Charingworth Court Cotswolds Garden

The sculpture is all in place, the grass is cut, the edges are trimmed and there are still far more weeds than I wanted but given we do the garden ourselves, we are pleased with how it looks.

After weeks of endless dry weather when we longed for rain, this week has meant we have often been out gardening in the damp and wet.  There is something very soothing and peaceful about being in the garden in the rain and I have found myself enjoying that time as much as the glorious sunny day on Thursday.  The photos below were taken late this afternoon.

The garden has been soaking up the longed for rain in the last few days and we have been planting up pots, weeding and edge trimming in preparation for our opening.

Many plants are early and others have suffered from a couple of late hard frosts so the wisteria will be mostly over but the water iris will be open this year and a few roses are already in bloom.  You win with something every year despite the inevitable losses!

The exiting part is the arrival of the sculpture and we enjoy watching the hard work that goes into curating the exhibition!  There are already some beautiful pieces in the garden which we get to enjoy.

One of the wow factors of the garden is coming round the path and seeing the pond.  It still takes my breath away some days.  And although I love the views across the garden from various points, for me the best images are the glimpses of individual plants from unexpected points.  Above you can see self sown aquilegias, candelabra polyanthus, the layered viburnum mariessi, white osteospurnums and poppy heads just ready to burst into spectacular pale pink beauty.

The garden is a real mixture of careful planting and nature self sowing.  With flowers like the welsh poppies we have learnt to love what nature gives us!

Come and see for yourself.

The acer is bursting into leaf and the lime green euphorbia, which have self seeded all over the place (and not where Richard wants them!) earned a reprieve as they are spectacular in the sun.

Spring seems early this year in terms of the bulbs flowering.  Many of the flowering shrubs are coming out, the quince is in leaf and the Mount Fuji cherry is flowering.  It follows the autumnalis, the bell cherry and the pissardi.

The daffodils are Jetfire, bought in bulk but planted in flower, exactly where we need them!

The forecast isn’t good but the garden always feels especially peaceful in the rain.  The sculpture looks good whatever the weather, so don your raincoat, grab an umbrella and help us raise money!  You can see a few sunny images from today.

We are open 11 to 5.30 Sat 21st and Sun 22nd May.  Details here:  http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/find-a-garden/garden.aspx?id=29934

We are excited about hosting the annual sculpture exhibition which starts on May 21st and May 22nd when the garden is open for the NGS and continues from Tuesday 24th May to Monday 30th May as part of the Winchcombe Festival of Music and Arts.

The selling exhibition is curated by Jane Smoczynski of Winds of Change Gallery and features work by carefully selected artists.

If you would like to know more do contact Jane on 07531844823 or 01242 603836 and check the website  windsofchangegallery.co.uk

We are getting ready for our May opening this year.  Like all gardeners we have wondered what the strange weather over the last few months will mean for this season with some very early flowering.  So the witch hazel and the chaenomeles japonica have been in flower longer than usual. In the autumn we celebrated family birthdays with a weekend of bulb planting.  A few weeks earlier we had widened the borders around the lawn as over the years the plants have grown outwards.  Now we are reaping the benefits with hundreds of small daffodils in flower and hundreds more tulips getting ready to flower in a few weeks time.

The frogs and newts are busy in the pond, the birds are nesting and we even had a kingfisher visiting.  Last year one of our blackbirds learnt to catch newts and we watched him catch more than we could count.  I was amazed to look out of my bedroom window one morning to see a kingfisher dive in, catch a newt and then sit on the deck and eat it.  They look a lot tougher than fish to get down!

In the vegetable garden the broad beans look good, the potatoes are going in and the sweetcorn seeds are ready to sow in root trainers.  Soon the courgette, squash and runner bean seeds will be started and the whole cycle will start again.  That is what I love about gardening – you never know what will do well and what will disappoint in any year but you remain optimistic and know that the highs will be better than the lows!

So come and visit us and help raise lots of money for the NGS. We’ll be waiting to welcome you and the Children’s Society will be serving tea, and cake each afternoon.