Anyone who has read this blog in the last week or so will know how pleased I am with the Inula helenium that is in full flower right now. It must be the little boy in me that wonders how a seed, no bigger than a grain of sand, could become such a large, sturdy and colourful plant.
A plant adored by bumble bees
And now at nearly 1.8m tall, and 1.2m wide, the most outstanding plant in the garden by a mile!
I saw this at Brockworth Court today. I have no idea what it is. The flowers are similar to Achillea but the leaves are not. There was no scent. It was 120 – 140 cm tall.
Any ideas?
Today we took some visiting relatives to Brockworth Court, a Grade 2* Listed Building on the outskirts of Gloucester and close to Cheltenham which opens for the National Gardens Scheme. Dating back to 1540 and originally built for Richard Hart, the last Prior of Llanthony Secunda Priory. 
The buildings are truly magnificent and of great national importance. The Tithe Barn pre-dates the house by almost 100 hundred years and was completely rebuilt in 2000 after it was nearly destroyed by fire.
With the adjacent St. George’s Parish Church, formal gardens on three sides and a kitchen garden over the lane, the current owners must be working very hard to restore and maintain this ancient pile. The ‘Monet’ bridge over the pond to a thatched round house we found rather twee and served no real purpose other than as a visitor attraction. 
However, the borders and planting combinations were colourful and inspiring.
I was particularly impressed to find the Rose Campion, Lychnis coronaria, planted with the bright yellow Potentilla recta ‘Sulphurea’ which worked for me. The strong magenta coloured Lychnis is lovely on its own but awkward to place unless it is with white. I might try it with Geum ‘Lady Stratheden’ which is long flowering, equally tall and bright yellow.
The strong yellows and purples were a big feature of this garden and made excellent photographic subjects.
Equally attractive were the reds and purples of these Monarda, Knautia and Salvias flanked by Solomon Seal and Acer palmatum.
But sometimes a simple pot or urn is enough.
I think I would have steered away from rusty peacocks and stone ladies playing the flute in a cupola topped gazebo but everyone to their own! I think this is where garden design and ‘marketing’ often bump awkwardly together in places open to the public.
Overall, a ‘good’ garden to visit, lots of good ideas and some not so good. A place of heritage and history and somewhere we will visit regularly to note the seasonal changes.
It’s that wonderful time of year again when the soft fruit begins to ripen and Cathy bakes her wonderful Gooseberry Cobbler
Even more wonderful Blackcurrant Cheesecake
And Strawberry Drizzlecake. Yum Yum Yum.!
I found it difficult to stop taking photos this week, there is so much happening in the garden. The sunshine has prompted everything to put on their best clothes and shout out for the paparazzi.
These beautiful un-named Asiatic lilies grew in a pot last year and have done even better in the ground. They mingle with with blue and red salvias and the forthcoming Echinacea buds and shriek to be noticed.
The more demure and sultry Lily ‘Landini’ keeps a lower profile but is just as stunning.
The pollen free ‘Elodie’ may lack any fragrance but is nevertheless a statuesque beauty and has done well in the same pot for two years so must be tough and hardy.
The Inula helenium(?) mentioned in my previous post is a big hit with bees and hoverflies and provides a perfect landing pad.
The Alstoemerias grown last year as immature bare roots from The Daily Telegraph are now established in a well drained raised bed and have rewarded me with a wonderful crop of tall yellow/orange flowers which last well for at least two weeks in a vase.
It is a little disappointing that they are all the same colour but on the other hand they probably look better on their own and certainly make a statement.
These egg shaped Allium sphaerocephalon are the last to flower and do so in a most unusual way. The papery bud splits open to reveal a totally green flower head which gradually turns purple from the top down. They have done well in a pot, taking over from the narcissus and tulips planted with them.
The pond surface is now covered in water lily leaves and water soldiers keeping the water clear and providing shelter for the fish who have no eye lids and hate the glare of the sun.
The Sempervivums in pots around the pond are beginning to send up their strange, almost pre-historic looking flower spikes after which, the centre of the rosette dies but not before giving me plenty of babies to replace them.
The more I see the flowers of Dahlia ‘Twynings Smartie’ the more I am beginning to like them.
The creamy white flowers and dark foliage of Twyning’s After Eight’ are an unusual combination which could easily have come from the ‘Bishop’ series. Perhaps it started life as ‘Bishop of York’.
And finally……the beautiful simplicity of Dahlia merckii, a species from which many modern hybrids and cultivars have no doubt been bred. Easily grown from seed and apparently hardy in the ground, the lilac colour blends well in a mixed border. I find they are a bit floppy and need the support of a cane or other plants around them. Lovely!
The temperatures have shot up this week and the plants have responded. The recently acquired Monarda didyma ‘Squaw’ from the Crocus nursery post-Chelsea plant sale is still only small but has produced a few of the bright red shaggy flowers I love so much. It is pictured here with pure white Ammi majus ‘Graceland’ which is just coming into flower.
The ‘grow anywhere’ Leucanthemum superbum or Shasta Daisy is out and will go on flowering for several weeks. It should go even longer this year because it had the Chelsea Chop in May. I have grown ‘Silver Princess’ and ‘Crazy Daisy’ from seed this year and bought the yellow ‘Banana Cream’ and ‘Broadway Lights’ from Malvern. They are one of the few plants that enjoy my sticky clay inthe ‘difficult’ area of the front garden.
The first flowers have appeared on Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’ which will go on opening up the long stems until October. It is reliably hardy here but I know most people say it disappears over winter. I think I must have raised seeds from a tough plant!
Geranium pratense ‘Splish-splash’ is not so splashed this year.
Now on to the main event. Two years ago I obtained seed of Inula hookeri from the Cottage Garden Society seed exchange and managed to raise just one plant. It grew well last year in my sunniest border but refused to flower. This year I have been watching the buds form with great anticipation and this week an explosion of yellow flowers has begun. However, after consulting the books and the websites which can usually be relied upon, I am not convinced that it is Inula hookeri bit in fact is Inula helenium. It doesn’t really matter but I would like to know for sure if anyone has an opinion?
The first of many Echinacea purpurea which could be a natural hybrid judging from its form and colour. These are amongst my favourite plants, hardy, reliable and trouble free, sturdy stems with no staking required, long lasting flowers, loved by bees and butterflies and seed heads that feed the birds in winter. What more could you ask of any plant?
It even attracts Ladybird larvae! I just hope that is not Vine Weevil damage I can see!
The Toscana F1 strawberries I managed to germinate back in February have grown into nice plants and are about to be planted out. Their bright pink flowers were a pleasant surprise.
Every picture tells a story and this one says “He’s given up on the lawn”
It’s not like me to give up but bearing in mind it is only 4 years since we put the turf down and I have applied weed & feed each year, cut the grass regularly, scarified in spring and autumn, even applied top dressing eighteen months ago, it looks dreadful. Full of thatch, threadbare, a sickly pale green colour and full of weeds including a patch of clover the size of a dustbin lid.
So last week I held a beauty parade of “Professional Lawncare Specialists” and TruGreen won. In fact, Rob Edwards who operates the Cheltenham TruGreen franchise won. It’s a people business and if you don’t like the person you won’t like the business. I have to trust the people I give my hard fought pension to. It’s a northern thing. So on Thursday Rob sprayed the weeds and today he came back to aerate and feed with a high nitrogen pellet.
There’s a small part of me which is slightly embarrassed at bringing in the professionals for a job like this. After all, I could do it all myself. But the maths just don’t add up. TruGreen can do the job cheaper and better than me and in half the time. The aeration machine can be hired but it would cost more than TruGreen charge. The weed & feed can be bought anywhere but a) it’s not as good as the stuff the professionals use and b) It costs more per sq.m than TruGreen charge for applying it.
So, according to Rob, there is nothing wrong with the lawn he can’t sort out. All the weeds will be gone and the lawn will be lush, green and healthy by September. However, he then plans to “deep scarify” (sounds like a cosmetic surgery treatment), top dress with a sand/loam mix, over-seed and apply a high Potassium feed in early October which will make the lawn look like the Somme for a month or so.
For me, the one big benefit is I will have someone else to blame if it doesn’t work!
Good luck Rob.
I am really not sure I like this new Dahlia ‘Twyning’s Smartie’. There is something decidedly odd about it. For a start it is a weakling, only about 18″ high and has taken absolutely ages to grow even to that paltry size. And the white splashed flower looks wrong, like it’s a mistake.
Not all the flowers are splashed either so they are not consistent. If I had been choosing new Dahlia varieties I would have chucked this one in the bin as not fit for purpose.
I suppose it just shows how clever those marketing people are – getting mugs like me to buy the hype and the tuber! Its big brother, Twynings ‘After Eight’ which has dark foliage and white single flowers is still in bud. Let’s hope it reads this and does better!
A short drive from the centre of Cheltenham there is a Grade 2 listed Arts & Crafts house set in 4 acres of landscaped gardens which is a Diocesan retreat, conference centre and place of rest and reflection. 
The house and gardens have largely been maintained by volunteers for many years but despite heroic efforts by The Friends Of Glenfall House Trust, ever increasing costs have caused the centre to close at the end of the month. We decided to visit their Open Garden yesterday to show our support.
We enjoyed the variety of planting in beautiful surroundings with wonderful ornamental trees and wide herbaceous borders and island beds. 
The formal mixed with the informal, rose beds and wisteria walk, orchards and prairie planting there was something for everyone.
The house is famous for the views of the Severn Valley and the Cotswold Hills and the following photo shows why.
It is sad that the retreat has to close but when you turn the page another chapter begins.
Each year I grow Lupins because they are a classic cottage garden plant. They are colourful, the bees love them and they are easy to grow. But I am getting fed up with the constant attacks of Lupin aphid.
No matter what I do (apart from insecticides which I don’t use) it returns each day, devastating the stems and flowers. The sticky residue is unsightly and the flowers are ruined. I think they’ll have to go.
The other problem is the powdery mildew which attacks the Knautia macedonica as a matter of course each year. I have always associated powdery mildew with dry soils, lack of air circulation and overcrowding but I reckon I could plant this Knautia anywhere and it would suffer. I believe it is systemic in this plant. I have seven plants in various positions and every plant has powdery mildew. It is such a shame but it too will have to go.
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