Garden,Flowers,and Rain

The Shiny black ended bee leaving the white flowers in the Alba Garden, a green and white garden with black iron wrought fencing, black marble shiny floor, and white planting scheme.

Inspired by a friends mother who died from Mesothelioma. Caused by Asbestos.

I will Blog it properly when I come back from Cheltenham after my week off at Mums. Alba was another one of my Favourite Back to Back gardens...

Hope to get some gardening done to Mums new house. It is an undeveloped garden I hope.

Traveling with me to Cheltenham are two module booklets from the RHS course, A book about famous TV gardeners and their own homes gardens, two RHS magazines called "The Garden", and Joanne Harris "The Lollipop Shoes", the follow up to Chocolat.

From the news parts of Gloucestershire are still flooded from the heavy rainfall. Tewksbury, Gloucester, Moreton in the Marsh.

My gardening blood is raised from Gloucestershire soil, a largely Rural County. The strangeness of no running water, blue Bowsers, and bottled water await me.

I have a train to catch in the morning. Mums telephone line was cut off when the floods worsened last weekend. I need to check the weather report for Cheltenham.

My camera is coming with me too to photograph my Home town, and Mums garden. I dont know if she has internet access. It will be words only and swiped images as I cant upload my camera on her computer. There are or were a few internet cafes.

It will be my first holiday away for a while. Gardens, flowers, and maybe some rain await :)

Herbal Tea Garden

The cool rainbow bird in the Herbal Tea Party garden. This back to back garden was one of my favourites with the bird, the pergola with tea chests, and brewing equipment to make perfect herbal tea. Rosemary, lavender, and sage, mint, bergamot, and marigolds grow alongside Dandelions, fruit trees, and a climbing jasmine.

I saw this on Gardeners World with Rachel De Caen sampling a freshly infused herb tea.This garden appealed to me with its mixture of Oriental tea room, and traditional cottage garden.I loved the bird too :)

Edible Works of Art

I had to Blog W.Robinson and Son seeds and plants. In the Floral Marquee they were the only ones selling vegetables.

http://www.mammothonion.co.uk/

Their display was outstanding. The freshly grown veg was immaculately displayed, polished, and selected.

I bought two lots of Chilli seeds, Jalapeno and Friars Hat. This deserved its own post.

They are art work like the display vegetables :)

My Favourite Show Garden 3

The Suttons "growing for Health" Garden was promoting family health through growing fruit and vegetables. I loved the Sunflowers, lemon tree, and zig zagged raised beds.

The scarecrow with a crow sat on his head appealed to me. It showed a variety of veg that can be grown in raised beds, up pergolas, and in small pots. It had a small water feature, the ball with bubbling water.

A Barbeque at the back had a box with herbs and veg ready to be cooked.

A selection of the Show gardens have been blogged now.I was hard pressed to pick three, but those had the most photos taken of them.

I dont know whether to blog more from Tatton. I have my favourite back to back gardens, where there were 33 to choose from!

I will be back to one of the major flower shows, either Chelsea, Hampton Court, or Tatton Park.The ideas and masses of plants for sale and on display is amazing.

I cant imagine anyone who loves gardening not being moved by the displays here.

Favourite Show Garden 2

The Gold medal winning Bubble garden by the Anthony Nolan trust celebrates the UK's most successfull bone marrow register. It was inspired by a photo of the young Anthony Nolan and his mother blowing bubbles. This website explains the beginning of the trust:

http://www.anthonynolan.org.uk/index.php?location=1.2

It was packed with people and very hard to photograph well. The design is a bubble chair and Anthonys favourite flowers Daisys in a protective circle, with a modern day moat.

The water bubbles, with fountains rising and falling, and a stream of bubbles being blown out. These bubbles were rising high up into the air, so you could see them from a distance.

The areas surrounding the moat had areas of grass, with flower globes hovering above the wispy grasses. The box balls was clipped into circles, the trees cut to look like childlike versions of trees as drawn by a young boy.

Agapanthus in whites and blues, Liatris like lightbulb filaments, unknown purple globe flowers, crocosmias were dotted around the back of the garden.

The bubble chair is partially visible in one photo.I loved the planting, the bubbles, and the fizzing water. The sun was shining, the bee's buzzing around the display.

My joint Favourite Show garden from last sunday :)

Favourite Show Garden 1

The Princes Trust Garden was done by the Princes trust, Cheshire fire and rescue Service, and the Thorn Cross HM young offenders Institution. It symbolises the journey the youngsters take when accepting help from the princes trust. From the chaotic beginnings at the start, to a set path, with more structured signifying the development of the individual. The back of the garden is for socialising and reflection.

The red colours represent passion and energy tempered by the cool blues and purples at the start of the garden.

I liked the planting against the hard structures. The sun was shining, the wind blowing the grasses, purple/blue star shaped flowers (dont know what they are), and the Verbena Bonarensis.

The side borders were bright and mixture of colours. I thought the whole design was great and striking, hence its one of my favourite show gardens from Tatton.

The Garden is being rebuilt at the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters in Winsford.

Show Gardens from Tatton

Into the Light was designed by John Everiss in the memory of his sister who gave him advice. It has a curved pathway leading to a curved pergola, with stone path, and a waterfall at the back. It is designed to make use of light and shade, and large plants specimins. I liked the stonework and the Diconsia plants..

My suprise Show garden was the Cater Allen Private Bank Garden described as a garden to compliment a hotel suite where a couple could spend romantic time together.A sofa is on the deck surrounded by a pergola. The planting around the edges was very Gertrude Jekyll with massed planting of many colours.The water looked spectacular rushing from below the deck forming a clear waterfall. I thought this garden looked awful on paper but was struck how good it looked on the day. Lifes full of suprises..

Tetrad. The book calls it a striking dramatic Sculptural garden.The planting is good against the hard structure of the bricks and cascading water dissapears beneath the seating area. I love the colours within the four sides of the garden.It is a reflective, calming garden, even with its strange looking structure.

The Forest Fusion garden. Combining natural planting with hard grey concrete and chippings, with the glass pod to sit in. I love the Dickonsia one of the most popular show garden plants.

It shows how planting can disguise the environment,based on a temperate forest scheme.

The Brewin Dolphin garden designed for making people feel well, in the Sun. I like the contrast between the still water and the fountains. The sponsors blue logo reflects in the dark shimmering water. It looks like an old fashioned classical garden with the straight lines, and balanced planting of trees and clipped Box.

Dragon Dance. A show feature but still one of my highlights.The Chinese dragon done by the British protected ornamental association. It was done to highlight the use of bedding plants and carpet bedding. You can be creative and adventurous with plants..

The Water Garden looks like a great place to relax with the textured plants moving in the wind, and the soothing sound of the mini waterfall. The seated area is raised above it so you can see the water and plants..

The Life begins at garden by Russell Watkinson.I like the design of bricks, cobbles, and stone features. It is a reminder of us buying plants and trees for an event or milestone in our life.I like the champagne and glasses in the recessed bit between the clipped topiary.

National Flower bed Competition

Conwys coucils theme was their North Wales coastline ,which runs from east to west along the Irish sea. I love the leaping dolphins.

This Stockport council flowerbed represents the river Mersey flowing from Stockport to the sea. I loved the canoeist and the leaping Salmon.

Cheshire county council used Samuel Egerton's (the founder of Tatton Park) grand tour of Venice as their inspiration. A traditional gondola with the love marigold lined posts, and the art picture of Venice.

Stoke on Trent Council display was celebrating its brightly coloured pottery..

Darlingtons borough coucil celebrates its regal looking Peacocks, a major attraction in its parks.

Newcastle-Under-Lyme has had a market since 1280 in its current site, and this traditional market stall celebrates this.

The Northern brewer celebrates 200 years of a Blackburn brewery in the borough.

My favourite flower bed won a Gold medal.It was designed by a residents association who live in Naseby Avenue. They are amateurs and borrowed greenhouses and compost to grow their plants.The flower bed commemerates the English civil war Battle of Naseby in 1645. A roundhead and Cavalier face off astride cannons either side of the battlefield.

The other entrys mostly came from councils, with professional designs and planting.The stories behind each entry are interesting too. It shows you can have meaningful displays even with bedding plants.The colours were vibrant and had crowds admiring them up and down all day.

Here flowers truly were used like paint on the standard seven metre by four metre bed.I admired all of them in the sun.