York Gate

 Another garden visit I went on was to York Gate a garden in a nearby town.  It is one of my favorite gardens I have visited.  Though it is a relatively small garden they packed it full of plants and ideas.  Because the garden was subdivided into several small rooms (gardens), usually divided by hedge walls, each having their own theme.  One of my favorites was the white border they created which looked really nice when I was there having tulips and peonies.  They had a lovely old potting shed that even came with a window to look out at the garden from.  It was truly an inspiring garden for how much they had created in the small area. 

National Gardening Scheme Visits

 


 The national gardening scheme is a program in the UK that allows people of the community to open up their gardens to the public.  They are called open gardens and for a few pounds you are able to visit certain peoples back gardens and proceeds raised are donated to charity.  Over the past few weeks I have gone to two open gardens in towns near by.  It is pretty incredible what people can create in their back garden.  The British are very good at taking what natural landscape they are given and turning it into something truly amazing.  In order to open up your garden to the public a member of the NGS comes and visits your garden to see if it qualifies; the garden has to be able to hold a visitors attention for at least 40 minutes.  I told Philomena the lady that I am working with that we have get her garden ready to be a garden for the open garden scheme.  I have been doing a bit of work in her garden.  I have been able to bring some extra vegetables home from work which I have planted in the garden.  Also I have been working on edging some beds and some weeding.  Back to the open gardens the first one I went to was very manicured almost spotless.  They had some very nice plants as well as some very interesting ideas on growing fruit.  The second garden I went to was located near the dale and they used that landscape to create an almost North American garden.  They had a lovely stream running through the garden and a really nice rock bed.  At each garden they serve refreshments (tea of course and coffee) and the most amazing cakes as well.  The garden visits are worth it just for the amazing cakes.  Also many sell plants they have propagated from their garden which you can relatively cheap. It is an amazing concept and if people in America improve their gardens would be a nice program to have in the US.

Chelsea Physic Garden

 While at Chelsea I had the opportunity to pop just down the road to the Chelsea Physic Garden.  Started hundreds of years ago by the equivalent of pharmacists today the garden was used to grow plants of pharmaceutical uses.  The garden also has a small fernery, lovely potager, and a interesting section of plants with uses.  Though the garden is of small size it holds some very important plants.  Back in the day plant hunters would go out and buy or forage for new plants themselves and then grow them to make remedies from.  This was quite the garden it really packed a punch for its size.  Its quite fortunate that a garden with a rich and important history still remains in the heart of Chelsea, London today.   

100 Years of Chelsea Flower Show

What an incredible year to be at the Chelsea Flower Show than when they are celebrating 100 years of Chelsea.  It was quite cool because the Garden Club of America was celebrating their 100th anniversary as well.  Monday was the first day of the show but the week leading up to the show was full of preparation and installation to make the show what it is.  I was able to attend the show on Monday which is press day where all of the TV programming is filmed and all the celebrities come out to check out the show.  It was such an incredible week to spend at the show I met some really amazing people and saw some fantastic things.  It was a totally exhausting week but totally worth it.  Most of my days at the show were spent manning the GCA booth which involved handing out leaflets about the garden and answering any question the public had.  I was really surprised by how many Americans were there checking out the show a lot of them GCA members themselves.  As well as it being a historic year for the show it was also the year of the garden gnome.  It was the first year that the gnomes were allowed to make an appearance at Chelsea which was a bit of a controversial topic in the gardening world.  We were very pleased when our display which highlighted the conservation efforts of the GCA in the coastal red wood groves was awarded the silver gilt medal just one step below gold.  There were several other amazing displays from show gardens to floral art.  I had never really been to anything like Chelsea and we don't really have anything comparable in the US.  What an experience it is something I will never forget!!

Dove Cottage Nursery

 Monday I got the amazing opportunity to go to a local nursery for work.  We loaded the truck with crates and we were off for the hour drive to Halifax.  It was a nice trip up to the nursery we took the scenic route rather then the motor way which was quite nice.  We arrived at Dove Cottage Nursery and were greeted by the couple who runs the nursery and of course a cup of tea.  After some introductions we got a tour of their small garden which accompanies their nursery.  It is a garden of summer interests which highlights many of the herbaceous perennials that they grow in their nursery.  After the garden tour we loaded up the truck which we just managed to squeeze the couple hundred plants on.  After loading the truck we ate a quick lunch.  Then we wandered around the nursery checking out the amazing selection of plants they propagate and sell.  They travel all around the world especially to Holland and other parts of Europe to seek out new and interesting cultivars of plants.  They find interesting new plants meet new people and make amazing contacts.  After touring the nursery and picking out a few plants for our own gardens we squeezed back into the truck and were off.  It was a lovely visit to an amazing nursery; quite the place with some really nice people who are very passionate about plants!!!!

Knaresborough

On Sunday I went to Knaresborough a nice quite town near Harrogate.  It is a picturesque town with a lot of history.  There is a river that runs through the town with a really nice path along it for a walk.    Some of the towns history revolves around the remnants of a castle that still exists in the town.  I took a tour of the castle checking out the kings chambers, the main hall, as well as the dungeon.  It was interesting to see such an old and historic place.  In a museum near by they had some bits and pieces that people have found over the years from jewelry to armor.  The town also had a few nice public gardens that people could sit and enjoy.  This is one of my favorite town visits because of the quietness as well as the history.   

Brimham Rocks

 One night Philomena the women I live with took me to Brimham rocks a park area similar to Devil's Lake State Park.  There are some incredible rock formations that were formed when this area used to be under water millions of years ago.  Now the rocks are weathered by wind and rain.  We walked around the area checking out the numerous rock formations most of them having names the formation below is calling dancing bear which I thought looked more like a dog.  The view from the rock formations was amazing you could look out across the country side looking down into the valley below.  it was another chilly windy night in North Yorkshire but we enjoyed the walk and nice views.