Done! The garden opening and things at their best

So the NGS garden opening is all done for another year, we had 192 visitors and made £1300 for charity! A huge thank you to everyone who came and helped make it happen. It is a big thing to open the garden from the prep to the running things on the day, and this year there were 11 of us showing people round, washing cups and serving tea. Thanks to the people who made cake, and to all the gardening slaves...

It is a funny thing to open your garden, as gardening in general is quite a solitary pursuit and then all of a sudden there are hundreds of people walking about. When I sit down I probably breath out and relax for 5 seconds then see a weed that needs pulling, or something which isn't behaving as it should be so it was a fabulously affirming thing to hear how people liked the garden and how people had come back (again!).

Each year is so different and in general it has been a good year for the garden as the mild winter has meant that many things such as the overly rampant Cobea survived. It has also been wetter than usual, which has been a relief as it has meant that I haven't spent long hours panic watering as I usually do. However, this has been the worst year for slugs which have been horrendous, despite many mass slaughters. They fought back eating all my dahlias meaning that they are probably a few weeks behind where they should be and the garden isn't as floriforous as it should be. But this has been the most jungly year yet, the bananas are lush and flowering and I have never had so much luck with gingers!

Everyone is now exhausted and it has been good to have several days to enjoy the garden in its most perfect state. The great thing about the NGS is that for one day you will have done all that is on your 'to do' list and that things are primped and primed to an inch of their lives. A few days on it changes again, as flowers need deadheading, and new plants come out, but for a few days it has been perfect...

The crew..thank you!

Last year the Hibiscus flowered on the opening day, this year it flowered on the Friday!

Bananas on the banana tree

bunting a go go

The hosts...

Doing the teas is clearly a very relaxing job!