The Giraffes arrive...oh, and a couple of gratuitous zinnia pics.

In May I bumped into these two at the Chelsea flower show. For some time I had been looking for a sculpture that would fill the space at the end of the long terrace without costing a five figure sum. Being on the plebeian side of art appreciation, cones and helixes didn't speak to me but these guys did. They arrived today and look perfectly at home looking dreamily over the park. I fear that, like the teas, they may become a bigger draw to the gardens than our carefully crafted planting schemes. Since I am mad about them already that suits me fine .

At 13' tall this fellow could do with a name, any suggestions?



Zinnia prob. 'Aztec Sunset'
(it's a long time since the spring sowing)



Zinnia profusion 'Coral Pink '



Autumn Country Market

This years' Autumn Country Market on September 11th  (11.00 -4.00 pm) looks to be our best yet. With 30 stallholders throughout two courtyards, the newly renovated coach house and for the first time, the old stable block, it promises to be a great day out.

The decks have been cleared for action and we look forward to welcoming local craftsmen and women and local food producers. Other stallholders include a retro or vintage section including pretty decorative items and cup cakes.

Coach House cleared for action!

The beautiful International harpist Eleanor Turner and her students will be playing for charity and there is face painting for little ones.



Eleanor Turner



Laetitia Maklouf, garden author and broadcaster will be joining us for our Question and Answer Gardening Session and  signing her book 'The Virgin Gardener' so if you are new to gardening she is the one to talk to.
Lucy will be talking vegetables and cut flowers and Ursula Cholmeley will be answering your other queries.

Of course, the tearoom will be open offering light lunches and teas.

We are keeping our fingers crossed for good weather but with 12 acres of gardens to explore including the Yew tunnel to shelter under and almost all the stall holders under cover in the event of the odd drop of rain, we hope you will come and see us this Sunday.

Our friends from Africa

The arrival of the flycatchers in May is always a big deal for me. They have come as far as the swallows and they have massive understated charm. They sit on twigs waiting for insects to pass, dart out, grab their prey and return to the branch. They have bright deep brown eyes and are a pale brown with attractive, delicate markings. They are touchingly unafraid of humans. They nest near buildings in the most ridiculously open spots. Here is a photo of a brood of four chicks that successfully fledged about a week ago in a nest we passed everyday. Now that we have done our job of keeping predators from their young, the whole family has gone off to another part of the wood.

The swallows continue to display in the gardens amazing us with their ability to fly in and out of the pop holes we created for them in our sheds. They bring so much activity to the gardens and any minute will be joined by crowds of house martins and swallows from the north. As they move south they use the gardens as a staging post to stock up on insects before they press on again.

Sweet Peas: what to do now

Its sweet pea time of year again and the scent is filling my house, the office, the gardens, the tearoom... Its a hard life. For those of you that are searching for some answers to your sweet pea questions, hopefully this may help: 

If you have Sweet Peas looking a bit weedy remember that they love a deep root run and are quite greedy feeders. 'Well, thanks for that' you say 'but its a bit late now, they are in my poor soil and will have to get on with it.' In which case, you can use a foliar feed when watering and you will find they reward you by picking up speed.


L. odoratus 'Mars'

 Support your plants on drums of sheep netting or against poles. Remember though that the tendrils need something thin to wrap themselves around and will need tying in initially. They cannot grip onto bamboo canes so add some pea netting over your structure.
Keep picking the flowers as they appear, not too difficult a task. Once a sweet pea has set seed, a message goes to the whole plant to say its job is done and it will stop flowering.
If you havent sown any sweet peas this year and find some small plants in pots at a garden centre, it is not too late. You will have to wait until September for the flowers but it will be worth it.

Lathyrus grandiflora mixture

Cutting and arranging: Make sure you use a pair of scissors rather than a knife which tends to pull on the plant and damage it. You cant get a duff posy of sweet peas and I think they look best on their own. For the short stemmed types use a little narrow necked container like a vintage medicine bottle. For big long stems you can use a flared vase.

If your sweet peas are looking a bit ropey this year, feed them, keep deadheading and give them time, it has been a particularly difficult start to the season, with dry weather and late frosts.If you have any questions post them here and we will do our best to answer them.

If Sweet pea growing has evaded you for this year, come and see ours. During Sweet Pea week you can pick them too.

Sweet Pea Week at Easton Walled Gardens runs daily from 3rd-10th July.

The Velvet border

Built on the rubble of the old front drive in the driest part of the garden, the Velvet Border did not have a prepossessing start. It is sited just below the gatehouse and is about 15m long. Originally I planned a red border but soon got fed up with the restriction and decided to focus on texture instead. The colourways resulting from this have been far better than I could have hoped. Deep reds and blues vie with dusky yellows and the palest furriest leaves.

This border has finally come into its own this year. The delphiniums and the oriental poppy 'Pattys Plum' have got their roots down and decided to show what they can really do. Supported by the great Onopordums at a mere 9' tall and the purple hue of Cotinus we feel this is a border worthy of a Chelsea showing. Its not much of a shot, my gardening skills are better than my photography (I hope) but you can at least get a feel for the lushness of the planting.

As the gaps appear in midsummer we have Tithonias and Coleus 'Black Dragon' on standby to continue the theme. Hope you have time to come and see it x

Salad in seconds.

If you have done nothing about salad growing this year, feel you have left it too late or just would like a bit of lettuce for your sandwiches, this works brilliantly...
You will need:
A packet of mixed salad leaves seeds
An old fish box or similar plastic box (with holes punched in the base if necessary to let water out) or a window box.
Peat free general potting compost

Fill box with compost, water compost, sprinkle lettuce seeds thinly in rows, pat down with your hand to ensure seeds are just covered, keep watered and wait. In a month it should look like this:



Box of salad grown by Nick who manages
our immaculate vegetable garden.



Put it outside your door where you can pick a few leaves for your sandwiches. It's that easy!

A Soggy End to the Weekend

The three amigos. The survivors photograph: 4.00 pm on Monday

Postcards from Vals exhibition

Laugh or cry? I am not sure. The blessed rain that we desperately needed arrived and fell steadily all day...on Bank Holiday Monday. However, the few hardy visitors that came had nothing but praise for how the gardens are looking especially the pleasing neatness of the vegetable garden. The rain has freshened everything up and kept us weeding flat out. The sweet peas have come out really early and some of the climbing roses look beautiful. The swallows are feeding their young with a new glut of insects. The forecast is good for this week and I can have a week off from worrying about dry ground.