27th July 2025

Welcome.

The recent rain has been very welcome. The roses have been stunning and those that repeat are doing so but it is the Vegetable Garden that now comes to the front. Runner beans are just starting to crop and we are still picking French Beans and digging carrots and pulling beetroot, radish and other salad crops. The peas have finished but the Cucurbitaceae family are gearing up– courgettes, squash and pumpkins. Sweet Corn, grown amongst them, are disappointing but our experiment with courgette tromboncino -growing on the frames at the back of the Vegetable Garden, are a great success.

We grow tumbling tomatoes in pots outside, but our main crop is the buffalo tomato- Marmande- grown in the Greenhouse.

The Daffodil area has been cut . The tree with attractive large seed pods is a Paulownia.

In the Bog Garden the tall purple flowers of the Thalia are enjoying their wet situation.

The yellow Mirabelle plums are carpeting the floor in the Water Garden. Our Facebook/Instagram posts will give you much more information. When ripe they fall from the tree. Be careful of wasps but do try them. They make delicious jam.

Pink Criniums are in flower at the front of the Hall and the cream rose on the side is Leverkusen.

The pretty white Clematis in flower on the West Lawn Pergola is Kaui and the magenta is Purpurea Plena Elegans

The gravel garden at the bottom of the West Lawn is of interest on two counts. One is the pretty blue flowers of Nigella (love in a Mist) are turning into striped seed pods which are every bit as attractive. These will turn brown holding next years seeds. And two If you identify the pink clumps of Eupatorium and look across the moat you will see where they originated- blown over the water by the wind – amazing!!! Two ways of perpetuating this area.

The Heron is a frequent visitor. Not that we mind too much losing some of our Carp but the eels are very rare and it is a shame when they are taken. We seem to have a lot of miniature/ toads/frogs(?)and masses of Butterflies- especially on the Buddleja. Rabbits are doing a lot of scraping in the garden and a Black Hebridean sheep frightened the gardener in the Greenhouse last week when someone hadn’t properly closed the Fish pond gate!!!!!!

Stay healthy and good gardening

Lynda Tucker