When we first arrived here no one had ever gardened in this garden ever, it was all grass, areas of stone and nothing else. We have great plans. We brought lots of plants with us, but had not accounted for RABBITS. So we made some of the garden rabbit proof, and the rest is on hold until we have sectioned off another part and rabbit proofed it. But meanwhile, we have been visiting some gardens open to the public to get ideas and learn about different plants. The kitchen window looks onto this not very pretty fence (not ours belongs to the neighbour) and in anticipation I grew lots of sunflowers from seed in the greenhouse at Richmond and the very first thing we did was strip off turf and plant them. Instant Sunshine. Then we dug a trench for all the dahlias we had brought with us. We are so glad that we brought them ! Within a few weeks we had beautiful flowers. As long as I keep feeding and dead heading them they will last for weeks. Tons of broken slate to move. We moved some of it the first day and I planted about three dozen geraniums. They are now in full bloom and thankfully the rabbits seem to ignore geraniums. However, rabbits do like antirrhinums, African marigolds, roses, and quite a few herbs. So to get some ideas we visited the Helmsley Walled Garden. It was a very warm day, but not particularly sunny. The walled garden is not far from Helmsley Castle, covers about four or five acres and has lots of fruit trees. They were experimenting with using sheep's fleece as a mulch under the apple trees. Large gardens such as this go in for massive planting with huge herbaceous borders. It is hard to then scale this down to an ordinary garden. They would have had to employ huge numbers of gardeners in the past, now it is mostly volunteers who rescued the garden when it was derelict in the 1990s, and it is open all the year round. Then we went to visit a garden at Warthill called Breezy Knees Garden. Quite a different feel to this garden, more relaxed style of planting. This garden covers about 20 acres and is quite new, some of it is only about 15 years old, and was formerly farm land. It is set out in a series of small areas of garden with different planting themes, and interestingly each is surrounded by rabbit proof fencing. The paths are excellent and easy for anyone with a wheelchair , and it is very level. I can recommend it for a day out. One part of the garden is open to neighbouring farm land. The plants in this part are evidently ones rabbits do not like - so we noted what was there and bought some in their nursery. We were quite intrigued as to why 20 acres of productive arable land more or less in the middle of nowhere was made into a garden - but I guess the owners loved flowers. But so far this summer my favourite garden to visit is this one at Terrington. It only grows one species of flower, and that as a crop to be harvested. This is Terrington Lavender Farm. I like it so much we have been twice this month - but then the views are stunning and they do lovely afternoon tea. Terrington is on top of an escarpment that rises from the Vale of York and is only a few miles from Easingwold. On a clear day you can see for miles. Exactly due south are the ruined towers of Sheriff Hutton Castle, and when you get your eye in to spot them you will see the tower of York Minster directly behind. Gardens do not happen all on their own. So when and why did we humans start to devote time and effort to growing flowers for decoration alongside plants that provide food to eat ? Gardening is creative, it is theraputic, it is a way of taming the environment around you and making it your own. I would struggle to live without a garden. Gardens follow fashion, and we all have favourite flowers, but HOW did we get them ? In times past intrepid plant collectors travelled the world and brought back specimens from which many of our favourite garden flowers are descended. This is a favourite dahlia we brought with us. Dahlias came from Mexico and the tubers were originally used as food. The plant was named after a Swedish botanist called Andreas Dahl. We brought a lot of hydrangeas with us in large containers. They are very easy to take cuttings from, and so far (fingers crossed) the rabbits have ignored them. Hydrangeas come in a wide range of varieties and have come in and out of fashion. At the moment I think that they are "In". They originate from Asia, Korea, China and Japan. They were introduced to the Azores where the blue variety is everywhere. Many years ago we visited the Azores in August and the islands were blue with hedges made of hydrangeas. The name Hydrangea comes from a Greek word for water vessel, refering to the seed capsules. They were formerly called Hortensia. This lovely little picture is at the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle and was acquired by a special grant. At the time of its acquisition they held an exhibition in honour of this picture and a talk on the subject explained that the "Lady with Hortensia" was the height of fashion and these blue flowers were all the rage. The original painting was by Paul Cesar Hellau [1859 - 1927] but this is a ceramic plaque of his painting by Theodore Deck [1823 - 1891]. We have brought cuttings of hardy fuschias with us (from cuttings we took from the last move in 1997), and already they are growing. My father was very good with fuschias and all his cuttings would strike. Mine are a bit hit and miss. Fuschias originate from the Caribbean islands and were discovered in Hispaniola in 1696 and named after a German botanist called Leonard Fuchs [1501-1566], so he was not alive when they were discovered ! I hope to have a magnolia. They are named after Pierre Magnol. Gerberas are perhaps a bit too tempting for rabbits ? They are really called Transvaal Daisies and named after a botanist called Gerber. The flower / tree that most of us know as being named after a person is this one. Forsythia gives a piece of sunshine to early spring days, but is perhaps a bit too vigorous for many gardens. It is named after a Scottish botanist William Forsyth [1737 - 1804] who was a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. He introduced the plant from China. So when you look around gardens or go shopping for plants in a nursery, some intrepid plant hunter has found the first of those plants and then dedicated horticulturalists have bred and refined the seeds until we have the abundance of choice available today. One very brave plant hunter was born not very far here in this part of Yorkshire. His name was Richard Spruce [1817 - 1893]. You may think that he discovered a tree, but no, the spruce tree's name comes from a word for Prussia,"Pruce". Richard Spruce was born at Ganthorpe near Castle Howard here in Yorkshire. His father was the local schoolmaster and Richard became a teacher at a school in York. However, he was not happy teaching, except for the school holidays when he could go off and collect plants. He made several studies of plants in different parts of Yorkshire, around Malton, in Teesdale, and eventually gave up teaching to become a botanist. His claim to fame is that he spent fifteen years exploring the Amazonian rainforests in South America (in the news now for all the wrong reasons). He collected plants and seeds and sent them back to Britain but never came back himself. He was then tasked with the very important job of collecting cuttings and seeds from a tree called Cinchona . The bark of this tree had medicinal properties and under the name of quinine was used to cure malaria. This tree had never been farmed, it only grew in the wild. Such was the impact of malaria on Europeans who were colonizing the far flung corners of the globe, that anyone who could get their hands on seeds of this tree and grow them would be doing the whole world a great service. But it was difficult to find and export. With immense cost to his own health Richard Spruce managed to get to Ecuador . Fortunately the country was in the throws of a civil war, fortunately, because they did not really notice that he was taking cuttings and seeds from their cinchona trees. His cuttings survived the journey and eventually trees were grown in India where they were much needed. Richard Spruce never gained any great financial benefit from his plant hunting in South America, but his health was completely broken. In 1864 he managed to get back to Britain. He had little money, but the Howard family from Castle Howard provided him with a tiny cottage where he was nursed until his death. Here is Richard Spruce in 1871 at Welburn near Castle Howard. He is a lodger in the cottage of Georgiana Vause. She had a daughter Mary. And here he is in 1881 at Coneythorpe, in the cottage that the Howard family provided for him, and Mary Vause was his housekeeper and nurse. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow ?
Well mine is coming along slowly, but I am learning what will grow in different conditions, and hopefully will beat the RABBITS !
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AuthorThis is where you can share creativity with me. I believe that everyone has something creative within them, and it is a joy to find ways of being creative. Blogging is NEW to me, so here goes ..... Archives
January 2024
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