A garden takes a lot of planning; a well known fact for those who are keen gardeners and also for those who have discovered the hard way that planting bulbs for instance, in the wrong season, could have very unsatisfying results. Delphinium seeds sown in the wrong climate are growing some kind of weird mildew instead of actual plants, something I have discovered just this last month. But how is one supposed to make a garden plan and work schedule when the seasonal changes are totally not cooperating?
Because we are open to the public, I try to plan and plant for a beautiful flower display in the months we can be visited. But now certain trees and shrubs in the garden are behaving like it's close to summer time instead of winter and we have April flowering daffodils and Rhododendrons in full bloom in January, it's totally bizarre to say the least. How is one to do ones job properly with this kind of stuff going on? I guess things change a bit when gardens are not just able to respond according to how nature leads but when they are also supposed to function as a business to be visited in tourist season. Though seemingly unaware of this added pressure it does what it wants to do, based on temperatures not dates on the calender and that's just how it is.
Having said that we are still expecting a beautiful garden when we open at the end of March. I am especially looking forward to this coming June when we will be able to see the results of this winter's hard work on our new herbaceous borders. A rose focused garden with added perennials is going to be new 'piece de resistance' for Bosvathick. It might need another year to thicken out, but the roses, which is one of the reasons I love them so much, will certainly give a beautiful display already this summer, not to mention the exciting fragrances that will fill this part of the garden. I can't wait.
Below our supposedly April flowering daffs in January, the new borders and my son the apprentice!
Because we are open to the public, I try to plan and plant for a beautiful flower display in the months we can be visited. But now certain trees and shrubs in the garden are behaving like it's close to summer time instead of winter and we have April flowering daffodils and Rhododendrons in full bloom in January, it's totally bizarre to say the least. How is one to do ones job properly with this kind of stuff going on? I guess things change a bit when gardens are not just able to respond according to how nature leads but when they are also supposed to function as a business to be visited in tourist season. Though seemingly unaware of this added pressure it does what it wants to do, based on temperatures not dates on the calender and that's just how it is.
Having said that we are still expecting a beautiful garden when we open at the end of March. I am especially looking forward to this coming June when we will be able to see the results of this winter's hard work on our new herbaceous borders. A rose focused garden with added perennials is going to be new 'piece de resistance' for Bosvathick. It might need another year to thicken out, but the roses, which is one of the reasons I love them so much, will certainly give a beautiful display already this summer, not to mention the exciting fragrances that will fill this part of the garden. I can't wait.
Below our supposedly April flowering daffs in January, the new borders and my son the apprentice!
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