I can hardly believe it. It's the end of August and just this Friday was the last day the garden was open to the public for 2015. Time seems to pass quicker every year, or is this simply a sign of me getting on in years, I don't know; Do only more 'mature' people make these kind of comments? Anyway I still well remember putting out all the benches and historic carts, wheelbarrows and other interesting ornaments in the last week of February, as well as all the information signs with fun facts that are placed all around the garden. Now we have to bring them all back in again, to protect them against the winter rain and for some TLC as well; a fresh layer of paint for instance on some of the signs around the lake, clearly used as scratching poles by our Dexter cows. Hmmm!
I must say it was a very interesting year. The herbaceous borders look much more mature, and we have been planting them in a little thicker as we go. We added more flowering perennials in strategic places to add more colour in the different months we are open and we also have added more different varieties of rhododendrons, azaleas and even placed a new border around our fountain pond with 'Rosa Flower Carpet' still in full bloom now. We cleared around some interesting specimen trees to give them light and growing space, documented everything that we have planted from 2013 onwards and discovered names of plants and trees that have been here for years.
Just the other day I was visiting Trelissick Garden and spotted a name sign with a particular hydrangea we also have here at Bosvathick, so I now know it's called 'White Snow', what fun! Today while browsing for August flowering plants I came across two more varieties that we have in our garden that I can now address by their proper name: a Yucca Filamentosa (or Adam's needle) instead of 'green spindly spiky thing' and somewhere random along the drive we have an Acanthus variety, formerly known as an 'ugly weed thing'. Turns out people actually buy this! Huh! It's a mystery how that got there, it certainly is not in the most obvious spot to plant anything.
On Thursday I took down our sweetpea structure, they were getting tired, I can't blame them. They have produced flowers non stop for 3 months or so, bringing smiles on the faces of our B&B guests and gracing the outdoor tables for our tea and cake customers. I have harvested some of their seed pods, so perhaps I can grow my own next year. I've had great success in taking cuttings from Nepeta and Penstemons and I am now trying to grow some plants from seeds I have harvested: Pansies &Violas, Geum, Geranium Elke, Primula Postford White, and I am going to attempt some Leucanthemum, Mohawk and Agapanthus. No idea if you can grow these from seed, but I'll soon discover.
The season was long with very mild weather, which I think was one of the reasons everything in the garden started early and therefore finished a bit too soon to my liking. But it does mean more bird offspring; yesterday I saw a wood pigeon on a new nest and just last week I noticed two baby grebe on our lake, a bird I had never seen before. Very shy but very cute indeed!
So what's coming up! In a couple of weeks we are going to plant another 1,000 bulbs or so, all in preparation for next year. We will probably open again from March onwards, but this is still to be confirmed, so keep an eye on our website. We've also got a fun 'explorer' leaflet in the making, which will be entertaining for the children and child-like ones alike, and I have another flower border in mind, it's all very exciting. If there is any other interesting news to share, I'll write again, otherwise the next blog will be closer to our opening in 2016! Blessings to you.
(Below a picture of a beautiful lily. The last one remaining from a handful of bulbs planted some years ago. It's in the most awkward position in the middle of a lawn, but we can't bear moving it in case we won't see it ever again, which is in the true likeness of Bosvathick's owners: nothing gets wasted, there is always a use for something, so we are keeping it, with all the other thousands of paraphernalia you can see on one of the house tours. Oh and I added a picture of the Acanthus as well, which, now in flower, looks a bit less like a weed after all. Last a picture of the new fountain pond border with 'Rosa Flower Carpet'. Enjoy!)
I must say it was a very interesting year. The herbaceous borders look much more mature, and we have been planting them in a little thicker as we go. We added more flowering perennials in strategic places to add more colour in the different months we are open and we also have added more different varieties of rhododendrons, azaleas and even placed a new border around our fountain pond with 'Rosa Flower Carpet' still in full bloom now. We cleared around some interesting specimen trees to give them light and growing space, documented everything that we have planted from 2013 onwards and discovered names of plants and trees that have been here for years.
Just the other day I was visiting Trelissick Garden and spotted a name sign with a particular hydrangea we also have here at Bosvathick, so I now know it's called 'White Snow', what fun! Today while browsing for August flowering plants I came across two more varieties that we have in our garden that I can now address by their proper name: a Yucca Filamentosa (or Adam's needle) instead of 'green spindly spiky thing' and somewhere random along the drive we have an Acanthus variety, formerly known as an 'ugly weed thing'. Turns out people actually buy this! Huh! It's a mystery how that got there, it certainly is not in the most obvious spot to plant anything.
On Thursday I took down our sweetpea structure, they were getting tired, I can't blame them. They have produced flowers non stop for 3 months or so, bringing smiles on the faces of our B&B guests and gracing the outdoor tables for our tea and cake customers. I have harvested some of their seed pods, so perhaps I can grow my own next year. I've had great success in taking cuttings from Nepeta and Penstemons and I am now trying to grow some plants from seeds I have harvested: Pansies &Violas, Geum, Geranium Elke, Primula Postford White, and I am going to attempt some Leucanthemum, Mohawk and Agapanthus. No idea if you can grow these from seed, but I'll soon discover.
The season was long with very mild weather, which I think was one of the reasons everything in the garden started early and therefore finished a bit too soon to my liking. But it does mean more bird offspring; yesterday I saw a wood pigeon on a new nest and just last week I noticed two baby grebe on our lake, a bird I had never seen before. Very shy but very cute indeed!
So what's coming up! In a couple of weeks we are going to plant another 1,000 bulbs or so, all in preparation for next year. We will probably open again from March onwards, but this is still to be confirmed, so keep an eye on our website. We've also got a fun 'explorer' leaflet in the making, which will be entertaining for the children and child-like ones alike, and I have another flower border in mind, it's all very exciting. If there is any other interesting news to share, I'll write again, otherwise the next blog will be closer to our opening in 2016! Blessings to you.
(Below a picture of a beautiful lily. The last one remaining from a handful of bulbs planted some years ago. It's in the most awkward position in the middle of a lawn, but we can't bear moving it in case we won't see it ever again, which is in the true likeness of Bosvathick's owners: nothing gets wasted, there is always a use for something, so we are keeping it, with all the other thousands of paraphernalia you can see on one of the house tours. Oh and I added a picture of the Acanthus as well, which, now in flower, looks a bit less like a weed after all. Last a picture of the new fountain pond border with 'Rosa Flower Carpet'. Enjoy!)
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