The consummation of our gardening year
Thursday, August 3, 2017
There are 17 separate borders at Cilgwyn Lodge and the majority
were planted to be at their peak in July, which was our pereferred
month when we used to hold Open Days for the NGS. There is
neverthelss still sufficient interest to stimulate and
delight us in every month except in December but never on the same
scale.
Scaffolding around one of the chimneys provided a
unique vantage point. Most of the House Garden is included in these
pics. The lawn, a former veg bed, was sown only last
year
_
The picket fence border at its peak which gives
pleasure to many passers by on the road - and to us!
The Red Border in the Paddock Garden
It prompted me to think about why gardening gives us such
pleasure. I remembered years ago reading some thoughts of Liberty
Hyde Bailey, an American gardener, as famous in his own country at
about the same time as Gertrude Jekyll in the UK, on what he
considered those benefits to be - 13 in all. No doubt you have your
own reasons, perhaps even more than !3!
Then a dear friend Carole Whittaker (more about her later) came
up with another - we are happy because we handle soil all time! Yes
honestly. It appears that soil contains beneficial microbes whch
contain Seratonin a chemical which is used medically to treat
depression. For more info about this fascinating phenomenum go to
www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilisers/antidepressant-microbes-soil.htm
Coincidentally a few days later there was a programme on BBC 4
TV about the mystery and magic of soil (in the USA it is referred
to as dirt), which I always thought was rather disparaging. If you
watch the TV programme on www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer and
search BBC4 for "Deep down and dirty. The secret of soil" I
am sure you will be as fascinated as me.
Nothing comes close to July with the mass flowering of a huge
variety of plants some of which are now nearly 20 years old and
create a huge impact. To have planned, planted maintained and added
new plants, gives us a sense of great satisfaction and weeks
of sheer pleasure. We have been inspired in our colour
harminisation and plant selections by the many gardens we have
visited and the writings of our gardening heroes.
Share some of our pleasure through these pictures from a small
selection of the borders.
Weather
For the fourth month in a row it was a mixed bag of weather
which has not settled for any length of time. At least until the
last week, when those dreaded words "Jet Stream" started to feature
in the forecasts!!, we continued to have a good balance of sun,
warmth and rain which has seen good growth, but with some
exceptionally heavy rain and strong winds at times: delicate blooms
especially roses have suffered, adding to the list of chores
with much more frequent dead heading being required.
Rosa "Spirit of Freedom" with ball headed flowers easily
becomes sodden and the petals shed before opening
Some fabulous sky scapes particularly on the
evening captured by these pics
A surreal light bathed the garden with a pink
haze.
Then to top it all, when you thought it couldn't
get any better, the whole valley, within a space of just 5 minutes,
was shrouded in swirling mist
Min 9C on 23rd Max 26.8C on 6th, 8 days above 21C
Sunny days 14, 4 days not recorded because we were away.
Garden update
At last we have a good choice of 12 varieties vegetables to
harvest - such a delight not to have to buy them and what a taste
difference. From plot to pot in a matter of minutes. Nothing
compares to the first taste of peas - such sweetness and freshness.
If you have never grown them and have the space, they are well
worth the effort of staking and fighting off the rodents in the
early stages. I am learning to manage with a smaller area of
vegetables but we have plenty and sufficient to share them with our
friends and neighbours.
Sweetcorn variety "Swift" a long standing favourite" has
loved the mix of heat and rain" was already flowering by mid
month!. Nearly 60 plants in all because we love it so much
and it freezes so well
Brassicas bed on the misty night
The first decent harvest on 1 July, plenty more coming
in now.
What about your runner beans? They are so slow here and only now
from a mid April sowing are we beginning to crop them. The flower
set has been poor even though there are sufficient bees about, with
hives just a hundred yards away, and the foliage is sparse.
Tomatoes too are struggling,but thank goodness we have 28 plants
to make up the shortfall there will be. Mild cases of blight and
virus and don't mention whitefly! And just when they start to ripen
the blackbirds have rediscovered their taste for them!
In the nursery I am still propagating and growing on and at
present there are some fine salvias, hardy chryanthemums, and
annuals cosmos and rudbeckias. Whilst in the tunnels large
brugmansias fill them with their overpowering perfume always on the
dot of 6.00pm!!
A beautiful pink brugmansia teamed up with
the flower of fuchsia arborescens in the large tunnel. This pic was
taken on the evening of the pink glow which seemed totally
appropriate!
There is a great range of fabulous annual
rudbeckias from seed which make robust plants from now until
late autumn. This one is "Irish Spring" with large
flowers.
The two main ponds are looking very good with crystal clear
water and no blanket weed, the scourge of the fishkeeper in hot,
bright weather. There are less water lilies than last year, only 50
currently in bloom, half the number of last year, but for
some reason a wider range of colours than we have had before.
What's looking good
Pictures tell the story better than I can but I should say a few
words about the recovery of affected plants after those 2 late
frosts in April. I had all but given up hope for many of the
hydrangeas macrophylla, serrata and aspera but most of them are
showing some buds on mature well wooded plants, and may flower
later than usual. Dieramas were disappointing this year but
agapanthus have really got into their stride lately and will be
featured next month
I was particularly pleased that schizophragma
hydrangoides flowered as I went to great deal of trouble to wrap it
tightly in fleece whenever frost in April was forecast. In most
forms it is a vigorous climber to cover a big shrub, but
unfortunately I chose the cultivar "Roseum" which is very slow
growing!
Hostas are of mixed quality and many are already looking like
they do at the beginning oiautumn. Later lilies are showing good
buds at last and a few are in flower.
Hosta "Orange Marmalade" grown on its own as a specimen
is a complete mess
But those planted en masse in a mono culture
border look much better. The tall pink astilbe is a.chinensis var
davidii a rare and beautiful form I grew from HPS seed a good few
years ago
B
Lilum "Honeymoon" one of the so called tree lilies up to
7 feet with huge flowers and overpowering scent
A really special species lily is l. lechtlinii, tall
to 7 feet. When it is in flower (2 -3 weeks) nothing else in our
tightly packed borders can compete with it. It is a relatively
cheap and easy lily and should be more widely grown - so I am!!
There is no sign of flowers yet on aster frikartii "Monch" which
is usually in full bloom by now and numerous other plants are later
than usual.
Having said all that there are many plants putting up a great
show.
Some of my favourite July perennials in this pic are
front to back:- phlox paniculata, geranium violaceum plenum,
hollyhocks from seed, verbascum chaixii "Album" and second flush
lupins
Of all our phlox in the gardens, the all time
favorite is "Blue Paradise", early to flower, good scent and
a marvellous blue at late evening - as many blue flowers
are.
Old fashioned or not, hollyhocks add tremendous impact
in classic borders, and all of ours have been grown from seed
giving a good range of colours and forms.
Lobelia tupa on the left is brilliant this year
and seems to be a darker red than usual. For a plant from Chile it
has coped well with every winter we have had since it was planted
in 1999. Good drainage helps, as it does for its companion
dahlia"Nuit d'Ete which was planted at the same time and like all
our other dalias, never dug up for the winter.
More happy harmony, roscoea seedling from "Brown
Peacock" teamed with persicaria "Purple Fantasy" which can be a
real thug but is mercifully easy to pull up and share with your
best friends!?!!
Acanthus Spinosissimus Group seems to have a good year
followed by a bad one and this is a really good one. Whether
digging up large portions of the established clumps last year has
made the difference I don't know but I am glad I did!
Not the best of pics as hydrangea paniculata
in the foreground is overexposed, but the aim was to
show the impact of veronicastrum virginicum "Album" in the shady
background - a well deserved AGM from RHS it is the best form of
the genus I have encountered
Wildlife and countryside
On warmer days the big dragonflies are beginning to make an
appearance and one even took a liking to the warmth of the
converatory, and feeding on the flying insects that find their way
in.
Plenty of wasps this year and a few hornets too which dwarf them
and look really menacing. Butterflies are still scarce in
spite of the warmth. Most commonly seen have been Red Admirals. I
don't think my wish to see a humming bird hawk moth will come true
this year although there have been sightings elesewhere in
Carmarthenshire
Our hedgehog visitor is still seen around the house on most
nights and a smaller one made an appearance once after dark but has
not been seen since. They are quite territorial and generally don't
mix with others except in the breeding season( well they have to
don't they?!!)
The smaller one is still a little shy!
A heron has been seen regularly on the Paddock Pond but it
appears that fishing has not been good for him as the pond is so
thick up to the edge with water lillies it would be difficult for
him to walk in.
A novel sighting on the incoming electricity supply were
two recently fledged swallows who were fed on and off by the
parents over a period of 5 hours despite the attentions of several
corvids that were not able to get to them. They flew off by
nightfall and were there again the following day.
The transference of food from parents to chicks was so
fast that even on burst shooting I couldn't capture it. A picture
of a parent on the wire was all I could get!!
Visits
A summer break in Cornwall was long overdue and much
enjoyed at the end of the month. Mawnan Smith near Falmouth was our
destination staying at Meudon Hotel which boasts 9 acres of ravine
garden initially started by R.W. Fox in 1800, a wealthy Quaker
businessman whose relatives later went on to buy Glendurgan
(in 1820) and Trebah (1830), just down the road. The
plantings in all the gardens is very similar although Trebah is on
an epic scale.
Meudon Hotel and gardens
The private beach
A bizarre sight right to the waters edge is a
large stand of gunnera, a key planting in all the 3
gardens
Glendurgan
Tree ferns in a abundance some well over 200 years
old
The 7 foot flower spke of an unidentified Puya, a
bromeliad from South America
Durgan village at the bottom end of the
garden.
A huge tulip tree , liriodendron, full of buds but
none in flower
Trebah. My 5th visit and it has lost none of its
magic.
Two more signature plants of all 3 gardens are
agapanthus and echium pininana around the house at the very top of
the garden before the steep decline into the ravine
Hydrangeas in their hundreds on the lower
slopes
One of my favourite hydrangea relatives is
dichroa febrifuga, a rare and rather tender shrub which I have
coveted for years and at last obtained from a nursery on the way
home. For a big pot to be overwintered in the large tunnel. Hope
mine will be as deep blue as the one at Trebah!
You can just catch a glimpse of the sea through the lush
planting at the bottom of the garden and the white sail of a
convenienty placed yacht
And then onto the beach, but the joy and happiness of
the seaside and the beauty and peace of the wonderful gardens then
come face to face with the momentous events of 1944 on this
very beach
And then the long climb back!
Earlier in the month we went on a day trip to Bishop's Castle in
Shropshire for an open day at New Hope Daylilies, a specialist
nursery owned by Mark Zennick, an American who sources the newest
and best cultivars from the USA. With our current passion for
hemerocallis which have had a magnificient year, purchases were
inevitable!
Moira getting to know Mark, or is it vice
versa?!!
An equal pleasure was the ride through rural Shropshire with
poems of A.E Houseman ringing in my ears, especially the lines
"Clunton and Clunbury, Clungenford and Clun are the quietest of
places under the sun" If he were alive today he would find that
nothing much has changed! And in Clun there were more walkers than
cars, whilst in the Public Conveniences, a sound system played
arias from well known operas - civilisation indeed!!
The nearest I came to capturing that quietness came in
Knighton was when walking up the High Street on that Saturday
afternoon. Count the cars in this side road.
Finally in a very full and enjoyable month, we met up with
gardening friends for lunch at Glyn Bach in Pembrokeshire owned by
Peter and Carole Whitttaker, who open regularly for the NGS and are
holders of a National Plant Collection of Monardas. For more
details go to www.glynbachgardens.co.uk
Carole loves her monardas so much she complements her
clothing so as not to clash with them! It isn't too late to catch
most of them in flower
Hope you had a similarly enjoyable month and that summer ends in
a blaze of glory with another fine August.
To keep you in holiday mode if the current weather
ever relents, this pic of a schooner? far out in Mevagissey bay at
40x zoom on my Nikkon P610 camera
