear a familiar voice from the other side of the hedge, and rounded the corner to find my mother and one of her friends already discussing the merits of the border – not a total surprise, I must admit.

The quality of the garden in general and the plants in particular was amazing, especially considering the weather we’ve had this year. This is only 7 miles away from me, but on very low-lying ground bordering the Ribble estuary. They were under 6 inches of water not long ago – as a result of high tides and increased levels of groundwater.

My pictures do not do justice to the delights of the garden (the light levels were not very high) but I hope you’ll get an idea of what a treat it was.

This is the sight that greeted me as soon as I went through the gate :

And this was just beside the entrance into the garden – lovely on a sunny day (I imagine!) :

Now these are what I call hostas!

This reminded me of a hand-tied bouquet. The colour combination was fabulous :

I would love my borders to look like this (in my dreams!) :

So pretty :

A classic rose and clematis combination – doesn’t it look as if the sun is shining?

Small, but perfectly formed! It really does invite close inspection – everyone was drawn to lifting the flowers gently to look inside.

Now that is definitely a hardy fuchsia!

The roses were beautiful :

And – of course – the clematis!

There were other delights as well :

But oh … those borders….!

and how reassuring to see someone else with super-tall Queen Elizabeths!!

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Comments

 

Thank you very much for taking us to this garden :)

26 Jul, 2012

 

oooooooooh its lovely, all those colours too, nice to go out and see someone else's garden i think, thank you for putting the photos on

reminds me a bit of sheilabub's garden

26 Jul, 2012

 

Thanks Katarina and Sticki - I had a lovely visit. Very inspiring, and encouraging to see someone else battling slugs and the weather!

26 Jul, 2012

 

Lovely borders, I agree! My QE is growing just like that too! Oh well, as someone once said 'We're all in it together' with the weather this year. It's been extremely dull and even foggy here today......sigh.

26 Jul, 2012

 

I know, Karen - every time we get a bit of sun, I think "Ah - here we go at last!" and then it disappears for a week!

26 Jul, 2012

 

Beautiful. A lot of hard work goes into a place like that.

26 Jul, 2012

 

It certainly does, Hywel - it was immaculate. All that, and running a nursery as well!

26 Jul, 2012

 

wow! what a beautiful garden. :o)

26 Jul, 2012

 

It ceratinly is, Oliveoil - lovely island beds, with beautiful plant combos.

26 Jul, 2012

 

Wonderful garden and photos. The dull weather could not hide those wonderful plants. That is what my garden looks like - in my head. Shame about the reality.

26 Jul, 2012

 

What a wonderful place, I'm not surprised you'll be going back. The hostas are amazing and not a slug hole in site. I lost all mine again this year! The clematis and roses are beautiful and I have just one Queen Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing this with us. I'm pleased it stayed fine for you.

27 Jul, 2012

 

Thanks, Rose. It looks as if we might have some sun today - here's hoping! (There were just a few little nibbles in the hostas, but nothing much, as you can see!)

27 Jul, 2012

 

What a lovely visit, Mel! We've been lucky this week with sunshine every day, and supper in the garden every evening . . . just want it to last a little longer, as we're off to the Suffolk coast for a couple of days :))

27 Jul, 2012

 

Wow, what a garden, thanks for sharing

27 Jul, 2012

 

Thanks Sheila - it was lovely. It stayed nice this afternoon, so I've had a good time pottering about outside. Enjoy Suffolk!

Glad you enjoyed it, Yorkshire :-)

27 Jul, 2012

 

Is that 'The Hawthorns', by any chance? If so, it's a favourite place of ours. We've had so many clematis from there and the owner won't sell you one that he doesn't think will do well in your particular gardening conditions. He gave me the species viticella years ago - he's always handing out 'freebies'. Unfortunately, last time we called, he was recovering from a heart attack and all was closed. Hope that is his place because it means he's back on his feet again. Might pop over and see how he is now.

4 Aug, 2012

 

Yes - Richard is on his feet again, and was out and about advising his visitors. The garden looked beautiful. My mother goes there more than I do, but I really enjoyed the visit, and intend going back there soon.

4 Aug, 2012

 

Thanks Mel. He's an inspirational chap and soooo knowledgeable and passionate about what he does. You cannot help wondering how on earth he keeps the garden so fabulous while at the same time running a nursery.

4 Aug, 2012

 

I know - it is amazing, isn't it? The first time I went to the nursery with Mum, about 12 years ago, he offered to show us the garden. Naturally, we were delighted to get a private tour. When I admired some little euphorbias - which he said were just like weeds - he pulled up a handful for me to put in my garden. They appear and disappear, but whenever I find them I think of him.

4 Aug, 2012

 

That's exactly what happened with us - a private tour of the amazing garden.

4 Aug, 2012

 

It's lovely to meet someone who loves his garden so much he wants to show it to everyone. I'm sure that is the motivation behind so much blogging, and it's one of the joys of being a gardener - wanting to share that love and awe. It's what makes reading blogs so compulsive, as well.

4 Aug, 2012

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