Well, a little sadness this week. Due to a combination of other commitments (including Jury Service and six weeks away in Australia), I had to say a temporary farewell to my fellow gardeners at Blickling this week. I won’t return until early August; by then I expect to see plenty of progress, including the apple arch fully assembled and painted!
I joined Rory (who had brought in some lovely cake to celebrate his birthday), both Peters and Gordon alongside the parterre where the hyacinths had been dug up. After collecting these we needed to dig over and weed the bed in preparation for the Penstemons. Tressa and Diane were busy cutting off the top growth on the bulbs so that these can be stored for next year.
There was plenty of chick weed in the border so we made steady, if not rapid progress. By lunch time about three-quarters of the area was done. On my way to lunch I noticed how the double border tulips are pretty much at their peak at present…
After lunch I had a quick talk with Aussie Peter, who is a Garden Guide here, to get his thoughts on the draft Tree Trail I’d been working on. He made some helpful comments and we talked about how the trail could be of use to the Garden Guides as they take groups around.
After this I met with Head Gardener Paul and some colleagues from the wider Property Management Team to discuss the Tree Trail. It was a very positive meeting and some exciting ideas about how to best present the information came up and will be further researched. I went away feeling that my efforts were appreciated and of some value in pushing this idea forward. I’m now firming up the numbers, route and text. Hopefully by next spring the Trail will be launched, including some fun elements for younger children as well as some interesting local and other facts about the 20 or so trees that will feature. Wwe are planing the route so that it takes people to the extremities of the gardens here, sometimes areas that they wouldn’t normally head for.
As I left,Gardener Rebecca presented me with a new pair of boots, as those I’ve had before are very much in need of replacement. A nice ‘going away present’! I wish all the team – staff and volunteers – at Blickling a wonderful three months!
Further Information:
Blickling Hall website
Blickling Hall Facebook page
A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall
Old School Gardener
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We were very lucky to have a morning to spare before travelling home from seeing friends in Cheshire, recently. Tatton Park was a half hour drive away, so we headed off. I was eager to see this garden which is a prominent National Trust property (though run by the local Council) and features in the annual round of RHS Flower Shows. I wasn’t disappointed…
Having arranged to see our son in Leicester on the way home from Hull, we couldn’t resist trying to pop in and see the new tomb of Richard III in the cathedral there. We found the cathedral after parking in an ‘anywhere’ shopping mall: I loved the newly established informal landscaping and gardens that now surround the building, featuring some lovely flowering cherries. We arrived on the stroke of 5pm, to be met at the main entrance by a long grey beard attached to a man in a black vestment….
And the wider cathedral, though relatively small in scale had some wonderful features…including gilded screens and roof angels and some beautiful modern glass windows telling the story of King Richard. It was wonderful to see all this and to be the only people around…our guide explained that since the tomb had been installed the place was usually heaving with visitors.
Travelling back from our recent trip to Hull, we stopped off at a National Trust property in Derbyshire, the north midlands- Hardwick Hall. The Hall itself wasn’t open on our visit, but promises to be a fascinating example of high 18th century bling, so a return visit is in store….meanwhile how about the gardens?
This year’s UK City of Culture is Kingston upon Hull. We had a trip there recently to explore this old city, which, a bit like our home city of Norwich, is ‘off the beaten track’. I’d been here before but only briefly, and wasn’t overly impressed with its noise and scruffiness… but that was a while ago.
We had a fascinating guided walk around the city in the company of a local lad who showed us many wonderful places with fascinating stories, including the street named- no one knows why– ‘Land of Green Ginger’, which also has the world’s smallest window…see the picture below, to the right of the information board… yes that vertical slot; it was used by the inn’s stable lad to keep an eye out for arriving coaches so that he could be up and at ’em!
We were impressed with some grand old buildings (and stayed in the Royal Hotel, itself a remnant of the grand Victorian age of rail travel).
Old School Garden 