Tuesday 27 August 2013

August passes

Where has this month gone? Most years August has been reasonably relaxed. This year it has been utterly hectic - in a thoroughly good way. The weather has been so kind to me, given this is a new garden and there has been a lot of toing and froing, but on August 13th I finally left the Herefordshire gardens for good and have hardly had time to think since then. Every flower I have grown here seems to have been put to good use, and the gardens are looking a little short now but should see out the next few weeks happily and I'm really looking forward to the next tranche of planting. I had a fairly full on few days, starting with early preparation for a party today followed by a wedding in Kent on Sunday then back to a full on couple of days for the party here - many metres of garlands in cages and globes always takes as long as it takes! The Kent wedding was at a fantastic venue, Preston Court near Canterbury. A gorgeous house and grounds with barns, old wagons, ancient rusting trains and carriages, a fairground carousel, fairground organs, peacocks, an island in a little lake..... getting there was a trifle traumatic as it completely poured with rain on Saturday night and I set off from Dorset rather later than planned, at about 8.30 on Saturday evening, having booked somewhere to stay in Canterbury. I arrived there at something after 2.30am as it rained so hard I could scarcely see the vehicle in front when I reached the M25, then missed an important sign and had to backtrack for about 30 miles, not a brilliant plan! But happily Sunday dawned brighter and set for a lovely day. I was completely knocked out by the venue, definitely one of the most interesting I have worked at, and I had a completely lovely bride who definitely knew what she wanted, vintage style,  and I hope I gave her that - in fact I know I did as she incredibly kindly emailed me today telling me how happy she was with everything, I just can't wait to see her photos as part of the bridal flowers were headdresses for herself and her four gorgeous bridesmaids and I do so love doing headgear! I'll have to wait for those photos (which will I'm sure be terrific as Katey-Ellen heads a team at a very up there photographic studios in North london) but took a few snaps as a memory.
Then it was straight into getting garlands and globes together for a big party locally, a fabulous place with barns to die for and all terrifically organised and easy - they even have the best step ladder in the world so you can hang a globe 20 feet up and feel stable! (or as stable as I ever feel). It was a very pink party so I now have almost nothing pink left in the gardens after 40 jars full as well as everything else..... I made the large globe in two hanging baskets, and the smaller one in the largest oasis form you can get, theya re a bit of a fiddle but I think they always look very impressive and are an excuse to use huge skeins of clematis and honeysuckle (or trailing roses in season) so a joy for garden flowers.















Sunday 11 August 2013

coming and going

Busy, bright weddings, pale weddings, wild flowers, less wild flowers, bouquets to go, bouquets to stay, and on Tuesday the new owners take possession of my former Herefordshire home and all the land. It's hard leaving my gardens. And hard packing up all those last bits and pieces. And the tunnel has been a mission and a half but happily that is going to new owners locally as it is too big for here. I have resorted to a skip as it has all become a bit impossible in the timescale....

Hard to believe I will no longer be making those trips up and down the motorway and over the bridge and into Wales and back onto the edge of those beautiful Black Mountains. But there is enough other driving to do, Bank Holiday weekend is a wedding in Kent (not very local from here but irresistible), and curiously another wedding in Kent in September, and another in Glos.... lately I feel my bum has become welded to the vanseat!

Wildflowers are having fun in the field. Very cheering.