August 6th 2002

Our next opening for the National Garden Scheme is drawing near, and our thoughts turn to what will be in bloom when we open on the 18th of this month.
The yellow brugmansia is starting one of its rest periods, which after a large crop of flowers they all tend to do, having said that there will still be flowers on the big day. Phloxes are just beyond their best, they will have another smaller flush later, there are still some lillium in flower, quite a lot of different clematis (6 in the back garden) and more in the front, Nicotiana Silvestrii has started to bloom, as have different Rudbeckia, Fuchsias are doing well still especially the standard of Mrs Popple.
Our collection of about 15 cannas are really getting underway and most will be in bloom for the opening. The oleanders have many buds still and a reasonable amount of flower, which get spoilt every time it rains. Yesterday afternoon we had a deluge of heavy rain, it sounded like hail on the conservatory roof, fortunately it wasn't !!

Our Musa Sikkamensis plants will definitely have to be cut down this autumn to be able to store them under cover, they have really enjoyed the rain and high temperatures and also the humidity, a week ago we had 31c in the back garden.

Part of the back garden

Another view of the back garden from above the Dicksonia Antartica


It was my birthday a week or so back, and on the day Lyn asked "What would you like to do today" my reply was we would go out for the day somewhere.
That evening we arrived back home having driven 180 miles or 257 Kilometres, bringing back eight new plants we had purchased from three nurseries we had visited in North Wiltshire. Have I got the gardening bug, or has it got me ???

August 19th 2002

We were lucky with the weather yesterday, it was our second opening day of the year, in the early morning we had some rain which cleared to sun and cloud. We broke our record for visitors again, this time by two. A total of 224 in the three and a half hours we were open.
Our thanks must go again to our helpers, From left to right. Audrey, Cyril and Betty. It would be impossible to have such a great day without them, they have been with us on four of our open days now.