Seventeen Gardens and the promise of a cream tea - Netherbury Open Gardens

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Netherbury is a Blytonesque, picture-book village secreted away in a small Dorset valley - a charming church sits atop one end of the village, a stream winds it's way through the middle and the beautiful old houses are the sort you always wish you lived in until you realise how pokey, dark and musty the rooms may be inside. Perhaps that's why they make their gardens so entrancing so they can spend all their time outdoors.  Netherbury Open Gardens weekend has been a tradition since 1963 but I doubt that any year had such a perfect sunny day preceded by months of weather unusual enough to produce a sudden and intense bloom of just everything!

There are seventeen gardens of varying different sizes to view, in and around the village.  I am already thinking that sampling seventeen cakes may be just a teensy bit too much even for the Socks - but heck! we'll give it a go, it's for a good cause!

So let's start at the very beginning - it's what Julie Andrew's would have wanted.

(Clicking on any picture should take you to a slide show of them, the time of day wasn't best light  for photography but I think they are still worth a glance.)

Garden no. 1. - nice house, big lawn (personally, I'm not big on lawns),

great pond

and then this

mmmmmmm..... homemade scones with jam and cream.. isn't your mouth just watering! For some reason we decide to be sensible, there are lots of gardens and not a lot of time and it is too early to be stuffing our faces.  We entreat the owner to save us some scones which we will devour when we return for the car which is parked in their field. 

So with the promise of cream tea to look forward to we move on to Garden no. 2.  This is just gorgeous - a mill house set atop the stream surrounded by the most delightful gardens.

Luscious plantings around the stream, a smart veg plot, an attractive courtyard garden (with a terracotta pot of grass which for some reason I find quite out of place and jarring and have an urge to photoshop it out!)..

 a dreamy cottage garden with everything flowering vivaciously as if the plants knew this was their weekend in the spotlight!

An orchard and then a millstream to die for...

It struck me that when we visited Monet's garden a few years ago the walled garden itself was disappointing - we were between seasons and everything had gone over.  The lilyponds themselves were as lovely as expected - although too full of tourists queueing for 'the photoshot' to be really calming.  Here, there is all the beauty without the hype and without the crowds.  We felt fulfilled.  This was the Bedsock's favourite of the gardens.

Time is rushing on - we realise that Netherbury Open Gardens is at least a two-afternoon job - there is no way we will make all seventeen gardens.  In fact the £5.00 ticket gives you entrance to the gardens over the weekend and we could easily have spent half the afternoon in this garden alone!

On to Garden no. 3. a 200 yard walk down a shady, cool, lane - I'm rather hoping there will be refreshments at the end of it as I'm starting to tire. But OH NO! No refreshments and this!

I'd be interested to know your views on this.  I know what the Bedsock thinks because he took the opportunity to have a 20 minute rant about the wrongs of it.

I must say I was disappointed - for me part of the pleasure is taking photos not just to share on my blog but to jog my memory about plants and planting combinations I like, and there were a few of those in this garden.  The helpers on the gate were apologetic and polite about not taking photos telling us that the owners had got fed up with people taking pictures of the house.  I can see their point but was torn between being happy to admire their garden and disgruntled that I couldn't record my visit. And let's face it - if you are anything like me, when visiting an Open Garden having a quick snout at the house that goes with it is part of the fun! In the past I tried to arrange a group visit to some well known gardens which opened to the public and had just been filmed for GW. On being told we would not be allowed to take photographs I cancelled the outing as it seemed ridiculous that they would allow a camera crew in but not a small group with cameras.  In the case of village gardens which are usually private, I guess you just have to feel it is kind enough of them to open at all and entirely up to them what rules they impose - but I wouldn't have used up our time and energy walking on to this garden had I known.

Back to the village centre, past the garden selling plants which I don't have time to stop and buy and on to Garden no. 4. and REFRESHMENTS!  Not just any old refreshments but Buck's Fizz and wine - how very, very civilized. Two Buck's Fizz later and a wander around the rather nicely laid out central village garden and I was feeling back on track with the day!

By now we have been told that THE garden not to miss is the Old Rectory towards the top of the village, unsurprisingly near the church. You could have done a lot worse than be a Rector in Ye olden days - they always seem to have lovely, large houses!

We have saved the best til last but now so little time to do it in, this seems to be the Open Garden equivalent of speed dating! The garden could easily extend hours of interest, so many places to sit and just absorb the beauty of it.  I feel swept away - it is absolutely magical.

A sublime mix of formal design and happenstance,  the pristine finely cut topiary sitting alongside,  loose blowsy wildflowers, all morphing gradually into the countryside. 

@Powersflowers tweeted in response to the picture below "I love the mix of formal and wild: topiary yews marching down for a drink of water". This summed up exactly how I felt - the yews moving fractionally closer to their watering hole every time your back was turned - like the 'blink' monsters from  Dr. Who.

It felt like a setting for Labyrinth, or a stage for Alice in Wonderland where some things are slightly strange or unexpected and there is an adventure around every corner and plenty of places to sit and absorb the view..

 A lichen covered bench with a little marguerite peeping through the aged slats

 An avenue with late tulips brightening the shade

I loved the transition from controlled to uncontrolled throughout the garden.

I had extreme tree envy for this dreamy specimen

We spend as much time as we can afford here - already having given up on half of the gardens which will have to wait for another year.  Just leaving time to duck in and out of two smaller gardens which, had I seen them earlier in the day I would have been more excited by.  Another quick buck's fizz (purely to quench my thirst you understand) before they close up the refreshment stand and take down the rather good bunting.  Whilst I am quaffing that, the Bedsock wanders back to Garden 1 to retrieve the car - much too late for the promised cream tea.

As we drive out of the village we notice a garden, 2 Pyes Plot,  is still open and stop and dash very quickly into the smallest garden on show..

A courtyard dressed for al fresco dinner, full of charming and clever details a different and lovely end to our day.

We drove home happy and our hearts filled with pleasure squeezing out any little drop of sadness that we hadn't managed to see them all and the promised cream scones were but a distant memory.

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NB: The Mill House, The Old Rectory and 2 Pyes Plot are open as part of the NGS Gardens on various dates throughout the year.  Check out the website here.  If you can visit for the Netherbury OPen Gardens next year it is well worth making a weekend of it.

Marvellous Minterne

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It's the end of May and the first warm day in weeks I can't let the sun slip through my grasp, I need some colour, some warmth, some air, some garden. I'm off to Minterne a newly opened gardens in Dorset - you can come too, if you want. I'll put the top-down on the Sockmobile and we'll play Steely Dan loudly and sing along as we pootle down the lanes.

Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears
Have you had enough of mine 

The hedgerows are festooned with wildflowers, red campion and bluebells in the prettiest combination of pink and blue

the earthy, nostalgic smell of bluebells and wildgarlic chases away the heavy, cloying, chest-tightening, allergic smell of the vile rape fields as we dawdle along shady, sunlight-dappled lanes.

We're there - only glimpsing the  enormous phallus of the Giant as we hurtle past Cerne Magna - but we're too old to have a little snigger at that aren't we. *sniggers*

Minterne Magna is a pretty little hamlet - nothing there really but a small parking area across the road from  the entrance. There's nobody at the ticket hut.. an honesty box - it's free to RHS members but only a fiver to get in anyway.

Let's follow the discreet signs to the gardens the house to the right and a slope to the small lake (or big pond) in the valley.

Wrong decision - I shouldn't have taken the pathway right in front of the house and along with another couple am politely shooed off by a lady who emerges from the house.  I blame the slightly ambiguous signage and the fact that I followed the people in front of me!

Never mind, wandering down the cool paths with azaleas glowing to each side of me and Handkerchief trees overhead it would be difficult to feel anything but mellow, it is all so very pleasant.

I would love my own Handkerchief tree but its too late in my timeline to start planting trees now and see them through to maturity.. I've been 'Reelin in the Years' a little too long.

Let's head down into the valley - there will be a stream there and I do love a bit of boggy planting.  Such a shame that my garden is dry chalk when all my favourite plants are acid, damp lovers.  I'm about to get my fix of them..

Let's get in a bit closer..

Yellow, pink and green perfection! Who'd have known those colours could look good together?

The greens are beyond green and I love the texture on this clever, crisp, combination of ferns and whateveritis.

Who can resist a little cascade of water? Certainly not the birds diving across the water and butterflies hovering around it.

Around a corner another handkerchief tree.. you wait for ages to see one and then.......... more handkerchief trees than you could shake a stick at!

The picture reminds me of those old black and white films that have been 'colourized' at a later date - it seems a little unreal.

The primula candelabra are the stars here - they are everywhere.  I chat to a couple wandering around spellbound as I am - they have visited before, but in Autumn, and hadn't expected this extraordinary abundance of colour where the late spring has meant that everything it blooming at once.

I rest awhile at this point under the shade of another handkerchief tree - the sun highlighting the grassy reeds and making them glow to the side of the gently moving stream.  It's so verdant, the limited colour palette more tranquil but still a thousand different shades of green.  I think this might be my favourite spot to sit and dream.

But a short walk on and this  - with a fabulous gunnera leaning over the water. I'm sure I overheard the couple say they didn't like gunnera!!!! What's wrong with them?!

then this - with the warm, evocative stone of an old bridge

or this - a vista full of enchantment.

So many places we could while away the hours.

It's time to go. What shall we sing in the Sockmobile on the way back?  I will return and you can come too - but I'm not sure it's ever going to be quite so glorious again.

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RHS Chelsea - These are a few of my favourite things..

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A quick round up including pics I have already tweeted from Chelsea Press Day in case anyone missed them or lives up a mountain in France and doesn't use twitter.

THE GARDENS

Not only is Chris Beardshaw a 'pocket adonis' he also does beautiful gardens.  I truly adored this for the 'Arthritis Research' and I think it put over the charity's message in a reasonably subtle manner.   The planting was all my favourite, dreamy, colours even including some Cleve West 'Masterpiece' lupins (see my blog post from days of yore).

A comment from twitter friend Sally Nex saying she wasn't keen on the 'corridor' effect got me thinking. I can see exactly what she meant and this next picture reminds me of the Garden Photo day at Wisley, where we were taught that its often a good idea to use the telephoto for long border shots to compress the perspective and lose the long corridor effect. As you can see I didn't use the telephoto!

 For me, the smooth simplicity of the paving corridor made the borders and plants the focus for this garden showing off Chris's horticultural mastery. Bit of a shame the pathway was covered in dirty footprints from the judges et al trudging around.  In a show where, to my mind, it looked like the same gardens from the last few years had been slightly rejigged and regurgitated, the planting was pleasingly different and the fabulous wire sculpture (surely based on the Pocket Adonis himself) enhanced rather than stole the show. Love the echiums and will try them again in my border despite past failure!

Another one I liked, the East Village garden, again offered something different with a brave, slightly retro feel, bold colours and curves.

East Village Garden

I've always like Nigel Dunnett's gardens but let's face it if you didn't spot it as a Nigel Dunnett garden then you haven't been paying attention to Chelsea for the last n years. In fact I'm not going to post a picture of his garden as you can probably just imagine it for yourself!

The Aussie Trailfinders garden (which got Best in Show) was a good example of sculpture outshining the planting.  I was so mesmerised by the structure I didn't really notice the rest.  The girl is probably about to break into Waltzing Matilda - I know a great alternative version to this which I was taught by some Aussie surfers. Unfortunately, I once sang to a group of people at a dinner party thinking it was funny, and shocked everyone into a deathly silence.

Aussie 'Trailfinders' garden

I liked Jo Thomson's  garden, although I didn't love it as everyone did her caravan garden last year. The theme 'Stop the Spread', contrasting the beauty of a garden with the spread of pest and disease, was sobering and the colours a little sombre for my taste.  If there was any mistake it was perhaps to make the dead ash trees look so architecturally attractive!!

Jo' Thompson's garden

Whilst I was full of appreciation for Jo's planting scheme I ache for someone to just let her loose on a Chelsea garden where she has entirely free rein to come up with something that is totally 'her'.  I do for all the designers really. Take Jinny Blom, I think she drew the short straw this year in terms of trying to please both Royals and the Sentabale charity.  Her garden really didn't work for me at all.  Still, always better to be talked about at Chelsea than ignored and it gave Anne Wareham something to get excited about, so not all was bad news.

Jinny Blom's Sentabale Garden

Last of my favourite gardens was Robert Myer's - I liked his last year too. Again Sally Nex disagreed and said it was 'too well-behaved' a marvellous description which is perfectly fitting, I love the well-behavedness of it.  Had to agree that the white chairs weren't quite right though.  Hmm.. looking at the picture I don't like the wall either. The photo doesn't do it justice at all. Someone's comment on Chelsea was "enuff Anthriscus ravenswing already" but I just can't get too much of the stuff.  I love all those umbelifferous lacy plants.

THE MARQUEE

Just in case you're thinking "I'm half-way through this post and there's still no mention of Climate Change Farmer, Author, and barman Mark Diacono" I'd better remedy that now.  Mark was muddling cocktails on the Pennard Plants stand. The muddling was entertaining, the cocktails were good, I now know what stevia tastes like and will be heading to Pennard's to buy some seeds next time we are near there.

I have no doubt this isn't the last I have to say about Mark and his cocktails.

There ain't nothing like a Dame! Helen Mirren  looking fabulous and elegant in a lily of the valley floral dress.

Joanna Lumley looking more Ab Fabulous and a little less elegant but you've to to love her!

Hillier's stand was bright, gorgeous and after a rather flat grey start to the day, very cheering!  I had a glass of their more alcholic fizz and the day started to improve.

A quick visit to my Heucheraholic friends - their stand was looking pretty good and I wanted to snaffle a couple of the shiny happy heucheras.  Jooles said I would have to wait until after judging - they had resigned themselves to getting gold at every show but Chelsea.  Guess what!!!!!!!!

Hurrah for Heucheraholics! And hurrah for RHS Chelsea - it wasn't the best of years for the show but you wouldn't want to miss it!

Oh.. nearly forgot.  The Press and other assorted riff-raff get chucked out at 3.00pm on Press Day so that Her Majesty doesn't have to trip over them when she wanders round.  I just caught this last picture before I left....