Tuesday 15 May 2018

Tags

Beth Chatto, English country garden, horse chestnut trees, Lewisia, pink flowers, Tuesday View

There is so much to do in the garden as I prepare for my first NGS opening. The speed at which everything is growing is frankly, phenomenal.

As I battle with weeds and couch grass on a border with dense clay I wonder about which plants will survive there and perhaps thrive as I have lost several in this border. ‘Right plant, right place’ needed Dorris.

These often quoted, wise words, were said to have been uttered by Beth Chatto OBE VMH to share and perhaps explain the wonderful success of her garden near Colchester, Essex. I was sorry to read that she has died and for those who wonder who she was, or would like to know about her amazing achievements, there is an obituary on The Beth Chatto blog.

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/gardens/our-blog/garden-news/beth-chatto-27th-september-1923-13th-may-2018.

An inspirational gardener and woman. I am sure I should have enjoyed meeting her.

Enjoy your evening.

In a Vase on Monday : warmed through

Tags

black stem vase, Christmas rose, Hellebore, helleborus niger, in a vase on Monday, pink flowers, Viburnum bodnantense dawn, winter scent

Last Monday I shared memories of Summer which some of you may have looked at and thought ‘yuck’, they were rather brown. With that in mind I cut some Viburnum  and a Hellebore at the same time. The Viburnum was in bud in the garden but tightly closed. ‘Ah ha’ I thought ( I did really think that exact expression), this could be good for next Monday.  

This was taken last Tuesday:

As hoped, the buds have opened and are now filling the room with their rather overly sweet scent. 

This is a first time appearance for the black glass stem vase. Part of a Christmas gift from Liz who had found it and a couple of others in a local charity shop. Perfect for my Mondays. 
So today I have a tiny little burst of colour thanks to Christmas rose, Helleborus niger and Viburnum bodnantense Dawn.


There were no ah ha moments today but I expect many other contributors to Mondays vase will have lots of lovelies to share. Check out Cathys blog https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

This was taken yesterday:

Have a good week and let’s hope it stops raining. I am awash thanks to Thames Water, a burst water main, no mains drainage and heavy non stop rain today.