Tuesday 17 June 2014

An Open Garden

Hello Lovelies,
I do love the open garden scheme....where owners welcome you into their gardens and the modest entrance fee goes to a charity of their choice. Every time I notice there is an open garden in our area I write it down on the calendar, hopeful that I'll get chance to visit.
Mostly other things end up taking priority and the visits never happen....but on Sunday I managed to make my first visit to an open garden this year.

This was a large garden behind a wonderful old house.......laid out on the table were photos of how the owners had developed the space over many years.........


The first area we came to was this lawn.....the lovely blue cat mint was covered in bees..........


They were buzzing around so quickly that I couldn't get a photo , but I did manage to take a picture of this tiny moth close by..........

 I had no idea what it was, but a google search revealed it to be a Mint Moth....very aptly named it seems.

There were many mature trees in this garden and as we wandered away from the house the areas became more natural............


 The "we" I'm using here refers to just Hubby and myself. This garden was not that far from our house, and the boys were not keen to join us, so we left them at home.

 It's quite a new thing for us ....having children who are old enough to look after themselves for and hour or so. ......I do have pangs of melancholy about the passing time, but on this occasion I was glad to sit companionably on this bench without anybody telling me they were bored.............



This was the view........


Very green........the Mr said he wasn't keen on the un-mown areas, but I can see it being a wonderful haven for wildlife.

As must this lovely pond ..........



It looked so natural and I was happy to notice a gorgeous water lily flower...........


After a while we wandered past the croquet set and down a narrow path at the side of the garden.........


We squeezed through a gap in a high yew hedge .....and into this wonderfully secluded garden room........


It was filled with Roses and other cottage garden flowers......I particularly liked the old fashioned Roses with their simple open flowers, so easy for the bees to collect their nectar..........


The bees were also loving the gorgeous blue Geraniums...........


Some of the Roses already had interesting rose hips..........



There was a little bench in an alcove...........


So we sat a while and enjoyed the view. It was a sort of timeless, hidden place that reminded me of a favourite FILM..............

You can just see one of the narrow  gaps to get in and out on the right of this picture.


After a while we squeezed through that gap and came upon a lovely tree swing...........


which was at the edge of the vegetable garden.............


I peeked inside the fruit cages..............


To find yummy looking Raspberries ready to pick................


In this space there was also a small orchard. The trees were really old and this one was being given a helping hand to stay upright..............


It may have been old but it still bore lots of fruit and the apples were growing nicely...........


Then we came upon another "room" filled with the scent of Philadelphus. It's supposed to smell like oranges and is also called MOCK ORANGE, but I find it a bit overpowering and the smell is more like moth balls to me.........


I did love the Rockroses though..............


By this time we were back in the part of the garden nearest to the house. I really liked all the rustic brick and wood supports for the climbing plants to scramble over............


This bright pink rose shone out on the dull day...............


And this old gate, just leaning against the pillars, made a great plant support too..........


The building you can see in the background of this photo was quiet new, but old materials had been used and it fitted in so well............


it was the blousey  pink Poppies here that really caught my eye though...............


Teas were being served, and it would have been rude not to buy some yummy home-made cake to go with them, wouldn't it :0)

There were so many places to sit and enjoy the lovely views , we chose to go back to the first lawn we had passed through.

I had Carrot cake.....my favourite cake ever....and this was an excellent version. The Mr had Banana and chocolate, he said it was good.

  It was such a lovely way to spend an hour on a Sunday afternoon.... I do love the month of June.
Jacquie x

34 comments:

  1. It's a very beautiful magic garden !
    Hugs from Italy
    Maddy

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  2. What a wonderful garden. I'm like you I often write down what gardens are open and when but rarely get to visit any. Hopefully this year.
    Gillx

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  3. OH MY WORD, what a garden! What a great idea to have an open garden. For so many, their garden spaces are so small, that this is such a wonderful idea to those who like to appreciate a lovely local space. I love how there were so many sections too.

    I am like you too Jacquie, just starting to leave the eldest bears for an hour or so at home. It is a strange feeling, and the realisation of time passing.....but, as you say, the lack of moaning about being bored is really rather lovely! I still take Baby Bear as he is too little, but he is still enthusiastic about it all!

    Have a super week!

    Vanessa xxx

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  4. Goodness! How much work must that take????
    Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. What a brilliqnt garden! I have the uttermost respect of the pwner for maintaining it - looks like a fulltime job!
    I haven't heard of the open garden concept before but it sounds like such a great idea! Wish there was somehing like it in Germany!
    Take care
    Anne
    http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de

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  6. What a fantastic garden - they must need an entire team of people to look after it. Hope you have a great week. x

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  7. I love open gardens, but like you, I put them in the diary and the day goes by and I sit down in the evening and wish I could have found time to get in the car and visit the garden. What a reward you got for finding the time! It looks like a wonderful place with so many surprises.

    Bees are mad for Geranium at the moment - I don't think I've ever seen so many buzzing around our plants.

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  8. Lovely :-) Thank you for sharing your wonderful afternoon.

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  9. Jacquie, thank you so much for letting us see this beautiful garden via your fine photographs. I think that the "dull" light really intensified the luscious shades of greens. What beautiful areas, what inviting little entranceways, what delicious cakes and tea!

    I completly agree with you about admiring the use of old brick, both for the house and for the various supports for climbing plants.

    Really lovely. xo

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  10. What a wonderful outing and what a stunning garden. Frankly you'd buy a one bed shed to live in if it meant getting such a wonderful garden. I always think it much be such a big step for a parent to leave their child home alone for the first time but it is the way of things and great for the kids to step up and be given that responsibility. I wonder tho' if in these tech heavy times if some kids who are glued to their ipads or Xboxes actually notice that Mum and Dad have left!

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  11. This garden is like a dream!
    Isabella

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  12. Such a lovely garden.
    Clare x

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  13. What a beautiful garden - thank you for this flowery moments. When we are in Britain, spring ore autumn, we found nowhere an open garden for charity.

    Sigrun

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  14. Thank you for the tour around that beautiful garden. It was fabulous, and so were your photo's ! Going back now for another look.

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  15. I can appreciate that Mr BM doesn't like the untidy nature of long grass but it's very important to leave an area of grass unmown if you are able as it is a haven for wildlife. We leave about 2 acres to grow wild and mow a path in-between and then I scythe it in autumn and the horses graze it down for us in the winter months. The whole area is teeming with insects, mice, voles, toads, newts, grasshopper and crickets plus we get some beautiful wild flowers too :-)

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  16. One of my favourite things to do too... Loving those poppies I've not got those in pink... only purple. I went to a lovely NGS garden down in Dorset a couple of sundays ago it was full of bees and butterflies especially on the catmint!! Smiles Cass x

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  17. What a fantastic garden and a lovely place to spend an hour with Mr BM :)

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  18. Now, that's a marvelous garden! Thanks for sharing your amazing photos of it! : )

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  19. Oh I love June too, and nosing round other people's beautiful gardens. This one is amazing, a really pretty place. The cake looks good too. Glad you had such a nice time. CJ xx

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  20. A beautiful established garden with magic abounding throughout its many rooms - how lovely for you and Hubby to meander through and take in its loveliness. Lots of hard work have taken place over the years to get its apparently quite large area developed to this stage. I love its overall natural look! Although the apple tree is showing its age, care is being taken to ensure that it's looked after and it can keep doing what apple trees do - gift its lovely fruit! Thank you for this most enjoyable visit Jacquie! xoJoy

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  21. Wow just so much to look at I would of loved that garden. I love busy gardens x

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  22. A really lovely garden - love the wildlife and unmown grass areas too.

    http://asaucystitch.blogspot.co.uk

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  23. It does indeed look like a secret and amazing garden. So very pretty. All of the visitors must have had a great time, I hope that they raised lots of money for their charity as it would definitely have been well worth a good donation to see such a nice garden as this. xx

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  24. Spellbound by your garden... Lovely!!!

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  25. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The garden is absolutely beautiful.
    Anne xx

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  26. A lovely way to pass some time, and gleam a few gardening ideas. The secret garden, a big favorite in our house too. A good idea for the raspberries, I need to do that with my blueberries, the wildlife manages to pick more than I! I've been out picking blackberries with that in mind.

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  27. How dreamy! I love places like this. I know exactly what you mean about leaving the kids at home. It's like you've finally reached the stage you longed for, and now that it's here it isn't quite what you thought. Ah life!

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  28. Thank you for sharing such a delightful garden. I love the concept of garden rooms, especially 'hidden' garden spaces, like a secret hideaway to guarantee sanctuary. While the mock orange might be overpowering, I do like the idea of a fragrant garden. My rear garden is a combination food and habitat garden and my front is my fragrant garden with roses, lavender, diosma (lemon-scented), sweet alyssum and the freshness of freesias. I love herbs and the way they release their fragrance when crushed. There is an open garden scheme in Australia too which seems to be the same as yours.

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  29. Ƨok beğendim, Ƨok gĆ¼zel.

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  30. A beautiful garden - I wish I had greener fingers! I am very much an amateur I am afraid!
    www.thequietstitcher.com

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  31. Hello Jacquie! I do love a good old snoop around a beautiful garden and these look positively gorgeous.

    Nina x

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  32. Hi Jacquie, thanks so much for taking us along on your small adventures--I love the things you choose to photograph! Just so you know, the Philadelphus is called mock orange because it smells somewhat like citrus blossoms, not the fruit (but maybe that's what you meant?). I lived in Arizona for awhile, and in January and February the air was perfumed with citrus blossom--so lovely. Maybe you need a huge space to diffuse the scent? I always think paperwhites smell medicinal...now daphne, that's the queen, I think. Best, Kate in Oregon

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  33. Oh how I love that garden, I want it for my own!!! Thanks for sharing, my garden is looking very desolate right now. J xox

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  34. I love looking round other people's garden too, and this one seems really nice. I like the narrow passageways to get into the secret parts.

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