Summer roundup!

September has arrived!

As the harvest gluts begin to abate, and the urgency for watering starts to lessen we find ourselves back in the swing of things at the garden club! What a marvellouss summer it has been, and it was kicked off in wonderfulfashionn with our fabulous trip to Hidcote and Kiftsgate Gardens.

The sun joined us for our adventures, as we happily set off from the church. Clutching waterproofs just in case the british weather reared its head, we headed off for our first destination, Hidcote. For those that had been before and those who were discovering its delights for the first time, it didn’t disappoint. The boarders and displays were bursting with vigour and flowers were vying for your attention in every direction you turned. Exquisitely trimmed topiary, heavenly scented rose boarders and secret winding pathways leading to breath taking vista’s. The plant of the moment seemed to be the Diarama, which caught everyones eye, but was sadly missing from the plant nursery! Thankfully the next garden provided enough souvenir plants for all who wanted one to take one back to their own gardens. Kiftsgate was certainly a vibrantly different garden to Hidcote. With its step paths that challenged many of us to tackle its steps to get a view from the swimming pond. It provided glorious lines of flowering grasses and strong bushes of roses and a cream tea at the end of the climb that was very well deserved!

Elizabeth sums up the trip to our members garden this year. Cheryl and Peter’s garden visit was truly an inspiration for all of us to see what can be achieved in just four years. I came home with several ideas – I just need the get-up-and-go to get-up-and-do them! It was an amazing example of packing so much interest in such a small area and yet at the same time creating an overall impression of spaciousness. I loved it. It’s a garden for enjoying sitting and relaxing, walking in and exploring interesting areas and particularly for pottering. I call it a perfect garden. The evening weather was perfect and just started to get chilly towards home time. Cheryl gave us a selection of tasty refreshments – delicious cakes made from beetroots and rhubarb from her garden and sparkling elderflower to drink made from elderflowers from her neighbour’s garden. There is such a great feeling of satisfaction eating your own produce from the garden. It was delicious!

Our club night was joined by James Allison, a very well regarded speaker on water gardens and its easy to see why he is so popular! He gave us a talk that captivated us all and was thoroughly enjoyable, he certainly knew his goldfish from his water lilies! He has many years of experiences to draw on when talking of water gardening, and helped us to realise that water in the garden offers a completely new range of plants to grow. Growing in water also has the benefit of establishing quickly giving fast results and can be in the form of a grand lake or a small container so there is room for everyone to have a go.

Next month we are being joined by Sally Nex who will be sharing her insights into behind the scenes at Chelsea which should be an eye opener!

See you all in October.

The team