I agree, aym280. I find it hard to get them to flower for me though, so I'll try them in various different positions if enough of them germinate, to see what they like best.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
But you can grow lots of things I can't, aym280! My first garden after I married in 1975 was in Cambridgeshire, flat, dry, fast-draining and alkaline. But it warmed up really quickly in Spring and had a really long growing season. My first Spring there, I bought lots of half-hardy annual seeds (zinnias etc) and just sowed them direct - same with runner beans etc - and everything worked. The marrows practically pulled the garden fence over! And the strawberries were the best I've ever grown.
My granny lived in Kelvedon, and my memories of spending summer holidays with her are filled with the incredible scent of sweet peas. Just over the railway line at the bottom of her garden were Unwins sweet pea trial grounds.
I think we always hanker after what we haven't got...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Aym - go and visit Beth Chatto's garden. It's in Essex and she gets very little rainfall and has done that experimental dry garden which is just fabulous. Even OH got excited when we visited last week. There's one at RHS Hyde Hall too but it's at the top of a mini hill and contains large rocks and is somehow less cohesive than Beth's.
She did lots of soil preparation first and then watered the plants in after planting and now they have to cope with whatever rain they do or don't get. She also has a damper garden with a natural spring feeding her "canal" garden which is a series of long ponds. She has a plant nursery with perennials sorted by dry or damp and priced form £4.60 a plant. I just bought 6 individual plants I haven't seen here and plan to grow them on in pots and then divide and plant out when they're big enough.
I would be very wary of buying plants at sell-off time at Chelsea. They've been forced on or held back for the show and then kept in pots for the duration and then have to survive a journey home and new conditions. Stressy and no guarantee of surviving in your garden.
I did buy seeds at Chelsea - clematis koreana, fancy primulas and so on - and some new lily bulbs - £5 for a bag of 3, all perfumed.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Aym - when we wet at Hyde Hall they had a special offer on membership so I suggest you call and ask. CFS tickets go on sale before Xmas usually so yes, you could get preferential tickets for next year. Member's days seem less crowded to me - or maybe just better behaved and happy to take a turn at getting to the front to see the gardens and exhibits.
I'd only ever gone on members' days except 2013 when I took a group of 9 Belgian scientists on the Thursday and was in a wheelchair after foot surgery. Most people were very kind but some were appalling.
Meconopsis like damp, shady, acid conditions and don't do dry soil or heat. I fell for a lovely deep red one at a stand in the pavilion but the grower said I shouldn't bother. They do well in west Scotland apparently. I'm going to stick with oriental, opium and California poppies which are better suited to my conditions.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
You can get a season ticket to Beth Chatto's too. £22 for free access all year I think. Bargain if you live close by and I thought the £6.70 for a single visit was good value - better than the £12 I paid for parking and getting into Sissinghurst a few years ago. That was a real mess and very disappointing.
Beth Chatto has some gorgeous cream California poppies. Unfortunately they'd sold our of the seeds so i'll just have to hope my mixed pack from a friend contains some. I've always steered clear of orange myself but having seen how she does it and some of the growers in the pavilion at Chelsea I shall try more. Geums do well for me so I'm starting with some of those as soon as I find some. I have yellow, red, peachy and creamy at the mo.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I've been in Belgium for 25 years Aym so didn't keep up our NT membership as our visits to the UK are too brief but I have stayed with the RHS so I can get the monthly magazine, seeds from the gardens, free access to the gardens and some others including one in Belgium and preferential tickets for Chelsea.
Sissinghurst was in 2011 on my way to Chelsea. I visited Great Dixter the same month with my scientists. Much better value and superb garden buzzing and humming with wildlife.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
There are photos of some of the gardens you've been talking about, Beth Chatto included. Also those lovely wire fairies from Fidget's visit to Trentham.
We will be going to Norfolk in June so I may have some photos after that.
Last edited: 31 May 2016 13:44:29
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Posts
I agree, aym280. I find it hard to get them to flower for me though, so I'll try them in various different positions if enough of them germinate, to see what they like best.
But you can grow lots of things I can't, aym280! My first garden after I married in 1975 was in Cambridgeshire, flat, dry, fast-draining and alkaline. But it warmed up really quickly in Spring and had a really long growing season. My first Spring there, I bought lots of half-hardy annual seeds (zinnias etc) and just sowed them direct - same with runner beans etc - and everything worked. The marrows practically pulled the garden fence over! And the strawberries were the best I've ever grown.
My granny lived in Kelvedon, and my memories of spending summer holidays with her are filled with the incredible scent of sweet peas. Just over the railway line at the bottom of her garden were Unwins sweet pea trial grounds.
I think we always hanker after what we haven't got...
Aym - go and visit Beth Chatto's garden. It's in Essex and she gets very little rainfall and has done that experimental dry garden which is just fabulous. Even OH got excited when we visited last week. There's one at RHS Hyde Hall too but it's at the top of a mini hill and contains large rocks and is somehow less cohesive than Beth's.
We visited Hyde Hall last Thursday -
http://s211.photobucket.com/user/Obelixx_be/library/160526%20Hyde%20Hall%20-%20RHS%20garden%20in%20Essex?sort=2&page=1
and Beth Chatto's on Friday -
http://s211.photobucket.com/user/Obelixx_be/library/160527%20Beth%20Chatto%20-%20Essex?sort=2&page=1
She did lots of soil preparation first and then watered the plants in after planting and now they have to cope with whatever rain they do or don't get. She also has a damper garden with a natural spring feeding her "canal" garden which is a series of long ponds. She has a plant nursery with perennials sorted by dry or damp and priced form £4.60 a plant. I just bought 6 individual plants I haven't seen here and plan to grow them on in pots and then divide and plant out when they're big enough.
I would be very wary of buying plants at sell-off time at Chelsea. They've been forced on or held back for the show and then kept in pots for the duration and then have to survive a journey home and new conditions. Stressy and no guarantee of surviving in your garden.
I did buy seeds at Chelsea - clematis koreana, fancy primulas and so on - and some new lily bulbs - £5 for a bag of 3, all perfumed.
Aym - when we wet at Hyde Hall they had a special offer on membership so I suggest you call and ask. CFS tickets go on sale before Xmas usually so yes, you could get preferential tickets for next year. Member's days seem less crowded to me - or maybe just better behaved and happy to take a turn at getting to the front to see the gardens and exhibits.
I'd only ever gone on members' days except 2013 when I took a group of 9 Belgian scientists on the Thursday and was in a wheelchair after foot surgery. Most people were very kind but some were appalling.
Meconopsis like damp, shady, acid conditions and don't do dry soil or heat. I fell for a lovely deep red one at a stand in the pavilion but the grower said I shouldn't bother. They do well in west Scotland apparently. I'm going to stick with oriental, opium and California poppies which are better suited to my conditions.
You can get a season ticket to Beth Chatto's too. £22 for free access all year I think. Bargain if you live close by and I thought the £6.70 for a single visit was good value - better than the £12 I paid for parking and getting into Sissinghurst a few years ago. That was a real mess and very disappointing.
Beth Chatto has some gorgeous cream California poppies. Unfortunately they'd sold our of the seeds so i'll just have to hope my mixed pack from a friend contains some. I've always steered clear of orange myself but having seen how she does it and some of the growers in the pavilion at Chelsea I shall try more. Geums do well for me so I'm starting with some of those as soon as I find some. I have yellow, red, peachy and creamy at the mo.
I've been in Belgium for 25 years Aym so didn't keep up our NT membership as our visits to the UK are too brief but I have stayed with the RHS so I can get the monthly magazine, seeds from the gardens, free access to the gardens and some others including one in Belgium and preferential tickets for Chelsea.
Sissinghurst was in 2011 on my way to Chelsea. I visited Great Dixter the same month with my scientists. Much better value and superb garden buzzing and humming with wildlife.
I wonder if there is a Gardens We Have Visited for this year? Here is last year's.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/the-potting-shed/gardens-we-have-visited-2015/683926.html
There are photos of some of the gardens you've been talking about, Beth Chatto included. Also those lovely wire fairies from Fidget's visit to Trentham.
We will be going to Norfolk in June so I may have some photos after that.
Last edited: 31 May 2016 13:44:29
Thank you for sharing your photo and comments , makes it a bit more interesting than just a TV show