Getting out and about at last

Now that Lockdown measures have eased and gardens are back open to the public, I have been keen to get out and visit again.  I’ve been feeling a bit down and hemmed in recently, so this was probably what was needed to perk me up.

We hadn’t been to RHS Harlow Carr since last October and as we normally visit several times a year, I decided it was time we went again.  We had to book a time slot to arrive by then we could stay as long as we liked up to closing time. We had a picnic in the car park to save carrying it around the gardens with us.  The car park is next to a woodland walk so is quite a nice place. There’s a lovely path which skirts the edge of the woods and leads you to the gardens.

We felt quite safe in the gardens, there was hand sanitiser in various places, notices advising about social distancing and no crowds of people, plenty of space to walk around.

Once in the gardens we noticed lots of changes since our last visit and despite there being less staff to help during lockdown the gardens were looking lovely and well tended.

I’m always impressed by the container arrangements—so big and bold.  Too big for my garden, but I can still get ideas for planting combinations.

We came across this border which was full of different varieties of Rudbekia.  It was a Rudbekia trial, apparently 2020 is the year of the Rudbekia.  I didn’t know that. I also didn’t know that there are so many varieties of Rudbekia. I recognised about 3 names out of the 43 which were planted there.

The streamside walk was looking very colourful.

The sweet peas in the kitchen garden were much further on than mine.  I thought that someone needed to cut them before they went to seed. I would have liked that to be me.

Walking through the scented garden towards the foliage garden where we always like to sit for a while in the summer house, we had a surprise as we weren’t allowed through into the foliage garden. And it looked much different, we couldn’t see the summer house, just a gravel path with flower beds alongside leading to somewhere. It was all a bit mysterious.  Then we spotted the information board which told us that work was in progress to make this little garden into a Secret Garden with a serpent path. What we could see of it looked lovely and I can’t wait now for it to be finished so that we can explore.

The Alpine house was looking busy with lots of people wandering through, I didn’t want to get too close to anyone, so we didn’t go in. We walked around and looked through the windows spotting this amazing looking aeonium.  

I had a good look at the alpine troughs as we walked around the outside of the Alpine House as I am going to re plant some of mine at home.

I loved the beds planted up with annual flowers, cornflowers, calendulas, poppies etc.

Some of the beds in the big herbaceous borders were being dug up as they were trying to eradicate bindweed which was taking over. I know what a nuisance that can be, we have it on the allotment. There was still plenty of spectacular colour to be seen  in other borders, though.

We ended our visit by looking round the plant centre and shop and of course I had to buy something.
I bought sempervivums and sedums for my alpine pots, there's always a good selection at Harlow Carr.

Through the garden gate--planting alpines and herbs

 

 It's been a busy month in the garden. I've had a couple of projects on my to do list which I've managed to complete this month. The first one was to plant up an alpine sink garden. I bought the old sink from a second hand shop a couple of years ago and since then it's been stored in the garage. There's been the occasional comment from my husband about it lying around doing nothing, so I finally I decided to get a move on and do something with it.  A visit to the RHS garden Harlow Carr inspired me. The alpine house there is something quite special and there are lots of stone troughs planted up with alpines which gave me some planting ideas.

Alpine house at RHS Harlow Carr

Alpine troughs at RHS Harlow Carr

I got carried away when I was buying plants and bought too many! That was no problem though as I have a couple of little stone alpine troughs which were looking a bit untidy so I replanted them with some of the new plants.

The sink was very heavy to move but we got it in place outside the back door. I used a mixture of John Innes compost, sharp sand and grit as a planting medium and after planting I covered the top with a layer of grit. I also put some slates on end in between the plants which finished it off nicely.

The next project was to plant up a herb bed. My herbs have always been dotted around the garden, some in pots, some in the ground and I have often thought I would like a specific area for them. We have three raised beds at the top of the garden which have become redundant since we took on the allotment and stopped growing vegetables in the garden. So I decided to use one of these as a herb bed. There was already a clump of sorrel in one of them which had seeded from a nearby pot, so it seemed an obvious place to start the herb bed. I planted chives, lemon balm, French tarragon, three sorts of sage, bronze fennel, oregano and a golden marjoram. There is room for more, so I will add to them over the next few weeks. I have a variety of mint plants growing in pots which will be left as they are to contain the roots.

As usual I have joined with Sarah at Down by the Sea for her monthly 'Through the garden Gate' slot. Have a look at her blog it's really good. I hope you have enjoyed coming through my garden gate this month. Maybe you would like to join us and let us come through your garden gate to view your garden.

Alpines

I don't think we ever saw the old Alpine House at RHS Harlow Carr  I've only been a member of the RHS for a few years and when we first started visiting Harlow Carr gardens they were building the new one. The Alpine Zone was finished in 2010 and it is a very impressive place. It is packed full of beautiful, colourful alpines which are planted in pots on a raised up level built out of stone. It's about waist high, so you can see them easily. I thought they were in pots to stop them spreading and getting untidy but it's so that they can be moved  to keep a permanent colourful display throughout the year.

Colourful it certainly is and there were lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs' coming from me as we looked around when we visited after Easter. We have seen this place several times now since it was opened and I never fail to be wowed by the colourful display. Here there were plants which you would think wouldn't survive outside in our gardens in this country. But many of the plants are from mountainous areas of the world and Harlow Carr say that they would grow outside quite happily.  Even the non flowering specimens were delightful from the tiny little sedums and sempervivums to the cushiony, spongy looking mounds which were just asking to be touched, but we weren't allowed to.

It's not just inside the Alpine Zone which is of interest, because outside, around the perimeter of the building are many stone troughs beautifully arranged with alpines. In one corner outside is an alpine garden which looks to be made out of flat stones or slates arranged both horizontally and vertically.  It's an interesting way to grow alpines, they can be planted in tiny little crevices between the flat stones.

I will leave you with a little gallery of photos from the Alpine Zone to look at whilst I go and tidy up my alpine pots. On the other hand I might just pop down to the local garden centre and buy some new ones.