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The ‘Garden Party’ on BBC Radio Norfolk (28th September) went off to Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse for a look at a garden, designed (by me) with wildlife in mind. Plus your questions to the expert panel – Alan Gray, Ian Roofe and Joe Whitehead. Hosted by Thordis Fridriksson. Listen to the programme on iplayer until 5th October – the pieces about the gardens are 25 minutes and 1 hour 35 minutes into the whole programme.
picture by Marian Squires
Old School Gardener
If you thought that there was only one River Ouse in the UK you are going to need to read this article as I think you may be surprised to learn of all the different ‘Ouses’ around. To understand the reason why there are so many rivers called Ouse, it is the name that gives it away: the name Ouse is thought to have Celtic origins, meaning ‘water’; therefore when saying the River Ouse or the Great River Ouse you are actually saying the ‘river water’ or ‘great water river’.
There are 5 ‘Ouses’ around the UK, from high up in Orkney to the Ouse River down in Sussex; from north to south, these are:
- The Ouse Orkney
- The Yorkshire Ouse
- The Great Ouse
- The Little Ouse
- The Sussex Ouse
The Sussex Ouse itself is 42 miles long, but with all its tributaries runs over 140 miles long…
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Camassia quamash via Charles S. Peterson
Quamash, the common name for Camassia, is a genus of 5 or 6 species of bulbous perennials native to damp, fertile meadowland in north America. They have large, ovoid bulbs which give rise to narrow, erect, linear leaves at the base. The flowers form in racemes on the top of the otherwise bare stems. These are showy flowers, star or cup shaped in blues, purples and white, appearing in mid- late spring.
Camassia leichtlinii via Gentry George
The bulbs of the species Camassia quamash were once an important food source for native American indians.
Camassias are great in borders or wildflower meadows and make good cut flowers. They are fully hardy to frost hardy and should be planted in the autumn about 10cm deep in moist but well drained soil in sun or partial shade. The soil should not be allowed to become waterlogged. They should be mulched over winter in areas with persistent frosts.
New plants can be grown from seed, which should be sown in containers in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Offsets can be removed in summer when the plants are dormant. There are no major pests or diseases affecting Camassia.
Camassia cusickii via Charles Peterson 
Camassia quamash 
Camassia leichtlinii
Camassia cusickii via Charles Peterson
Camassia quamash
Camassia leichtlinii
To get the best from Camassia flowers plant them against a background that will allow the pale flowers to stand out: e.g. Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’ – a good foil because the leaves are purple, splashed pink and white; Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ – blood-red young leaves; and Choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom).
In borders, Camassias associate well, in light shade, with forget-me-nots, Dicentra spectabilis (bleeding hearts), Lunaria rediviva, Leucojum aestivum (spring snowflake) and Polygonatum x hybridum (Solomon’s seal), and in sun with early-flowering Geraniums and Aquilegia. If naturalised in a meadow, they look good with buttercups, cowslips and the late-flowering pheasant’s eye (Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus).
I have some purple flowered Camassias here in Old School Garden, planted in a mixed border and close by to an orange Tulip ‘Ballerina’ which flowers at about the same time – the colour combination works really well.
Camassias growing in the wild via Oregon State University
Sources and further information:
Wikipedia
How to grow Camassias
Camssia leichtlinii – RHS
Old School Gardener
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“A different point of view”- tools to help you assess and get more from your garden.
13 October 2013, 10.00 – 4.00
Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, Norfolk
Is your garden in need of a revamp or complete makeover, but you don’t know where or how to start? This workshop will help you assess your garden and what you want from it, grasp some of the basics of garden design and how to apply these to your own space.
I’ll be leading the workshop, which will be a mix of presentation, practical exercises and group discussion. Examples and case studies, together with the gardens at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, will be used to illustrate key points and inspire you to develop ideas for your garden.
£32 per person / £28.50 for Museums Pass holders (including tea and coffee)
For more information and a booking form go to Gressenhall Adult Learning
Old School Gardener
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This weeks garden class with the grade three students was a lot of fun. We learned about how seeds travel and where the seeds are on the plant. To start the day they had to spend ten minutes observing in the garden. This way they can see how the seasons change and the effect it has on the plants. They soon noticed that the sunflowers had dropped their heads. When I asked them why this had happened, they were quick to say that the flowers was preparing to drop its seeds. Once we had our discussion about what they had observed I asked if they had noticed anything else that wasn’t a plant. One little girl piped up and said, ” I saw that there are sticks around the garden.” I chuckled at this as she was referring to our new fence as sticks.
To learn about the different seed…
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Photo of a grave in Norfolk by Kelly Boldero
By Ann-Marie Peckham
Heritage Open Day (Sunday 15th September 2013) saw the Shine a Light team opening up the Superstore at Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse to the first ever public tours.
Our tours, which ran twice every hour (from 11am – 4pm) gave visitors the chance to look around the store, see inside some of the packed crates and view a wide range of objects including the ‘Norwich Snap Dragons’, an eclectic selection of furniture (including a gout stool!), 19th century fire ladders and a 20th century Archimedes screw. The half hour tours were very much a ‘taster’ session, letting the public see our working environment now and informing them on the future look and function of the store planned for March 2014.
With the success of this day (nearly all of our 10 ‘taster’ tours were full!) I thought it would be interesting to let you…
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A rather lower key garden visit this one, but still very enjoyable.
The Godolphin Estate is the former seat of the Dukes of Leeds and the Earls of Godolphin. It contains one of the most fashionable Tudor/Stuart mansions in Cornwall. The present house is remnant of a larger mansion. At one time it was a secondary seat of the Dukes of Leeds, but the Duke sold it in 1929. The Estate is a total of some 550 acres (220 ha). The early formal gardens (dating from around 1500) are said to be among the most important historic gardens in Europe, having barely changed over the years.
These include some interesting formal walled gardens and further afield remnants of grassed areas, ponds and ancient trees, with the addition of some meadow areas. The atmosphere is one of quiet and restraint, typical of its age and predating some of the more exuberant formal and landscape gardens of the following centuries.
It was very pleasant exploring the gardens on a sunny August afternoon, the peace and quiet, interrupted only by the sound of bees humming around a series of hives which are part of a study looking into the qualities of the Cornish bee, one of the oldest breeds around. In some areas the gardens and planting are in need of careful restoration and renovation, to bring out their full interest and attractiveness. This process is being pursued by the National Trust, which has also been improving public access to the Estate. since they acquired it in 2000.
Further information :
National Trust Website
Old School Gardener
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