The day Anna Pavord came to visit

So there I was having a few work stresses when all of a sudden an email popped up from Anna Pavord....mmm that name is familiar I thought, then opening it, I saw it was indeed from THE Anna Pavord....well renowned author, journalist and gardening royalty! So she wanted to come and do a piece for the Independent which was very exciting....

Of course you can come he said, forgetting the ensuing panic to get the garden up to scratch and mop up on my Latin binominals....So the day came last Thursday, and for the previous two evenings I had been out watering the garden in a bit of a panic which was probably a bit more about the upcoming NGS opening than Anna....’if only these plants would just grow a bit more’ I said as it started to rain. Did I stop? No because it may be just a light shower he thought as the rain got heavier. The people in the overlooking flats just looked at me with bemusement.  I watered more, I even watered established plants that didn’t really need it as, well it may just perk them up a bit.

On the day its self I rushed around desperately throwing weeds that had just popped up to the back of the shrubbery, stabbing myself with a yucca and breaking a sweat before she buzzed.

She had come up from Dorset for the day which I was rather humbled by (please let my garden be good and worth it) and was all that I had imagined, lovely and very easy to chat with....I could probably have chatted all day if I didn’t have a work away day to lead and rush back for.  Talks of Christopher Lloyd, fabulous gardens and different plants. I was of course very jealous of her job as it would be a dream career to be paid to go and see other gardens and write them up.

In all we had a 2h walk round the garden and there were even plants that she didn’t know (I had thought she would be testing me!) and things were looking fab....all being ok, and if there is sun so that the photographer can take some pictures there may be an article in the Independent the day before the opening...I hope it is ok and that it happens as it will be great promo for the opening, however just the chance to meet and share has been worth it.

 

The garden opening date looms closer and closer and the NGS fears begin to strike

I have had a period of doing all the little things which you always put off doing but which need to be done before the opening the garden to the public (25 days to go)

Firstly there was the new corner....this was where the greenhouse was, and some flower beds however we have reshaped things to create a new more hidden seating area. This was actually easier and more fun than I thought as I cut the turf to fit with a bread knife (don’t tell the husband)

Secondly there was ‘the corner’ I think everyone has a corner where they dump things. out of sight out of mind does work, however it doesn’t when there is so much crap that is has overflowed into nice bits. So last weekend we went on 2 trips to the dump to get rid of about 30 bags of rubble which we seem to have accumulated

Then, the day after when I should have been relaxing in the hammock we decided to power wash the terrace as our fabulous fossil Indian sandstone has just got dirtier and dirtier to an extent of looking like concrete... This also sounds like an easy job however it meant all the plants had to be lifted off and cleared. All making for good before and after photos but I needed to go back to work for a rest. 

However this was a great opportunity to rearrange the special plants I have on the terrace...I do love growing things in pots as you can jig them around at your pleasure and they can grow better. It was also a chance to try and stop the fox coming down as the far corner on the sofa is its favorite toilet spot....we thought we had foxed (ha ha) it with netting across the steps, however this morning I watched a young one squeeze through the railings, jump onto the patio table and to eat a house leek from a pot on the table....a bit of light salad to start the day? Oddly we found about 20 newts hiding under pots...

its so big without anything

Ta Dah!

 This is what it looks like clean and is a good reminder to do it more often! its not actually real fossils, more mineral deposits pretending to look like fossils...

There has also been some frantic planting of anything to fill gaps, mass fertilization and talking nicely to the plants getting them to grow.

Also in my new role as an official NGS volunteer I went to visit our first potential new garden..more on this to follow but it was the most fabulous thing. A treefernohoics garden offset with beautiful exotic planting and a lawn of mind your own business. In all there must be 15? 6-8ft tree ferns. I had to pick my jaw off the ground and then swoon repeatedly for at least half an hour before I regained my composure. More to follow, but all this has inspired me, made me do more and want to up my game.  Please grow!

My first Tithonias are flowering, phew!

Cuphea

Helianthus salificifolius......when catching the late afternoon sun this is such a beautiful plant...so architectural and fab-u-lous

1 month to go before our NGS garden opening on Sunday 1st September. pictures to tempt you in....

Come and visit! The NGS says

A garden to surprise and delight with ponds, sunken terrace and bold, big leafed planting of exotics that reach for the sky in late summer, achieving a crescendo of colour with dark dahlias, Ricinus, bananas and tetrapanax. Huge ‘secret’ garden with more jungle plants, bee hives, developing potager and cutting garden. Greenhouse with carnivorous plants for the brave. Featured on BBC Gardeners' World

Come to eat fantastic cake have a nosy, see how things are developing, gasp and marvel at fabulous big leaved things and exotic beauties (and that is just the people who are helping)

Open from 2-5:30pm. Full details of where we are here

Pictures from this morning...