Provisionally this competition will be held in March 2011. The 3 groups for which members can enter photos will be as follows
Further details will be available later in the year. The same rules as used previously will apply. See Photo Competition
It was a beautiful day and thirty five members and friends met either in Kendal or Lancaster for the journey to Cheshire.
Ness Botanic Gardens was our first stop. A quick coffee and then we all had the 64 acres to explore. The planted areas which we were interested in were separate, but the walks in between were delightful. There was a nice breeze and we had views over the Dee estuary. Highlights included a Cornus kousa in flower, with a huge cascade of pink and white bracts and a lovely potager with some very clever planting to illustrate how vegetables can be very attractive in small raised beds. I think everyone liked the pond areas near the Visitor Centre. It was very tranquil with some lovely planting in shades of green and yellow (irises, alchemilla mollis, primulas etc), with a well planted rockery around it. My description does not do it justice, but it was gorgeous. Lunch was either a picnic under the trees or a meal in the new Visitor Centre.
Our next garden was Weeping Ash Garden near Manchester. The description in the Good Gardens Guide and the NGS Yellow Book led me to believe it would be good. When the coach pulled into the Car Park about four times the size of Hayes in Ambleside…I started to get worried. John Bent, the owner, met us and took us into his garden just to the side of the Car Park. He apologized for the dryness, and also said that the garden was in need of a tree surgeon as some specimens had out grown the space. The worry increased!!!! Oh dear! On the plus side, John Bent took us round the garden and shared his knowledge of the creating of the garden and it's planting with us. On the minus side the garden was a disappointment - it was overgrown, tumbledown and with very few flowers to be seen. One has to wonder how the descriptions in both sources I used came to be made. Again on the plus side, many of us visited the very nice tearoom and also bought plants (which were very expensive although a very good size). I managed to buy the netting for my blackcurrants which I could not get locally. There is a silver lining to every cloud.
A lesson learned I feel …..Always recce the gardens you visit Erica!
With that in mind I am off to Northumberland next Friday to visit Herterton House and also two private gardens very nearby. In August David (my husband) and I are visiting Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. Two of these were suggestions made on the coach so I hope for some good gardens for Cumbrian Hardy Planters next year.
Erica Clapp, Hon Secretary
Another successful Plant Sale for the Group with a total profit of £970 made in just two hours.
June 19th dawned bright but cool and windy. Hardy Planters came from near and far with car-loads of plants of all kinds, books, sundries and some delicious cakes (The Cumbrian Hardy Planter is not only green-fingered, but can cook as well!). We all set-to sorting and pricing with the expert help of Ron Davies, and at 9.45am the first customers were allowed into the Preston Patrick Village Hall.
The next two hours passed by very quickly. We had lots of customers. Some remembered us from last year, and others had seen the road-side notices and popped in. Judging by the many bags full of every kind of plant going out the door, we were doing well. The many helpers were sustained by coffee and home-made biscuits at regular intervals. The tables, which at 9.30am were packed with plants, were soon becoming emptier by the minute. At midday we closed the door, and in record time we were all cleared away. The few plants left over were destined for the Levens Village Open Gardens, and the Hospice. It was a good day for the Group.
On behalf of the committee I would like to thank everyone who helped to make this Plant Sale a success. Whether it was a few plants, or two car loads, cakes, cut rhubarb or books, or your time, it was all much appreciated by us all.
Thank you
Erica Clapp, Hon Secretary
We were just fifteen members and friends, and we had a very pleasant afternoon. It was a lovely day and this farmhouse 'cottage' garden was delightful. Borders were overflowing with so many herbaceous perennials, including many varieties of hardy geraniums. The colour palette was mainly pinks and mauves, but with just a touch of yellow or white to act as a contrast. The vegetable garden was very pretty....not a weed in sight, and the pond was quite natural with chickens scratting about and a gorgeous display of primulas. Allannah was the perfect hostess and talked enthusiastically about the garden, including how she coped with the exposed position, and how she managed with the minimal amount of staking. Afternoon tea was served in a very large conservatory. Two kinds of tea and five kinds of very delicious cakes were the perfect end to our visit.
This year we are organising visits to four gardens during May, June, July and August.
All the gardens are in Cumbria, three fairly close to Kendal and one further afield. Refreshments are available in all gardens and all visits start at 2.30 pm. The entrance fee for each visit is an all inclusive price for entry and tea and cakes.The NGS have put up the visits fees this year which is reflected in the cost.
Thursday 13th May - Deer Bield, Storrs Park, Windermere
Members John and Ann Gledhill have kindly offered to show us their beautiful garden overlooking Lake Windermere. Over an acre of sheltered woodland on a west facing rocky slope which has been developed since 1990 from neglected wood with scrub, bracken and bramble and inhabited by rabbits and deer. It was not until they put in a deer fence that they could grow anything. The garden is awash with wonderful plants, rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias, to name but a few, and many hardy plants and unusual trees. A garden not to be missed! Tea and cakes will be provided by HPS. For directions use this link to a Google map Google map directions to Deer Bield .
Thursday June 17th - Crookdake Farm, Aspatria, CA7 3SH
Kirk and Alannah Rylands welcome you to their garden near
Aspatria. A windswept informal garden with a careful colour
combination of planting sympathetic to the landscape and includes
various different areas with densely planted herbaceous borders,
vegetable patch, wild meadow and large pond area, home to
moisture-loving plants, tame hens and wild moorhens. It is their
second year of opening under the NGS Scheme and is featured by Tim
Longville in the March Issue of Cumbria Life.
You may wish to visit Hutton in the Forest or Larch Cottage Nurseries before and
made a day out. For directions use this link to a Google map Google map directions to Crookdake Farm .
Entrance fee: £ 5.00 including tea and home made cakes.
Thursday 15th July - Pear Tree Cottage, Burton in Kendal,LA6 1PE
Linda and Alec Greening are pleased to welcome you to their 1/3
acre cottage garden in a delightful rural setting. A peaceful and
relaxing garden, harmonising with its environment and incorporating
many different planting areas, from packed herbaceous borders and
rambling roses, to wildlife pond, bog garden and gravel garden. A
plantsperson's delight including over 200 different ferns, a large
selection of geraniums and many other rare and unusual plants. For
directions use this link to Pear Tree Cottage web site .
Entrance fee: £ 6.00 including tea and home made cakes.
Tuesday 10th August - Summerdale House, Nook, Nr. Lupton,
David and Gail Sheals garden is set in 1 ½ acres -a part-walled country garden restored and developed over the last 10 years by them. Beautiful setting with fine views across to Farleton Fell. Herbaceous borders, formal land informal ponds, woodland planting, old orchard and new meadow planting. Interesting range of herbaceous perennials, many of which are propagated by the owners. Adjoining nursery features in RHS "Britains Favourite Plants".For directions use this link to a Google map Google map directions to Summerdale House . Entrance fee: £ 7.00 including tea and home made cakes.
We hope that this programme of garden visits will make some
interesting trips out this summer. If you are interested in going
on any of the trips please contact me, Judith Johnson by
e-mail to 
. I have directions for all the
gardens but they are all in the NGS Yellow Book except for Deer
Bield. Please book a place at least five days before the date as
catering needs to be organized by the gardens.