November / December 2022

by anne chambers

We woke up to snow this morning after a few days of very hard frosts, so winter is finally here.   Too frozen and hard to dig over the borders but still lots of leaves to collect and bare rooted roses to pot up for next year.

We have had an elegant new rail made by a local blacksmith under the swing seat to help us and our visitors negotiate the steep steps. It always amazes me that my mother never had any handrails in the lower garden and used to manage to descend and ascend well into her eighties!

We have also taken the opportunity of having the philodendron leaves cleaned and re-gilded. The sculptor Simon Allison came last week to reinstall them.  They look marvellous and really shine in the winter sun and reflect beautifully in the water.  We still are waiting for the oak tree next to the water garden to shed all its leaves before we can properly clear the pond and fill it again.

A few plants are still gallantly still flowering including the lovely china rose Bengal scarlet and the hebe gauntlettii in the lower garden.  The mahonia Buckland is out for Christmas and am expecting the hamamelis to follow suit very soon.

We have all the family  in our new house for the festivities which is a lovely thought; three grandchildren so no doubt our peaceful existence will be shattered!

It only remains for me to wish all our visitors and followers a Very Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you in 2023.

October 2022

by anne chambers

At last some rain but still exceptionally mild and certainly no frosts.  The garden is still flowering with the salvias in full bloom and looking lovely.

We visited the Isle of Man to give a talk on the family and garden, literally a 24hour visit but managed to see most of the island by car.  Everyone was very friendly and kind and proud of their garden club which had over three hundred members.  Life much slower and more relaxed than the UK and I can see why so many end up retiring there.

Now is the time when we are closed for large projects to take place.  We had a water leak in the overflow carpark in the summer from our own water supply.  We managed to do a temporary fix but now a local company has replaced some of the amazing pipework laid well over a hundred years ago by my grandfather.  It is mostly in brilliant condition and the water engineers were very impressed and said the new pipe would never last as long!

We also decided to take down the water sculpture made by Simon Allison to let him clean it after over twenty years.  Scale had built up on the stainless steel stems and the gilded bronze leaves had begun to show signs of the black die in the water. This entailed emptying the pond much earlier than usual and we will now have to wait for all the leaves to fall before we clear it and  refill again.

The autumn colours have been great and the cotinus glows in the autumn sunlight, as well as the acers in the bluebell wood.

In the lower garden the yuccas have decided to put on a magnificent floral display with spikes covered in buds ready to flower in November!

September 2022

by anne chambers

It is the last day that we are open this season and it seems to have raced by this year.  It is always a feeling of mixed emotions with the relief of not having to keep everything neat and tidy but missing our visitors for another year.

We visited Scotland with twenty-five American ladies for a garden tour in the middle of the month.  It was a momentous time with the death of our beloved Queen but luckily we were out of Edinburgh before the royal hearse arrived.  A dry week with the gardens looking good as they had had more rain in the summer than we had in the south.  I always come away with new ideas and saw a wonderful dahlia Black Jack for the first time.  It is already ordered for next year!  Also I was given a plant of the beautiful red pelargonium which will be planted in our greenhouse and I hope performs as well as it did at Greywalls.

We visited Elizabeth Salvesons beautiful garden, Whitburgh House, just south of Edinburgh, at its best in the autumn with stunning salvias, dahlias, grasses and vegetables all mixed together in an array of colour and skill. Very inspirational and full of original ideas.

Jupiter Artland is also well worth a visit. I love the sinuous shapes moulded by Charles Jenks and their relationship with the water that surrounds them.

Back home, the cyclamen under the scots pines are flowering and it is amazing how they seed themselves in all the stonework and steps, virtually with no soil evident.  They are adapted for real drought conditions and haven’t been deterred by our dry summer.

 The asters have also been fine with no rain and unlike most years when they flower after we have closed, are looking lovely in the rose border.

We are off next week to give a talk to the Isle of Man Gardening Society on the garden and our book. I’ve never been there before but I am looking forward to seeing a new part of Great Britain.

August 2022

by anne chambers

Our first misty morning telling us that autumn is just round the corner.  A welcome relief from the heat of the first part of this month with record temperatures and no rain.  The garden has held up well despite the drought but certain plants like the crocosmias have not fared well.

We seem to have been up and down to Scotland recently with a wonderful visit to Gordon Castle which won the Historic Houses Garden of the Year award in 2021.  A vast walled area managed by Zara Gordon Lennox and created over the past ten years.  Such an achievement and filled with flowers, fruit and vegetables.  All beautifully maintained and such a lot of hard work, a real credit to her and her team.

Another time we visited Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, a very romantic castle perched on the edge of the sea with a sheltered and fascinating garden which has been restored in the past few years. It was very lush and green compared to the dry south with eucryphias and pittosporum thriving.

We had a visit from a rally of beautiful steam cars, all polished and gleaming. Nearly all had been made in the first three decades of the twentieth century in the USA. Quite a sight and all they needed was plenty of water to get back to their hotel.

Great excitement with the sighting of our first flowers on the tulip tree avenue planted over ten years ago.  They are growing well and hopefully next year more flowers will appear.

The datura Grand Marnier has also loved the heat and is still flowering as I write, in fact all the tender pots have performed well including oleander, thinking they are in the Mediterranean! I remember my mother, appearing on Gardeners World, pointing out this datura in the garden and commenting that she always remembered the name of it because “ I am rather partial to a glass of Grand Marnier”.

We decided to hire a cherry picker to help Johnny prune the enormous rosa cooperi which has reached the top of the house.  It is stunning in May when the enormous white flowers appear but is a rampant grower and needs a hard prune.  Climbing ladders is getting more dangerous in our old age so this seemed the perfect solution.

We are off to Scotland again with our American ladies to visit gardens in September, twice postponed but happily going ahead this year, something to look forward to.

 July 2022

by Anne chambers

I am old enough to remember the drought of 1976 and it may well be that we are heading that way again after record temperatures last week and no rain for far too long. However, I am pleased to say that I think the garden is holding up well and although phloxes have flowered early and faded with the heat, other plants are thriving.

Lilies are such a bonus at this time of year flowering late and adding so much to the borders.  We leave them in over winter and my particular favourites are sheherazarde, formia and the yellow and orange turks cap in the yellow border, leichnei.  They seem to support themselves and this year I have hardly seen a lily beetle which is wonderful.

Other drought loving plants are the verbena bampton and gaura lindheimeri which have happily seeded themselves in the stonework around the small fountain in the white sunk garden. I might have to pull out one or two as we did with the dieramas which took over this area last year.

A new plant in the wide border is the sanguisorba pink squirrel tails, quite a talking point as unusual and certainly stands out now it has got more established.

The blue and silver pots are looking great with the bright blue annual, anagallis monellii Sky Lover bought as a plug  from Sarah Raven and flowering its head off.  I was recommended to buy it from a friend who said it flowered until October so well worth repeating.

June 2022

by anne chambers

This is the time when we can sit back a little and enjoy the garden in all its glory.  All the hard work of the months before has paid off and the crescendo of flowers reaches its peak with the Kiftsgate rose full out and still growing! This bloom is actually from a young cutting in a pot.

Gardeners have to be patient and we have just seen the first flowers on the tulip trees which we planted sixteen years ago.  They form an avenue up the field from the mound and have grown very well but had not produced flowers until now.

One of my mothers favourite shrubs was Carpentaria californica and it has flowered exceptionally well this year.  We have the original from her day but have also planted two new ones as I think it is incredibly beautiful too.  Dazzling white flowers with vibrant yellow stamens against the dark evergreen leaves.

We also have received a new swing seat from Sitting Spiritually of Lyme Regis, beautifully hand made in French oak and very comfortable. We have placed it in the lower garden looking out over the view towards Bredon and the Malvern Hills; a lovely relaxing position and hope to make full use of sitting and enjoying the garden in the months to come. For more information about the swing seat please use this link : https://www.sittingspiritually.co.uk/garden-swing-seats

May 2022

by anne chambers

The garden opening is in full swing with coaches returning particularly with American visitors who are also going to the Chelsea Flower Show.  Luckily, we have had the long-awaited rain and everything has shot up and flourished.

We visited the Malvern Show at the beginning of May which we enjoyed but were slightly disappointed by the lack of new varieties and unusual plants for sale.  However, we did manage to buy our new outdoor furniture so now just waiting for glorious summer evenings to be able to eat supper outside in our new courtyard.

The cornus Venus is looking magnificent with saucer sized cream flowers covering the stems, it is such a stunning tree and can’t wait for it to be the centre of attention in the wide border when it grows a little more.

I was also delighted to see that the tulip sprengeri have multiplied in the Four Squares, it is a delightful specie tulip and comes later than the rest, not quite the right colour here but it is so attractive that I forgive it and will let it stay.

The crinodendron in the lower garden is covered with red lanterns and flowering better than ever.  It has thrived here despite needing a sheltered position and we might even have to prune it back a little after flowering.

We are entering the second stage for the garden with bulbs over and the summer shrubs, roses and perennials about to be the showstoppers.  The dahlias we left in over winter are all appearing which is great as we always worry that they might disappear in a wet cold  winter.

We were delighted to see that our rose border was on the front cover of the May edition of the RHS journal and a lovely article by Vanessa Berridge inside naming us as one of the glorious gardens to visit in 2022.

April 2022

by anne chambers

This is my favourite time of year and especially this April when we have had early warm weather, and everything has flowered so well.  Despite the lack of rain which is a worry, the blossom and bluebells have been magnificent, and the tree peonies have lasted longer without being spoilt by heavy showers.

We planted several Malus transitorias at the end of the car park several years ago and this is the first year that they have flowered, such a pretty small tree with the pink and white blossom covering their stems.  One has to be patient with plants, but it is always worth the wait!

The cowslips in the orchard have really multiplied this year, we just scattered seed several years ago and they have spread brilliantly.  They look lovely with the camassias which are just coming out plus the apple blossom above.  This area is the essence of Spring with the yellow and blue shades.

 As I mentioned the tree peonies have been magnificent, so many different shades and now we seem to have a wonderful collection throughout the garden.  Even when the flowers fade the leaves are attractive.

Another of my favourites is michelia ‘Gail’s Favorite’ which we first saw in Cornwall and wondered if it would survive in the Cotswolds. Luckily it has thrived and is stunning with dark brown bracts covering the flower buds and then producing beautiful white waxy flowers.

 Having  moved to the Front Lodge we are tackling our small garden here.  A lot of the shrubs had got far too large so either we have taken them out or severely pruned them back.  Herbaceous geraniums etc. had spread far too much, so again  we have been ruthless so that we can replant with more interesting specimens.  It will be fun to have a blank canvas but at the moment the lack of rain means we will have to wait.

Vanessa Berridge and I gave a lecture on the garden and book yesterday at Mel Tanners house in Ampney Crucis.  She has been running plant fairs and lectures for the past eleven years under the name of the Generous Gardener but sadly is retiring and handing on to Sarah Biddulph of Rodmarton next year. After our talk in the morning we enjoyed Rupert Golby talking in the afternoon on shrubs which is always entertaining.

We open on Sunday five days a week so our busy season really begins which is exciting but makes me feel rather tired!

March 2022

by anne chambers

Where has the time gone? My first entry for 2022 and we are about to open the garden again.  A few excuses in that I had my second knee operation at the end of December and it has been a slow recovery but nearly there now. We have also moved into the Front Lodge where my grandmother and mother happily lived in their later years.

However, the garden has been well looked after and we are nearly ready for opening again a week today.  An early Spring with wonderful warm weather and everything has started growing and appearing again to herald a new season.  The daffodils have flowered better than ever and are a picture driving down the front drive with the magnolias also looking spectacular.  Magnolia campbellii mollicomarta in full bloom this year having not flowered last year, I think they have a rest every other year.

In the White sunk garden trilliums, anemone blanda and the rare sanguinaria candensis plena (known as the blood root) are all flowering and the different coloured primroses add to the display. 

With the unusual warmth comes the scents of Spring with daphnes and viburnums filling the air with perfume, such an evocative sensation and one I love and associate with a new beginning with so much more promise to come.

We have a new caterer this year, Maria Finn from Broadway, and have decided to have more outside tables and chairs by the entrance so that visitors can just come and have a cup of coffee or tea and need not go into the garden on every occasion.

We were lucky to escape extensive damage in the storms that hit the UK in February with only branches and debris covering the banks, no large trees fell but the poor gardeners had to re-rake the whole of the banks which were covered again in pine needles.

We are much looking forward as always to our new season and hoping that our overseas visitors will be able to return after two years absence.

A quick PS. I have just walked down the bluebell wood walk and our first bluebells are flowering in March!