ENGLISH GARDENS, SIZERGH CASTLE, HOLEHIRD GARDENS

I don't believe that my English heritage has anything to do with my love of English gardens, but my love of English gardens has certainly influenced the design of my own garden. 

On our recent visit to England we punctuated our visits with family and friends with visits to 6 beautiful gardens. The day after we arrived, with no rain in the forecast, we headed up to Sizergh Castle, in Cumbria, about a one hour drive from where we were staying. Sizergh is a National Trust property, acquired from the Strickland family in 1950. The house was started in 1239 but the present house dates back to the 14th century. The Stricklands still live in the house occupying one wing of the house which is excluded from the house tour. Following our guided tour through the house, where we saw some wonderful Elizabethan oak paneling, we headed out to the grounds. 

I have a fascination with plants growing out of walls and the climate in Cumbria supports all manner of wall growth. Here erigeron growing up the original entry staircase into the house.

The slate roofs covered with mosses.

But the star of Sizergh gardens is the limestone rock garden laid out in the 1920s.  It was not, as I imagined, a rock garden with alpine plants but a large sunken area with stream flowing through the bottom. The plantings were much larger than I imagined but still spectacular for the color of the Japanese maples set among conifers. 

We enjoyed our picnic lunch before heading up for a return visit to Holehird gardens, home of the Lakeland Horticultural Society. We had hoped to catch, once again, the Rhododendrons in flower, but most were past their peak bloom. We were, however, visiting at the perfect time to view the Himalayan blue poppy, Meconopsis. I have a vague memory that I once bought a packet of these seeds! I was doomed to failure as the plant will only grow in cool moist conditions! 

A perfect stand of yellow lupines.

However, my favorite features in this garden are the alpines growing in the lakeland scree, troughs, raised beds and the tufa house.

I can only dream of growing plants like this out of my walls.

The tufa house was once a Victorian pit house and now houses a permanent collection of alpines. At the far end water trickles over stacked lakeland slate. Large blocks of tufa create a permanent siting for Dianthus, Draba, Helychrysum and Saxifrages.

Ideas for my own garden were now floating around in my head as we headed home at the end of a perfect day of garden visits. Sunday we would be driving back up to visit the gardens of Gresgarth Hall.

WEEDS IN THE GARDEN GECKOS IN THE HOUSE

One thing I have learnt. When you leave town for a month expect to come home to a lot of weeds in the garden and maybe the odd nice surprise. We arrived home last evening after a trip to England followed by a cruise into the Eastern Mediterranean. It is all very well having those rudbeckias and zinnias seeding in the gravel paths but you have to accept the weeds along with them....... and boy were they bad. How is it they manage to keep growing even when there is no rain and 100 degree days! It will probably take at least a week to get on top of them.

I was sure I had removed every Texas sunflower from the back bed but three are growing and stand about 4' tall- in just 4 weeks. 

I even have rudbeckias in the vegetable bed.

The cage over the squash bed has been a great success. There is no sign of squash vine borer.

Tomorrow I will be roasting the Roma tomatoes to freeze for the winter. 

The narrow leaf zinnias are putting on their usual dazzling performance.

The pomegranates are filling in nicely. 

The garden has been full of birds enjoying the seed heads on the blanket flowers. Two geckos have moved into the house. We have had no success trying to remove them. Maybe they will eat the spiders.

THOSE IRISH EYES

Last year Rudbeckia hirta 'irish eyes', was on my list of new flowers to try in the garden. I loved it so much it made the list this year. Although labeled as a  short lived perennial, it didn't last through the winter. I have yet to see whether it re seeded anywhere as this is a plant I started this year and is one of the earliest to bloom. Deer resistant! That's what it says but I don't believe it. Should I give it a go out there? Maybe next year.

SQUASH VINE BORER

For years I have planted patty pan squash as an alternative to the zucchini. I prefer it, not for any difference in flavor but, for its shape. It is great to stuff. Of course it isn't easy to keep the plant growing all summer because of the visit from the squash vine borer, Mellitia cucurbitae. Every year they seem to get the better of me. In the past I could be seen every day on my hands and knees removing those eggs from the plant but even so they always got the better of me. Will it be any different this year. Only time will tell.

This year the bed is protected by one of the wonderful cages D made for me. They can easily be moved from bed to bed. However, I am fully aware that the moth may have been over wintering in the soil ready to fool me again. Lets hope I did a good job of removing all those pupae. When the borer hits I like to get the plant out before the larva has the chance to pupate. Another idea is to grow a trap crop. Have I seen the adult this year? No, but I guarantee there are some flying around desperate to get through the mesh. Incidentally, bees have mastered getting in and out, which is a great help. 

GERMANDER, Teucrium chamaedrys

Ever since I snipped off a few stems at a friend's garden I have had germander growing in my garden. It is one of the easiest plants to root. Just take a stem, remove the lower leaves and stick into the ground in a shady spot. You'll never need to buy this plant again. It is a low growing shrubby perennial. Chamaedrys means 'ground oak' and the small leaves are similar to oak leaves. It thrives in poor soils, and the small purple flowers are attractive to bees. Although it prefers full sun it will grow with only morning sun.

In my English garden I use it as a low hedge in the circular bird bath bed. It grows against the brick edging. By regular trimming I can keep it to about 10". This year the plants received a major renovation. A few years ago I was away from home throughout the summer and the plants, with no attention, grew lanky, growing over themselves. I was quite nervous to cut it back severely but that is what I should have done. So this year I cut every plant back down to the ground. If it survived, great, if not I would replace it. It survived, although it will need to fill in again with new plants in some places.

I also use it in a less formal setting in other parts of the garden, although always at the front of the bed. Here, without trimming, it is allowed to flower. After flowering the plants are cut back for re growth.

IF I HADN'T

If I hadn't been in the bathroom drying my hair
I wouldn't have caught a glimpse of a furry tail passing by the window
and I wouldn't have got up to take a closer look at the fox
and I wouldn't have seen the flower on the lace cactus, Echinocereus reichenbacci,

and if I hadn't mentioned it to D he wouldn't have told me that there was another lace cactus blooming out in the front,

and if I hadn't gone out to look at it I wouldn't have seen the buds on this clump of cactus, Escobaria missouriensis about to burst into flower any day,

and if I hadn't gone out to check on it the next morning I wouldn't have seen the flower on the rain lily that appeared overnight (The plants that MSS gave me a few weeks ago) It was such a perfect white bloom.

And if I hadn't gone out to photograph the cactus again a few hours later I wouldn't have disturbed the three deer that hang about all the time,

and I wouldn't have gone over to look at the rain lily and seen that it was completely mowed down.

Oh, well I guess our very pregnant doe is eating for three along with her children from last year(a little boy and girl) They have fine taste in foods.

But at least I got to see the cactus in full bloom.

A PERFECT MEMORIAL DAY MORNING

The morning couldn't have been more perfect. A wonderful coolness in the air and the garden refreshed from a little rain and a cool night. 

The spring flowers linger beyond their time.

It's time for the summer flowers,  Agapanthus.......

..... and sky blue flax Linnium perenne.

The Mandevilla boliviensis vine on the trellis, wintered over in the warmth of the house.

The common native cosmos, Cosmos sulphurous. Guaranteed to put in an appearance every year. The goldfinches have a feast on the seeds in the fall. It comes in shades of yellow and orange.

Gazanias galore. Here in front of bat faced cuphea.

Now if only the day would stay this way.