Tuesday 31 May 2016

Open garden and studios event

Have you ever done one of these? We have done Art Trails round amateur/semi professional studios before and have done lots of RHS open garden visits but this one combined our delights!

We decided on Bank holiday Monday to visit Dersingham village event. £5 each to visit up to 17 gardens and 10 were studios too, in support of the new Village Hall. The older part of the village is a delight. Lots of Carstone walls and here a old door into a garden.
This courtyard garden behind a cottage 400 years old built of Carstone (local stone) had super planting. Low maintenance raised beds and gravel/patios - so no grass mowing. Great for retirees.
This cottage garden was behind the Pottery, the wall was very old and bent but gave extra shelter to the garden and the fruit and veg was well advanced.

Monday was dull and there was wicked cold wind, by the time we got to this garden we were having a serious discussion about shelter belts! We loved the entwined willow hedge of this garden with its informal beds. We are tempted as that is achievable in a few years being fast growing.

The owner of this space apologised for the horsetail infestation, but it was not noticeable in the lush growth in this raised bed. So many varieties of Aquilegia and lupins seen in these gardens. 


It was so cold by 3pm we were concentrating on the Art studios so we could pop in out of the cold, and saw some outstanding local pottery, landscape photography, abstract glicee prints, watercolours, acrylics and pastels as well as some sewing!  I refrain from photos of other peoples art work as it their creativity and income!  All were very good.

As we are ordering a "craft cabin" soon we spent some time talking to garden owners about their beach huts (writing room); log cabins (chill out space), converted garages (studio and framing set up) and up market studio sheds and how using them all year round is handled in terms of damp etc. Very informative!

There was no rain here till late Monday night and today it could be winter. Across the road 30 flower pickers were working in the open field from 7 am in a storm with heavy gusts of rain while we hid in bed till late. 

I was glad I recorded by nice bank of lupins last week because now they are beaten down and all out of shape.
This weather will set the veg garden back quite a bit I fear.

Hope you had a nice bank holiday!


7 comments:

  1. Why can't I grow lupins. We always buy them, lovingly plant them, they flower in the summer and then they totally disappear, roots and all!
    Margaret P

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    1. They are related to legumes (beans/peas) so you have to take care with hungry pests! We grew these from a packet of cheap seeds - took a long time but were worth the effort.

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    2. Thanks for that tip, TrishWish. My bro-in-law grows them in pots and they look wonderful and he grows from seed, too. But we have a very small garden with no place for a potting shed or greenhouse, so have to buy the plants and pop them in and then, after flowering, they simply disappear, roots and all. But we shall keep trying! But not bought any this year - wonderful ones in pots at Waitrose this week but around £12 a pot! However, I have planted some lovely pots up with heliotrope (my 2nd favourite) and white alyssum, and they look wonderful in some new pastel green Heritage pots. But I will remember that lupins are cousins to legumes, hungry feeders and needing lots of water ... I'd not realized that, stupid of me!
      Margaret P

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  2. I love it when village open up their gardens. There is so much to see and learn.
    Gill

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    Replies
    1. They are a great way to see behind the scenes in villages.

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  3. I would love to have gone on that garden and studio tour with you all (even with the cold weather.) It's grand that you could chat with others about your planned crafts cabin. Sharing experiences is so beneficial!
    Best wishes.

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    1. People were glad to chat. they were well short of normal numbers as it was so cold out.

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