open gardens – Boadicea's Chariot

The English weather never ceases to surprise.

Wet and windy Saturday, dull and over cast all Sunday morning, white cloud and sunny intervals in the afternoon, followed by another downpour in the evening. Which all-in-all meant that the open gardens, (2-6 pm) were saved from being a washout and it was actually quite pleasant.

I had promised to go to my friends’ open garden, in a village near Cheltenham, and on the way I planned a stop, about half-way to their house, at Astall Manor’s, On Form Sculpture. What a treat, though a treat which wasn’t cheap.
The setting is glorious, the sculpture various and wonderful and all the while I wished I could have arranged to have a companion with me to share my ooohs and ahhhs!
However Cycloman was out on his bike and the boys revising.

Continue reading “Asthall Manor, truly ‘on form’ (thank you Janus)”

The Yellow Book Scheme is a very British thing it seems to me. The premise being to
open your garden and invite folk in, sell tea, cake and cuttings, then give the takings to charity.
The charities they support are close to my heart and I love going around gardens, especially those gardens which are on a scale that I can relate to my own small patch. I’m always on the look out for ideas that I may be able to translate for my own use.

Yesterday afternoon we walked around a collection of gardens which had opened together, in one little community. It was a true ‘village affair’ – with the village hall open for tea and cakes, and 7 gardens open. It was warm and there was a breeze – a quintessential English afternoon, just like you may see in ‘Midsomer Murders.’

The village topology is very different from ours, even though it is only a few miles away. Our village is flat: not a contour in sight. The village we explored yesterday is steep and has a river running through it.

To my mind it was a bargain – £5 a head, plus a little for the tea later on.

Early summer border