Alternative Eden

Showing posts with label Cottesbrooke. Show all posts

Monday, February 23, 2015

Broken Traditions

Monday, February 23, 2015 Mark and Gaz 32 comments

We didn't make it to the first RHS plant show of the year which was held last weekend. The second tradition we have broken since we have started this blog. The first one was a yearly spring trip to Cornwall which we didn't do last year and looks like it'll be the case again this year.

RHS Plant and Design Show 2014

Which makes me wonder now, will there be a third tradition that we'll break in the near future? And if so what would it be?

On traditional I don't think we will break will the the annual pruning of the large old sycamore tree at the bottom end of the garden. However I suspect that traditional may in part exist as it gives Gaz a chance to play with various boys toys or garden tools to you and I

Breaking traditions are not always a bad thing. In fact it could be the other way around and be a good thing, breaking monotony and introducing new things into ones system.

Cornwall, when will we see you again?

Going back to the tradition we have just broken, for years that plant show was dubbed as 'RHS London Plant and Design Show'. This year it has become 'RHS London Plant and Potato Fair'. I'm not sure what was the trigger for the change of title apart from the obvious which is the increasing popularity of 'grow you own produce' over or at least equal to ornamental gardening.

The change of the title and focus of the show however had no bearing to our non attendance this year. It was simply because of work which is extra demanding at the moment. We're both managers in our careers which makes taking time off extra tricky. Even when going on holiday. Ironically though we have both gained extra paid days off this year. But time off not taken this time is time off that can be taken later on. So our minds are hovering already on what other new things we can try this year.

Happy memories - our Cottesbrooke plant haul in 2011

and in 2012

Perhaps the Great Dixter Spring Plant Fair, or perhaps the Wisley one. They are both on the same weekend hence it will have to be one over the other. And for the first time Kew Gardens will have a plant fair as they take on the Plant Finders Fair which used to be held at Cottesbrooke for years before moving to Borde Hill last year then to Kew this year. Will it stay in Kew this time and become a tradition there? Who knows, we'll all have to wait and see (personally even this early I'd rather it go back to Cottesbrooke, it was perfect there).

Which reminds me, there is a third tradition (or is that the first?) that we have broken already, and that is going to Kew Gardens on a regular basis. We haven't been for over a year! So if we go to the fair on the last weekend of April we'll be sort of unbreaking a tradition. Or is that we'll be starting a new one?

Time to see Kew again?

It's getting a bit confusing now! Whether breaking old or making new traditions, isn't it nice to know that it simply means there lots of options out there? That choices are there for the picking. And that's a fabulous privilege!

Mark :-)

Cottesbrooke Gardeners' Fair 2012

Sunday, June 24, 2012 Mark and Gaz 12 comments

That time of the year has arrived once again for the wonderful Cottesbrooke Gardeners' Fair which is one of the biggest plant fairs in the country, and up there as one of the best. I was really looking forward to this and was rather quietly excited about going again this year, so much so that the predicted adverse weather conditions on the days of the event were not enough to dampen my spirits about this fair.

For our readers outside the country, most of you are aware by now that we are not having the best of weather recently, and the weather on the day we went (Friday) was no exception. In fact it was typical of what we've been having recently. Bearing this in mind we came prepared for the worst, so out were the aspirations of light cotton clothing for promenading at the fair and in were plastic macs and wellington boots!

Fabulous weather....not!

And boy was I glad we wore wellington boots! Mud, glorious mud...it was everywhere! It's not entirely surprising though that this was the case, considering all the rain we've been having and the plant stalls are on the open, grassy grounds. And with the high traffic this fair generates, it was inevitable that mud, lots of it, would turn up.

Seemingly the only patch of green left is the one under the sign!

Mud, mud....

and more mud!

Nevermind, it was all part of the fun and charm of this year's event. Of course I would have preferred if it was sunny and warm, much like last year. If that was the case it would have been a perfect place to have a picnic too, in between plant shopping (which was exactly what we did last year). But to be honest this fair is so good that no rain or mud would be enough to deter any plant lover from attending and browsing at all the nursery stands.

Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair

Sunday, June 26, 2011 Mark and Gaz 10 comments

Mark and I had an enjoyable day off work on Friday and drove up into Northamptonshire to the Cottesbrooke Hall Plant Finders Fair, an annual plant fair held in the grounds of a large country manor house. Although we knew of the fair by reputation we hadn't visited before, now we have been I suspect we will be back next year.

The plant fair is laid out in the naturalistic landscaped grounds of the hall, just beyond the formal lawns and gardens, leading down to a lake, complete with picturesque bridge. The attention to detail was exceptional, each stand clearly labeled and rather than a mix of tables and awnings, a consistent set up of tents and large white parasols added to the summer feel. Each stand had tables set up that were wrapped in hessian and turfed on top - a quirky feature we both enjoyed.

Where to start...

On entering we were slightly bewildered at first by the huge number of exhibitors, selling a wide range of plants and other garden accessories. We started out by taking a fairly casual walk round, buying one or two smaller choice plants along the way. After getting our bearings we stopped for some refreshments before exploring in more detail.

As we expected we were drawn to the stand of Crûg Farm, where Sue and Bleddyn had a fantastic selection of plants from their own seed collecting trips in Asia. Hardy scheffleras over 6 feet tall grabbed our attention, and we just had to add a few more gems to our shopping list.

We made a number of trips back to Crûgs stand during the day before finalising our shortlist.

Just across from Crûg was the stand of Edulis, a nursery we had heard about but so far haven't been able to visit yet. They specialise in exotic and unusual plants and we were not to be disappointed, buying a Schefflera macrophylla and Zanthoxylum schinifolium (Szechwan Pepper). When we wandered back later in the day they had sold out of these plants so I'm glad we picked them up when we did.

Edulis also had rather fetching metal seed pods, which we were rather taken by, although we didn't end up buying one - maybe next time!

A new nursery to us and one which we must make the trip to visit this year was Olive Grove Nurseries, who had a fine selection of hardy palms and other big exotics, all at very reasonable prices. Despite being tempted by quite a few plants we chose a very good sized Dasylirion wheeleri that Mark felt would make a great addition to one of the beds being planned by our new Koi pond.

I have always been drawn to alpine plants, such as saxifrage, sedums and sempervivums, and although we do grow a few we have never really explored these plants in much detail. After seeing the plants on offer by Slack Top Alpine Nursery I feel this may change! I was drawn to a number of unusual silver alpines which will also form part of the planting in the new beds with the dasylirion from Olive Grove. These are not just attractive plants, everything on the stand had been though the winter at the nursery (-17C) so should be more than happy in our garden.

As well as plants there were a number of stalls selling various garden accessories, tools, ornaments, furniture and even subscriptions to gardening magazines.

Brooks Furniture from Dorset make unusual garden furniture, gates and even tree houses from English hardwoods such as Oak and Chestnut. But rather than use machine prepared timber, they work with the unusual shapes or lines of the wood and encompass these into the design. Although we didn't come away with any furniture, the examples on display gave us a few ideas for future projects.

The only downside to the whole day was the traffic chaos ahead of entering the grounds, it took nearly an hour to drive the last half mile and get parked up, the problems caused mostly by the organisers taking payment as cars entered the site, rather than by allowing visitors to park up and pay an entrance fee on foot. Having spoken to several of the exhibitors they were well aware of the traffic problems and hopefully more suitable arrangements will be made next year.

The weather at times looked like it might decide to rain, although we were lucky had no rain until we got home, in the end it was quite a warm and sunny day.

No plant buying trip would be complete without a couple of photos of what we came away with, so rather than disappoint here's a selection of our haul!