June 2013 Wrest Park, Kathy’s Garden AND Salvias!

Yes, what a busy month and by the time you read this article the Gardening Club will have also enjoyed a visit to Devon – more of that in the next issue!

Firstly we should tell you about our day trip to Wrest Park, Silsoe and Kathy’s Garden in Stevington – two very different gardens, each with its own character. Wrest Park is an exceptional rarity. Its grounds contain one of the few remaining formal gardens of the early 18th century and the house is a near unique example of English architecture following the style of an 18th century chateau. English Heritage have done well to restore some of its original charm in just two or three years and are trying to restore the house and the amalgam of three centuries of English garden design.

Extremely knowledgeable buggy drivers took us on tours of the gardens describing the history of each area, the statuary and the names of the many trees.

Next we visited Kathy’s garden and the smiles broadened –what a haven! Round every corner was another flower bed brimming with happy plants. So many ideas for us to take back to our own gardens. We were inspired by the edible garden, delighted by the silver leaved eleagnus, herbaceous white honesty, hesperis, geraniums, geums, poppies and aquilegias. The ferns were commencing their fresh wonderful statuesque growth while hostas in hanging baskets were already making a good display. May is such a marvellous time of year. The early growth and fresh leaves of trees, hedging and grasses were magical. We ended the afternoon with delicious home-made cakes on the lawn while some of our number carried on playing with five tiny puppies who were brought out for a breath of fresh air. Then the heavens opened and we endured a magnificent hail storm with huge hailstones falling from an angry sky. Oh how I love English weather…………….

Almost an anti-climax was our June meeting – but no, this wasn’t true. Our speaker Janet Buist is one of those English treasures who carries on developing so many varieties of salvias from her home in Colne with no regard for commercial success. She brought with her many plants which showed her passion for developing salvias. There is a salvia for every type of garden so go on, visit the garden centre and buy a few. Better still –contact Janet at Pennycross Plants, Colne.

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