Looking back to the first Rutland Flower Show

We’re heading back to the Rutland Flower Show again this year, so ahead of that I thought I’d take a look back at our visit to the first Rutland Flower Show last year. Like this year the weather was very warm, and I’m hoping that this year there will be more shade as with it being a showground, there wasn’t much natural shade.

There were a mix of show gardens and plant stalls, but also there was a homeware section and what appealed to me more was the garden sculptures and vintage garden additions, so I’m hoping there’s a similar mix this year.

What I especially liked about this show garden, along with the obvious inspiration, was the detail on the information board which listed which plants had been used. Not just the plant names, but grouped by type so the trees were listed together, as were shrubs, perennials and the climber - this made it easy to identify which plant was which, which was great for those of us that don’t always know the plant names, and for those of us keen to learn.

GATES SHOW GARDEN

GATES SHOW GARDEN

Surprising myself I managed to not buy my all time favourites, and while our current multiple heatwave summer isn’t the ideal time to be buying plants, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to resist such beauties this year.

I might be better off buying succulents, which really wouldn’t be a hardship at all!

The ‘Turmeric Plants’ are on my wish list though, for the leaf shape as well as the vibrant pink.

And a rusty allium, yes please - this would be great to add interest into a winter border wouldn’t it?

Last year when I saw these I’d recently bought myself some new herb labels, I haven’t yet leapt back into seed sowing, but I’d be very tempted by these this year in readiness - I do like to be prepared.

STAMFORD LANDSCAPES SHOW GARDEN

STAMFORD LANDSCAPES SHOW GARDEN

We had an enjoyable chat with the people on the Stamford Landscapes stall and I liked the feel of their show garden - it always amazes me how show gardens come together so quickly, and can look so established, that’s a real skill.

GARDEN ELEMENTS SHOW GARDEN

I really need to add chives like this to my plant list don’t I?

THE GATHERER FLORIST DISPLAY

As well as the Show Gardens there were also smaller borders to admire and also take inspiration from. I’ve included a couple of my favourite shots here.

THE GRANGE DISPLAY

So after looking back at my photos from last year, I’m ready for this year’s show so watch out for some more photos from there soon.

Post Comment Love 7 - 9 August

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they may be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

These sheep - not mine - are on the wrong side of side of the fence, which is also thankfully not mine. But it seems they fancied a wander around the village last Sunday afternoon so left their field, wandered up the lane to the main road and at some point encountered the farmer up the road from us who chivvied them out of harms way, and unintentionally into our neighbour’s garden. MOH & I were innocently sitting in the garden and unexpectedly asked, by the farmer, if we were good with sheep.

Intrigued, but no idea if we were qualified at all we set about helping him get the escapees onto the other side of this fence. They weren’t quite ready for their adventure to end so visited another two neighbour’s gardens before the four of us, we’d been joined by another neighbour, spoilt their fun by blocking their path as there was a real chance they’d go for another lap around the village if not.

With experience (now) I’m not sure I am good with sheep - they’re surprisingly fast and nimble when they want to be - let’s hope their exploits don’t reoccur anytime soon!

Have a good week.

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My garden in July

It’s about eight weeks since we’ve had any proper rain here, and the garden knows it. We’ve had a few spots and the threat of rain, but nothing that’s really been of any use to my plants. I’ve been looking at posts on Instagram this last few days of people sharing the rain they have, still waiting for it to arrive here. I’m sure when it does arrive properly there will be a deluge and too much for the hard baked ground to deal with effectively, I’m sure that’s the story though in many areas this summer.

But there have been high spots, and plenty of photos so let’s get on shall we?

The month started with the rowan berries the palest of oranges, and throughout the month their colour has deepened. The lavender that was doing so well last month, hasn’t lasted as well and most of the flowers have now gone and it will soon be time for their annual trim. Thankfully though the bush that looked as if it’d failed, where we removed all the outer rotten stems, has survived in its skinnier version, so maybe we’ll be lucky and it’ll spring back.

The cosmos were doing their best to flower, they’ve actually been a really good indicator of how our plants are doing as they quite visibly droop without water, then spring back after a good long drink. I know the feeling cosmos, really I do.

This was taken early in the month while the lavender was still in flower, and to have these roses flower alongside it has been the most glorious scent filled space. Our roses in pots are still doing well, the paler Claire Austin less so, but that has spent most of this summer recovering from crispy leaves sustained in the hot spell in April.

It’s not been all sun though, it’s been windy too. And this now named ‘lightweight light’ has needed to be corralled on more than one occasion to stop it blowing about the garden. It’s name is twofold - lightweight for it’s ‘easily blown’ nature but also because for the size of it, it gives out the most minuscule amount of light. MOH tells me it’s mood lighting, but I disagree it’s hardly any light at all - it’s just as well that I like its shape, or otherwise I think it would be having its marching orders.

The small pink rose has excelled this year, and seems to have loved having its branches upright - it’s amazing what a steel plant support can do, and it’s probably the first year since we’ve been here that we’ve really seen its potential.

The cosmos flowered! Actually both pots have flowered more than once, which given the conditions I’m both pleased and surprised at. I’ve been continuing to pursue growing some lettuce in a cut-and-come-again style and have found that my best tool is a small watering can close by to where they’re growing. Which means there’s more chance that they’ll get water when they need it. The second batch of seeds has germinated well, and even looks like lettuce, and then something found my seed tray and decided to help themselves, with a whole section quite clearly munched. But at least they left me some, which of course I still need to pot on and tend for.

The real star of this month though has been my pineapple lily which I bought at Gardeners’ World Live last month. I spotted the tiny ‘pineapple’ flowers and then needed to check them daily to see how they’d progressed.

And progress they did.

We’ve been out watering our pots most evenings, or every other evening if we can’t manage every night. We only water pots, and thankfully we don’t have a hosepipe ban here, but the later evening waterings has given me time for some later evening photos, and I love this one of the rose with the lavender and street light behind it.

On days when the weather is cooler, or where plants are in the shade I’ve been taking the opportunity to fill up my green bin. There’s still a lot more to trim and take back control of but the inside border is starting to look a little less unkempt, and in places even tidy.

The prolonged warmer weather meant that it was time for us to get out the garden sofa, and that meant plenty of time for some pot faffing. Or pot scaping if you must. Ever since MOH said that when the sofa was there on its own it looked like it’d been dumped, we’ve had pots surrounding it. This year I think I’ve excelled myself as I’ve added a side table for the santolini and pineapple lily which brings a bit of height too. No doubt next year I’ll do something different!

And then there are the thirsty tomatoes, which are starting to repay us with their fruits. When I planted these I wondered if the terracotta pot or the plastic pot would fare better, and in truth I’ve seen very little difference.

I’ve still much to do in the garden, but cutting the grass isn’t one of them. Not only is there no grass to cut, MOH has reclaimed this task as his own - which is absolutely the best news, as it leaves me to potter on elsewhere!