Posts Tagged ‘Inspirational Gardens’
Open Garden, Evening Dinner: 17th July!
Posted by editor on Friday, 9 July 2010
The Garden House is once again opening its garden gate in aid of a local charity – this year we are raising funds for RISE (Refuge, Information, Support, Education), a local charity supporting women, children and young people affected by domestic abuse.
Join us for a brilliant afternoon! There will be stalls selling all sorts – including garden tools, jewellery, home made gifts, culinary delights, and a multitude of gardening items.
Tea and cakes will be on sale too, and we have our Grand Auction at 4pm! Auction prizes include:
- One week in a villa on Fuerteventura
- Large abstract painting by Sussex artist Bobby Boud
- Deckchair with customized patchwork seat
- Photo session in a local studio
- Patchwork quilt
- Coffee machine and coffee set
- Two complementary planted containers
- Voucher for a hair cut in a local salon
- Bridgette’s Friday gardeners – working in your garden for one day!
- And many other items, including ‘ingredients for a screaming orgasm’ (don’t ask!)…
Garden opens at 2.30pm
Entrance fee: £2 per adult
We are also holding a Garden Dinner Party, which starts at 7pm. Why not book a table with friends? The cost of the dinner will be £20 for a delicious three-course meal and a glass of wine (we will have wine available for donation should you need extra!) – and during dinner we’ll be serenaded by live band Vinyl Riff!
Dinner menu:
- Starters: roasted Piedmont peppers, OR mushroom, sherry and walnut pate, OR watermelon and goat’s cheese salad
- Main course: organic Cheddar, zucchini and roasted red onion quiche, OR Malaysian fish curry, OR tortilla with fried beans served with guacamole and salsa
- Dessert: free-range homemade meringue nests with summer fruits, OR chocolate brandy refrigerator cake, OR fresh fruit platter
Contact us for more info: 01273 702840 / 0778 8668595 / contact@gardenhousebrighton.co.uk
Please come and bring your friends and help us to raise some money for this hugely worthwhile cause – thank you, and hope to see you then!
An evening at Marchants…
Posted by editor on Friday, 2 July 2010
As part of The Garden House Plant School we spent Wednesday evening at the quite gorgeous Marchants Hardy Plants, Laughton, in the knowledgeable company of proprietor and plantsman Graham Gough and his partner Lucy Goffin.
Following a short career in classical music as a gifted tenor, Graham’s love of plants was re-awoken by a cathartic trip to Sissinghurst Castle in Kent where his eyes were opened to the artistic and creative process of gardening at its highest level; Lucy is a textile artist. It is palpably apparent that creativity flows through their fingertips – everything in the garden and nursery is beautifully considered, immaculately laid out and personally attended come rain or shine.
What Graham doesn’t know and feel about plants seems hardly worth knowing. He is one of a small group of passionate plantsmen and women, always exploring, propagating, exchanging ideas – citing amongst others the late Christopher Lloyd, plantswoman Marina Christopher, and writer Noel Kingsbury as friends. His passion and creativity has created a unique nursery, one where you can guarantee finding that special ‘must have’ cultivar, where you know you’ll be inspired…
At the end of a long day, glass of wine in hand, he walked us around his garden highlighting key plants, indicating where planting has worked brilliantly and where it has not (rare!), infecting us with his philosophy and enthusiasm.
“At Marchants, the nursery drifts almost imperceptibly into Gough’s rich, dramatic sweeps of herbaceous planting: sanguisorbas, daylilies, masses of grasses, achilleas, dark agapanthus…” Anna Pavord, The Independent Magazine.
For Graham gardening and creating the nursery is the best therapy one can get. He tries not to go with the trends, but takes a more subjective view, relying on intuition. He advocates “going it alone, keep your eyes open, and make personal choices”.
Key messages from the evening:
- In a small space you have to be selective; achieve a visual calmness by narrowing the number of plant types used
- Find peace in clear spaces; a simple water feature with little around it, creates a sense of sanctuary
- For colour inspiration look to 20thC paintings
- Set aside an area of the garden where you can ‘play’, doing something different each year, trying new plants
Marchants Hardy Plants, Mill Lane, Laughton, East Sussex BN8 6AJ
Tel/fax: 01323 811737 www.marchantshardyplants.co.uk (check website for opening times)
Garden Gadabout update…
Posted by editor on Monday, 28 June 2010
Taken from the writings of our London friends at The Women’s Room blog: www.thewomensroom.typepad.com/the_womens_room/
I don’t go to therapy, instead I garden. It keeps me calm, I can work through all my issues and have imaginary arguments in the greenhouse where no one can hear me and I always win. The plants respond well to the attention and there are weeks when I spend more time nurturing my seedlings than my family.
The other advantage of gardening is meeting other gardeners, who are all too willing to share their interest in growing things and often give you stuff, in the form of cuttings and bits of leaf to identify. This weekend we went to the Garden Gadabout in a very sunny Brighton where we met some fabulous enthusiasts eager to share their green spaces.
We saw a number of interesting trends…..
- The new shed - everyone’s got a fancy room-in-the-garden shed, with sofas/internet connection/curtains
- Vegetables in raised beds – everywhere but everywhere
- Potatoes in bags/containers – apparently easy and prolific
- Beech sticks as wigwams for climbers (prettier than bamboo)
- Chickens – who have their own fancy coups if they’re lucky
- Seating areas – loads of them everywhere
- Recycled boxes/tins/sacks are the new pots
- Mosaics – from small to complex, black and white or multi coloured
- Creating your own seed packets and hand drawing the floral fronts
- Cakes – it seems all gardeners can cook cakes and make excellent lemonade
Here are some of the photos taken this weekend…
…and don’t forget the Garden Gadabout (private gardens opening in aid of the charity Susssex Beacon) is happening again weekend 3rd/4th July.
Note from GG coordinator Bridgette Saunders: “As usual The Sussex Beacon’s garden will be opening Saturday 3rd July. Come and visit us and see the changes that have taken place. You’ll receive a warm welcome and have the opportunity to visit the gardens of this unique centre. There will be stalls, a tombola and of course cream teas to buy and enjoy whilst
relaxing in tranquil surroundings. All the funds raised from The Garden Gadabout come directly to The Sussex Beacon.”
Check their website for details www.gardengadabout.org.uk
Recycle and reuse…
Posted by editor on Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Our garden here at The Garden House is run on organic and recycling principles. So we love and admire gardens created to promote similar ideals.
At the Chelsea Flower Show last week one of our favourite gardens was Places of Change, brought together by the Eden Project in partnership with the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Homeless Link.
Up to 50 homelessness charities took part, contributing to Eden’s second year at Chelsea, with more than 75 people working on the site at a time. All received vocational training in woodwork, planting and other horticultural skills that they can use to get employment in the future.
It featured five designated zones: crops and food; floristry and leisure; medicine and health; industry and manufacture – a metaphor for the hidden treasures that lie within communities and the most unexpected places.
The eclectic design included a greenhouse made using recycled bottles, plants grown in hostels around the country, trees donated from cemeteries in East London and sculptures made from old washing machines.
Another favourite garden run on recycling principles is a “pop up” community garden in Lewes (run by a group of local artists and gardeners – one of whom is our Garden House friend, Ella!). Here abandoned packing cases are reused as raised vegetable beds, and living willow woven into hideaways, thick fencing – and even a sofa!
Find this exciting and creative “guerilla” garden at the Old Fire Station, North Street, Lewes BN7 2PL. It will be open the weekend of 3rd/4th July as part of the Garden Gadabout - the open garden scheme that’s been running for over fifteen years in support of Sussex-based charity The Sussex Beacon (it started with a few supporters opening their gardens in Brighton to last year an event where over 70 gardens threw open their garden gates).
Garden Gadabout open gardens are spread far and wide from Shoreham to Lewes and everywhere in between. Do make time to visit this and other gardens. Small or large – all are inspirational, creative - and real!
Chelsea Flower Show favourites – glorious Irises!
Posted by editor on Saturday, 29 May 2010
Brighton-based designer Andy Sturgeon won both gold and Best in Show Garden at CFS with his contemporary gravel garden. A wonderful and adventurous garden in many respects – the free-standing rusted steel structures framing stunning planting. Our eyes were particularly drawn to three large dramatic bowls of bronze coloured irises (Iris ‘Action Front’).
We also loved the stunning display put on by Cayeux, the French Iris specialists. The logistics of exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show were quite a challenge for Cayeux – their nursery in France has no poly tunnels, all irises being grown in 55 acres of open fields. Thus the plants shown at Chelsea were grown in England by the nursery Iris of Sissinghurst, in pots from rhizomes sent over in August 2009 from the Cayeux fields in France. www.iris-cayeux.com
Irises are well suited to dry, hot conditions. The following planting/care info is taken from the Cayeux website:
- When to plant: July to mid-October. It is important that the roots of newly planted Irises are well established before winter.
- Where to plant: In full sun – Irises need sun at least two thirds of the day. The soil must have very good drainage. Plant either on a slope or in raised beds. No water should be allowed to stand in iris beds.
- Soil preparation: If your soil is heavy, coarse sand or humus may be added to improve drainage. Lime is also good to improve clay soils. The ideal pH is 7 (neutral), but irises are tolerant in this regard. Remove all the weeds before planting.
- Distance apart: Plant 30 to 40 cm apart. Closer planting will give an immediate effect, but the irises will need to be thinned often.
- Depth to plant: Irises must be planted so that the tops of the rhizomes are exposed and the roots are spread out facing downward in the soil. Just after planting, water to pack down the soil around the roots.
- Watering: Newly set plants need moisture to help their root system become established. Once established, irises do not need to be watered except in arid areas and it is always better to under-water than over-water. TOO MUCH WATER CAN INDUCE ROT.
- Dividing old clumps: Irises must be divided every 3 to 5 years before they become overcrowded and begin to flower less. Thin by removing the old divisions at the centre of the clumps and leaving new growth in the ground. Alternatively, dig up the entire clump and remove and replant the big new rhizomes.
- Feeding: Depends on your soil type but bone meal, superphosphate or 5-10-15, or 6-8-12 are effective. Feed once in early spring and then one month after flowering. AVOID USING FERTILIZERS HIGH IN NITROGEN, IT ENCOURAGES ROT PROBLEMS.
- About the foliage: During the growing season healthy green leaves should be left undisturbed, but diseased or brown leaves must be removed. In the late autumn, trim off old dying foliage and cut the leaves back to about 15 cm. Flower stems should be cut off close to the ground after blooming.
Inspirational garden: Houghton Lodge
Posted by editor on Thursday, 20 May 2010
Visit the delightful Houghton Lodge gardens with The Garden House! On Wednesday 23 June we’ve a great day planned – visiting Mottisfont Abbey to see the collection of old-fashioned roses, and Houghton Lodge to see the inspirational garden.
Houghton Lodge is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful privately owned houses and gardens in Hampshire. The house is a picturesque late 18th Century Grade 2 listed gothic cottage orné, idyllically set above the tranquil waters of the River Test. It is set in extensive grounds, with fine trees and lawns sweeping down to the banks of the river.
The garden is described by Tamsin Westhorpe, editor of The English Garden as “one of the most romantic gardens I have ever experienced” and offers a myriad of charms as inspiration for the gardener. There is a fully restored chalk cob walled kitchen garden with greenhouses run on hydroponic principles (thus using less water and space) – also a long herbaceous border, orchid house, topiary parterre and a lovely wildflower meadow leading down to the river.
In late June the roses and peonies will both be in full blossom and should be looking wonderful. www.houghtonlodge.co.uk
For more information on this delightful visit, or to book, go to DIARY on this website.
The Garden House Plant School
Posted by editor on Monday, 19 April 2010
We’re very excited to tell you about The Garden House Plant School. For the first time, we’ve created a course designed specifically to help you further develop your knowledge of plants and their families.
The course starts on Weds 9 June, and runs over six Wednesday evenings, from 6.30 to 9.00pm.
This will also be a very special opportunity to talk with the experts! We have invited plant experts Graham Gough, Julie Hollobone and Peter Thurman to each lead one of the evenings as guest speaker.
Julie Hollobone – is assistant editor of Gardens Monthly, a horticultural lecturer and author of an excellent book on propagation, Propagation Techniques. Julie will start the course by reminding us how plants work, investigating several different plants from a botanical point of view, and identifying their characteristics to aid classification into plant families.
Peter Thurman – is a horticultural and arboricultural expert, who has used his knowledge of plants to create thrilling borders and garden designs. Peter will be talking about ‘designing with plants and planting plans’. (note our lead photo of his stunning Betula/Cornus border!).
Graham Gough – supported by his partner Lucy Goffin, Graham created the magical garden and nursery at Marchants Hardy Plants in Laughton, Sussex. He is a great speaker and hugely knowledgeable, and will talk about plants he couldn’t survive without! That evening will be spent at his nursery, where we can see his ‘can’t live without’ plants in situ.
The course will also focus on selecting plants for the appropriate site – in Beth Chatto’s words finding “the right plant for the right place” – and on how to use colour to its best advantage in the garden.
And finally there will be a session of exchanging information about plant families where each participant, having home-studied a plant family in depth, will share their knowledge with the group.
The course starts Weds 9 June and runs for a total of six weeks. The cost is £280 to include a light supper and glass of wine on each of the evenings.
This very special course is limited to eight people only, so please do book early. For more details and booking form, go to DIARY on this website.
Helen Dillon’s radical philosophy…
Posted by editor on Friday, 2 April 2010
“Dig it up and throw it away” was the title of a talk given by the much-admired gardener Helen Dillon at last Sunday’s Hardy Plant Society (Sussex Group) meeting.
Drawing on over thirty-five years’ experience in her Dublin garden, Helen amused the audience greatly with her tales of plants that simply wouldn’t behave as she wanted or perform as she wished! “Love, nurture, let go” is her philosophy.
Her illustrated talk encompassed many aspects of gardening that ring true for us all. She is a most impressive plantswoman, yet she also completely understands the issues, angst and frustrations we experience in our own gardens.
Helen’s ideas could be considered a little left field (we love that!). Refreshingly she’s all for rethinking the expected, happy to make room for new ideas…
- Having grown tired of the huge box balls cornering her borders, Helen boldly sliced off the tops like boiled eggs and scooped out the centres – creating box bowls instead.
- Helen uses dustbins to great effect – filled with tulips, cannas and verbenas, or runner beans!
- She ties her plant labels to the looped ends of wire coat-hangers – a great idea, we loved that one.
Helen talked of some of her favourite plants – Bengal Crimson Rose (R. chinensis var. sanguinea), Isoplexis sceptrum (a spectacular evergreen shrub, native to Madeira), Bergenia purpurascens (“the only plant I ever stole” she told us) – amongst many many others.
We’re currently re-reading Helen Dillon’s GARDEN Book (ISBN: 978-0-7112-2710-1). It’s so typically Helen, a book divided into thoughts rather than chapters – Sitting in the garden, Why did it die?, Plants worth searching for, Hiding the neighbours, Scent, Burglar-proof plants – and so on. Delightful.
NOTE: At The Garden House we are great fans of The Hardy Plant Society – it exists to inform and encourage the novice gardener, stimulate and enlighten the more knowledgeable, and entertain and enthuse all gardeners bonded by a love for, and an interest in, hardy perennial plants. If you are interested in finding out more visit www.hardy-plant.org.uk/
Ornamental grasses with Monica Lucas…
Posted by editor on Wednesday, 10 March 2010
“Rushes are round, sedges have edges, and grasses are glorious”. So said expert grower Monica Lewis at last Saturday’s Garden House workshop!
Enthusiastic and hugely knowledgeable, Monica talked the group through the seemingly endless and largely irresistible variations. So, why grasses?
Grasses are versatile, an almost essential component in any modern planting scheme. They rustle delicately in the wind (the larger the leaf the more noise they make) and change colour according to season, light levels, sun and shade, rain or frost. They can be used as hedging, as low-level edging for pathways or beds – they can be planted as ribbons through beds to give visual continuity, or used to create a stunning backdrop for contrasting perennial planting. Some are evergreen, some deciduous. Many grow well in containers.
There are also annual grasses, easily grown from seed, which mix beautifully with hardy annuals in the cutting garden.
The last ten years has seen grasses return to fashion in a big way. Naturalistic prairie-style planting – developed in Germany, Holland (think Piet Oudolf) and North America – sees blocks of tall grasses and statuesque perennials mingled together to form flowing borders of late-flowering colour.
To see this style of planting at close-hand, visit the stunning 6-acre Sussex Prairie garden near Henfield, Sussex (featured on this website 24.11.2009). Here the large borders, planted by owners Paul and Pauline McBride, combine perennials with huge drifts of ornamental grasses, including varieties of Miscanthus, Panicums, Molinias, Sporobolis and Penisetum. For open days check www.sussexprairies.co.uk
Monica Lucas talks about ‘cool growers’ and ‘warm growers’. Cool growers flower in late spring and early summer (propagate in spring and autumn), whilst warm growers flower in summer and autumn, keeping most of their dried flowers all winter until broken down by the weather (propagate in spring and early summer).
In general grasses need a free-draining moisture-retentive soil – and whilst there are always exceptions to the ‘rules’, and many other options, Monica suggests the following:
Grasses for chalk:
- Koeleria glauca
- Melica ciliata
Grasses for clay:
- Calamagrostis x acutiflora cvs.
- Deschampsia caespitose cvs.
- Elymus glaucus
- Phalaris arundinaria cvs.
Shade tolerant grasses:
- Briza media
- Calamagrostis acutiflora Karl Foerster
- Calamagrostis brachytricha
- Carex (most cultivars)
- Deschampsia caespitose cvs.
- Hackenochloa macra cvs.
- Milium effusem aureum
- Miscanthus sinensis purpureus
- Molinia caerulea (all cultivars)
- Stipa arundinaria
Key learnings from the workshop:
- For long term container planting, use ½ John Innes soil-based potting compost No2, ½ soil-less compost, a good deal of ½” grit for drainage, and a controlled release fertilizer (such as Osmacote).
- Don’t over-feed (they won’t flower well) – grasses prefer a low-nitrogen soil – so go easy on the chicken pellets or manure, in preference use well-rotted garden compost.
- If you like a plant, but are unsure if it will grow on your soil, buy three and plant them in various locations in the garden. Wherever they grow best, transfer the others – they will have found their home!
- Propagation involves digging out the plant and setting to (carefully!) with a variety of knives, saws, or even an axe, to cut the root ball into small sections ready to pot up for a few weeks before planting out.
- Use a wide-toothed comb to ‘preen’ (not ‘prune’) evergreen grasses – combing out the dead stalks to clear space for new growth.
When pressed Monica told us her personal favourite is Miscanthus Nepalensis – common name: Himalayan fairy grass!
Visit to Beth Chatto’s garden…
Posted by editor on Friday, 5 March 2010
The Garden House is taking a spring trip to the wonderful Beth Chatto gardens at Colchester, Essex, on 17 April. It is so beautifully planted, and was such a rewarding experience when we went a few years ago in February, that we wanted to offer a trip to see the gardens at a different time of year.
Beth Chatto’s innovative style has transformed the “wilderness” (her words), that she and her husband were faced with in 1960, into one of the most inspirational gardens in England. Perhaps it is the gravel garden which is most famous, planted with drought resistant plants and reflecting the mantra we should all follow, ‘right plant, right place’. This area in Essex has one of the lowest rainfalls in the country, but here in the south we have also experienced tremendous droughts and seeing the plants Beth Chatto uses in her garden can guide and inspire us for our own gardens. The nursery is well-stocked, fabulous and not expensive.
As well as the gravel garden, created from the former car park, the rest of the gardens are magical. The garden has both dry and damp areas, sunny and shady – these challenges, plus her eye for design and colour have resulted in an exceptional visual harmony.
We are leaving Brighton quite early, 9am by coach, and plan to be back in Brighton by 6.30pm. The cost is £42, two people booking together is £70, so do bring a friend along! We will offer refreshments on the coach, and there is a good cafe at the Gardens, or if you prefer, do bring a packed lunch.
For booking form, go to our Diary list, or contact us at contact@gardenhousebrighton.co.uk
Early spring at RHS Wisley…
Posted by editor on Saturday, 20 February 2010
We had a great visit to RHS Wisley last Saturday and were delighted with some very positive feedback from those of you who joined us.
“Thanks for a lovely trip. You guys have a knack of making everyone feel so welcome…”
Wisley is the RHS’s flagship garden, and within its 200 acres it is possible to find plants suitable for almost every UK garden situation, irrespective of size, soil or location. We focused on winter interest – whether in use of evergreens, coloured stems and barks, fragrance and winter flowering shrubs, perennials and bulbs. It is always surprising how much beauty there is on a chilly, rather dull, February afternoon. Being such a cold winter many of the plants were late in their display, so we would highly recommend a visit in the near future.
The Salix alba ‘Golden Ness’, Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’, Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ welcomed us on arrival, and walking round the gardens we saw wonderful Hamamelis, and Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’, and lots of snowdrops. It was bitterly cold and so to dive into the Glasshouse and spend time warming up while discovering this wonderfully tranquil paradise where exotic butterflies take flight among the plants was exceptional. It certainly whetted our appetites for plants we may see in South Africa in October on our Garden House Tour. Do join us! The tropical plants were extraordinary and we imagined what they will look like in their native surroundings.
Coming up: On April 17th we have organized a coach trip to Beth Chatto’s garden, details will be on the website soon; and on June 23rd we are visiting Mottisfont Abbey, where our main focus of interest will be the walled garden, home to their national collection of old-fashioned roses.
Garden House visit to South Africa…
Posted by editor on Thursday, 18 February 2010
Join us on our visit to South Africa, 1-10 October 2010. Spring – when the Cape is covered with field upon field of flowers in bloom – is a wonderful time for gardening enthusiasts to visit…
Key aspects of the visit are highlighted below, for full details: contact@gardenhousebrighton.co.uk
- Ten-day trip
- Direct flights to Cape Town (overnight)
- Four nights at The Vineyard Hotel & Spa (www.vineyard.co.za a beautiful hotel set in its own glorious gardens)
- One night at the Paternoster Lodge (www.paternoster-lodge.co.za)
- One night staying at Clanwilliam, staying at St DuBarrys Guest House or Clanwilliam Lodge
- Two nights at the Aquila Private Game Reserve (www.aquilasafari.com)
Travelling at all times with horticulture specialists, and an experienced and registered local guide.
We will also have a specialist field guide walking us through the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
Included:
- Cape Town orientation tour – includes cable car to Table Top Mountain, District Six and Museum, Company Gardens
- Peninsula tour – includes a guided tour of the stunning Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
- Winelands tour – includes a visit to KWV Emporium for a cellar tour and tastings!
- Community tour of the Cape Flats – visiting the community food gardens at Langa Township
- Drive up the West Coast through Namaqualand’s amazing wildflower fields, to visit the West Coast National Park
- Visit to Elandberg Eco Reserve for a Rooibos Tea Tour
- Visit the Rock Art trails and the Wine Estate in the Matzikamma
- Evening game drive at Aquila Private Game Reserve
- Morning game drive at Aquila Private Game Reserve
Just a brief summary of this exciting Garden House tour, 1-10 October 2010. Contact us for the full details contact@gardenhousebrighton.co.uk . All costs are included, bar a few meal times when you are free to wander and make your own local choices.
We do hope you’ll be inspired to join us!
Join us on our visit to South Africa!
Posted by editor on Saturday, 30 January 2010
The Garden House has arranged to take a group of gardening enthusiasts to South Africa in October. We are so looking forward to this trip! It will be South Africa’s spring season, when the Cape will be covered with field upon field of flowers in bloom.
Key aspects of the visit are highlighted below, for full details contact@gardenhousebrighton.co.uk
Arriving in Cape Town (South African Airways, direct flight from Heathrow), the group will stay at The Vineyard Hotel & Spa for four nights (www.vineyard.co.za a beautiful hotel set in its own glorious gardens).
Our first view of this amazing country will be from the top of Table Mountain (by cable car of course!), part of a half-day city orientation tour.
The next 
day we take a guided visit to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens (www.sanbi.org), world-renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape flora it displays and for the magnificence of its setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. This is the most beautiful time of year – when the whole garden is alive with colour as fields of Namaqualand annuals and spring bulbs burst into flower.
Whilst based in Cape Town we will also take a Winelands tour (tasting the local vintages of course!), and visit the Langa Township.
Our tour of Langa includes private gardens, and the inspiring community food gardens. The Abalimi Bezakhaya project teaches sustainable living, supplying locals with trees and shrubs to green their areas, and encouraging people to grow their own food.
We then leave the Cape travelling up the West Coast visiting Weylandts and the Tienie Versveld Wildflower Reserves, then on to the West Coast National Park and Postberg Nature Reserve – all the while taking in the stunning coastline and fields of wildflowers.
Our next base is Paternoster Lodge (www.paternoster-lodge.co.za). From here we visit Elandberg Eco Reserve for a Rooibos Tea Tour – with the added bonus of trying out a variety of refreshing Rooibos teas in the farm house, hosted by the farmer’s wife! We then drive on to Lutzville to meet Wynand, our specialist wildflower guide who will take us to his favourite flower spots, the Rock Art Trail, and show us around the wine estate at Matzikamma.
From there, on to the Aquila Private Game Reserve (www.aquilasafari.com) our base for the last two nights of our trip. Here we’ll enjoy an evening game drive, and the following day, a morning game drive – a fantastic opportunity to observe South Africa’s amazing wildlife up close.
So, just a brief summary of this exciting Garden House tour. Contact us for the full details contact@gardenhousebrighton.co.uk . All costs are included, bar a few meal times when you are free to wander and make your own local choices. We do hope you’ll be inspired to join us!
Be inspired by RHS Wisley…
Posted by editor on Friday, 22 January 2010
I was so pleased to read Elspeth’s Thompson’s article in last Sunday’s Telegraph (14 January www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening) extolling the joys of visiting RHS Wisley in the winter time, it chimes so perfectly with our planned visit on 13 February, when we are taking a group on a guided tour around the gardens.
For her it’s the best time to visit, to appreciate the Piet Oudolf borders, plus the variety of winter flowering plants, especially the Hamamelis (witch hazels). We find it a great garden for inspiration for one’s own garden, particularly as all the plants are meticulously labelled.
Do join us if you can (check the Diary column for details). Driving there on one’s own can be rather gruelling along the M23 and M25, and so much easier in a coach!
Sussex Prairie gardens, Henfield
Posted by editor on Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Today we visited the 6-acre Sussex Prairie garden near Henfield – www.sussexprairies.co.uk – absolutely inspirational if you love late-flowering perennials. Here the large borders have been planted in a free-flowing naturalistic style by owners Paul and Pauline McBride. The garden is sited on a farm and despite this being a relatively new garden, it’s maturity and connection with the the wider landscape is just sublime. A real advantage to using perennials: they mature and fill the space quickly, creating impact in a relatively short time.
The garden features many unusual varieties of herbaceous perennials – Veronicastrums, Thalictrums, Persicarias, Sanguisorbas, Kniphofias and Hemerocallis. Plus huge drifts of ornamental grasses and Asters, and many varieties of Miscanthus, Panicums, Molinias, Sporobolis and Penisetum.
For further inspiration on late-flowering perennials, read Noel Kings
bury’s Natural Garden Style. A very informative book – and I just love the cover design, an illustration by printmaker Angie Lewin www.angielewin.co.uk