Lush July

The back garden is looking really lush at the moment. Thanks to all the rain in the earlier part of July, it looks a little like mini-jungle in urban Florence Park.

It's hot for a fluff-ball like Merlyn. Notice how he is right on the edge of the sun and shade?

Garden visit: Bryan's Ground

For some time I've wanted to visit Bryan's Ground. I've read about it in gardening magazines like Gardens Illustrated and RHS's The Garden. And I've read other gardening bloggers experiences of visiting, such as VP's back in May, where she got to see the irises in the orchard in bloom. I admit to being envious! It also happens to be in my favourite part of the UK, the Herefordshire-Welsh border. So when Kevin's cousin Nigel, and his partner Andy, two keen gardeners themselves, heading over for a visit from Melbourne suggested we meet at a garden, say, Bryan's Ground - it seemed like the moment had arrived.

I always get a bit nervous when arriving at a garden I've heard so much about. There is often the great chance that it won't live up to expectations. I need not have worried, Bryan's Ground is beautiful, fun and considerably more wonderful than I could have hoped.

The garden is a wonderful mix of 'garden rooms', of calm and formality, vibrancy and humour. Owners David Wheeler and Simon Dorrell have developed the garden around the house, using the house as a backdrop to, and and as part of the garden. In the  picture at the start of the blog you can see the house being used for wisteria to grow up, to sow boarders mixed with annuals and perennials to blend and contrast. In the photo below, you can see that the house is also a stage upon which the garden can perform.

There is so much fun in the design of Bryan's Ground. These formal pyramid-type shapes above are not box or yew, the usual choice when shaping bushes or hedges, but our native hawthorn (poss. Crataegus laevigata). And when they do use yew, the cut straight at the top to create doric-like columns, rising up amongst the greenery and flora like broken temples.

The fun is explored in a variety of ways. Objects that may of us would throw away become sculpture, like these old bikes hanging from a tree over towards their arboretum...

The base of an old spring bed to grow climbers up, and making art out of an old boiler...

Turning bits from cars into fun for young and young-at-heart...

And using the remaining bed frame to make a delightful grass bed.

All these quirks only added to some lovely planting. I was reminded yet again, of the wonderful blues of Anchusa azurea 'Loddon Royalist.

 

And the lovely subtle beauty of Astrantia's and Geranium's.

 

Even minus the flowering irises, the orchard teamed with fecundity.

And around every corner was another delightful blend of recycling-as-art and planting. I picked up couple of purple sedums,  Sedum Bertrum Anderson, to take home for one of my stone planters, and as a memory of this elegant and witty garden.

In fact I spent so much time focussing on the plants and garden that I didn't get a photo of Nigel and Andy, so only have this brief shot of Nigel to prove we were really there with them!

Bryan's Ground is only open from April to July as the owners apparently view it as a spring-early summer garden. I suspect this is modesty, I'm sure it would be beautiful and hold interest all year around. I certainly intend on visiting again. Perhaps it will be me next year, rather than VP, showing you photos of the irises in the orchard!

The garden from an alternative perspective

I was playing around with my new camera whilst lying down on the grass in my stonewall garden. I found it was a very interesting way of looking at the garden.

my arch, with Rosa Seagull climbing over it

a foot's point of view...

Birch and cloudy blue skies

Broad bean harvest

I finally managed to get to the Lottie on Sunday and wow, what a broad bean harvest. I collected 6 kilos of broad beans!

This equalled 1.5 kilos once shelled.

I'm afraid I cannot show you the lovely broad bean, bacon and mint pasta we made with it, as we were too busy eating and going 'yummmmmmmmmm' and 'mmmmmmmm'...

Of course, that only used up 300g of broad beans, so still got heaps left for more broad bean delights in the next few days. Oh, and I probably still have close to another 8-10 kilos (unshelled) that will be ready to pick in the next couple of weeks. Some to freeze for winter then. Yay.

Too busy to garden

I'm just so busy at the moment with work that I've barely had a chance to do any gardening for the last couple of weeks, apart from tying back some tomatoes and pinching out the side growth. On the plus side, all the rain means at least watering hasn't been a problem. Though on the minus again, the weeds will now be mountain high at the lottie... Oh, another plus, I like weeding - kind of a zen like activity. Ahh, the life of a gardener, ups, downs, slugs, then ups again.  ;-)