We opened for St. Christopher's Hospice on Sunday 18th May this year, a bit earlier than normal as we hoped our visitors would enjoy the tulips but they were early and most of them had gone by the time we opened! This year we had a plant sale with lots of donated plants (thanks everyone) as well as the usual refreshments and raffle and Jonathon tried a second hand book stall.
Including donations and later plant sales we raised a grand total of £766 and HSBC came up trumps with their £ for £ thing again giving us another £500 to get us well over the £1,000 hurdle.
Most of the photos without people in were taken the week before we opened (in case it rained, I ran out of time etc on the day). I also took some photos of the individual plants etc as I never have time on the day. I've scattered them about on this page so you can see what there was to see. It's a good job I did take photos earlier as I'd definitely no time on the day and the weather, whilst dry, was nowhere near as warm (about 10 degrees cooler at a guess).
The first thing the visitors saw was the greenhouse, still with lots of plants in as I normally plant bedding etc on the second bank holiday in May to make sure the frosts have gone. Some of the plants will be here a bit longer this year as we won't be taking Dad's up until June on our way to Scotland.
A quick look back to the woodland garden. There were loads of daffodils in this bed as you can see from the stalks. They'll get cut back end of May as well (busy weekend!). Hope the visitors didn't find it too messy but the daffodils' health comes before prettiness.
Wandering down the right hand side and you can see the pastel tulips. They have done really well this year and made a great show. Jonathon's been out with his camera on several evenings capturing the back light through the petals - lovely! Unfortunately, most of the petals, especially the white ones, had fallen by the time we opened. The alliums are just starting to open out on the right.
This is a closer picture of the allium bed - as you can see we have a few different sorts. They are wonderfully photogenic. They were even more in flower with their lovely big heads on the day.
Another plant that's done really well this year is the lilac and it smells delicious too!
We moved the sweet pea climbing frame this year and the sweet peas are already scrambling up with the first few flowers out and looking pretty.
We also moved the strawberries this year and sorted out all the old ones, planted some new from runners etc. They seem to be a lot happier here and there are already loads of flowers. Let's hope we get some of the fruit rather than the snails, birds, squirrels etc. I'd tidied up the hose before we opened!
The vegetable beds are doing well with broad beans, peas, onions, beetroot, spinach, potatoes, carrots and courgettes already showing through. The leeks are just starting to show and the kale is in pots ready to plant out when it's a bit bigger.
The fish continue to thrive in the pond - thank goodness for Clarity. Jonathon's only had to go in twice so far this year to sort out the fountain - the fish really enjoy his visits and nibble away at this legs which I can only imagine must feel a bit weird.
The bed alongside the pond has plenty of aubretia, forget-me-not and a new acer.
Leaving the pond behind (it's off this picture on the right), you can see that I've had a good hack at the pampas grass. This gets done every year but as we normally open later, it's had a chance to grow back in the earlier years. No doubt it will start to grow again soon.
The rosemary on the left of the path is getting a bit old but seems to be surviving so far although I've had to cut quite a bit of it away.
The cotinus and the red acer glow nicely at each other in this corner. The cornus is not as red at this time of year as it is in the Winter but is showing off its lovely green leaves instead.
From here we can see across the garden to the silver bed where the pastel tulips are (or at least were until the middle of the week before we opened!)
Going round the lawn, the red in this bed is weigelia and the tree at the back with pink blossom is a Judas Tree - very pretty at this time of year. The snow in summer gives a good carpet of white at the front of the bed.
The same bed, just a bit closer up. From this photo you can see the Choisya Sundance is in full bloom.
Still going round and you can see the cotinus from a different angle together with the spiraea and tamarisk. The forsythia was lovely in Jan / Feb but has finished flowering and been pruned for this season.
A slightly different angle and you can see the colour mix a bit better.
Back onto the path and turning around gives a good view of the photinias. The tree on the right is a robinia which was professionally pruned this Winter (by Alan and co) and is looking very healthy, leafing up nicely. I always like to go both ways round garden if I can, otherwise I might miss something!
Our red acer is really bushing up nicely this year. I gave it a light prune / trim last winter which was a bit of a risk but seems to have paid off.
Back along the path by the pampas and the wallflowers at the end provide a good splash of colour and smell lovely when you're near them too.
Back past the lilac and judas tree towards the garage and greenhouse / patio area
Finally to the gravel bed and you can see the patio at the other side. Most of the plants have settled in well but the lavetera doesn't look like it's going to burst back into life again this year so I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes. The choisya we moved when the patio was made is looking really sick so, again, we'll give it a year or so to see if it gets any better or it will have to go.
Past the grass beds we go (I'd pulled the weeds out before we opened) and onto the patio.
A lovely view across the garden over the tulips. Since taking the photos I've moved the pelargoniums into the tree bed (see below) - nothing much grows in the soil under the bed so I'll try things in pots and see if it goes any better. The pots will supplement the irises and California poppies that seem to survive there
The squirrels are still romping round the garden on a regular basis. They disappeared for the hours that we are open but then came back as soon as people disappeared, as did the foxes and birds.
A big thank you to everybody for coming along and making a success of the day. We can relax now until we start all over again for next year!
A final request ... if you are in one of the photos on this page and would prefer the photo not to be in the general public domain, please let me know and I'll take it down.