Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog April 2024

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Even as I write this news from the Walled Garden, it is out of date! – it’s that time of year when the Spring sunshine persuades petals to open and plants to shoot up….

You may still catch some of the tulips in flower if you visit this week, but after that, they’re gone. It’s ‘On with the Show’ time!

We had decided to cut back the tulip bulb order last autumn- we have always bought in new bulbs each year, to ensure a good show of blooms in the Spring- but this time, we decided to invest more in some species tulips, smaller but with a promise of returning year after year and bulking up.

Below is the ‘Rare and Fine’ species tulip, ‘Little Beauty’ in the Bonkers border, the ‘Praestans Fusilier’ and the yellow/red Orphanidea Flava:

Look carefully and you may still spot more of these smaller tulips in the borders, in shades of lilac, yellow and white. However, the larger tulips do make such an impact at a time when there is not a lot of colour.  

Below is the pretty pink viridiflora ‘China Town’ in the background; the deep purple ‘Queen of Night’ with maroon-black hellebores behind; and the ‘soft creams’ in the white border:

Last Monday in a biting wind (though the drizzle had stopped, and we had a little sunshine) the Gardeners tackled jobs that needed to be sorted, whilst we could still get to them.  Here’s Ruth, Sue and Penny in action:

Meanwhile, the peas are doing well in the raised beds. Sarah tells us that peas are tough! They will grow early in the season. And Nicola is giving the herb beds a makeover:

In between digging and weeding, though, we remembered to stop to admire our/your lovely Walled Garden.

Visit soon! It’s changed, already! 

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog March 2024

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A month of ‘many weathers’ (and a new discovery!!).

Now the Rubus Cockburnianus has been cut back to allow the flowers of Magnolia Stellata to shine, as the Walled Garden moves into Spring. Geoff carts away the prickly white Rubus, and Marion seizes the opportunity to make cuttings; if they ‘take’, (keep an eye on the plant stall, later this year) - you may have the chance to re-create Cleo Mussi’s lovely winter combination of Rubus and snowdrops, much admired by our winter visitors.

You can catch a last glimpse of the Rubus in the distance, before the cutting-down that day, in the same photograph which shows a welcome- and surprising - sight: the dipping pond has ‘self-healed’. It stopped leaking and began to fill with water again! Now topped-up, we’ve put back all the pond plants salvaged from the frost, rather a sorry sight last month. 

Meantime the hellebores have lifted everyone’s spirits, glorious even on dull days…

On the vegetable patch, Sarah has replaced the old soft fruit bushes with new gooseberries and blackcurrants.

But our purple-sprouting broccoli has proved a favourite meal for passing pigeons.! As a deterrent we first covered the plants with fleece; Sarah prefers a ‘humming wire’, so we’re trying both, to try to protect our crop.

There is much to enjoy: in the Walled Garden, the blossom on the apricot tree looks beautiful against the wall. At the top of the steps are the sweet-scented flowers of Osmanthus, while at the auricula theatre and in the borders, you’ll find bright yellows of narcissi.

Pile of stones

But who would have thought that the pile of old rocks and stones discovered during the works to rescue the Walled Garden and saved ‘just in case we might need them one day’, were holding a secret? …. Yes, we know that toads lurk there, and some lizards bask there in the summer sunshine…

….and Dinosaurs?

Look closely at the footprint preserved on this rock. It shows the impression of the heel and three toes of a Therapod!

Therapod footprint

Once, a raptor walked the land where we are gardening!

We know there is a rich seam of fossils in the walled garden, deep below the topsoil: we found ammonites, brachiopods, bivalves, during the works to landscape the garden.

This print was discovered last week by Professor Williams Blows who was visiting the Museum. The rock has now been removed for further study. Professor William Blows and previous curator Alexia Clark recently published a book on the ‘Cotswold Dinosaurs’.  This takes in the story of the collection of fossils discovered in Gloucestershire in the 1930s and discusses the different dinosaur species recovered. It is available in the museum shop for £5.00.

Finally, after that excitement, we return to the calm of the present-day Museum Gardens.  Have you discovered the ‘pocket garden’ under the yew tree, behind the iron railings yet? It, too, is a treasure.

 

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog February 2024

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2024 and Welcome Back!

The start of any gardening season is notable, but here at the Walled Garden there was the additional importance of marking the New Year with our celebration of the Giant Snowdrop Company. Our Snowdrop Weekend welcomed back to the Walled Garden and Museum visitors and friends who have in many cases truly missed access to this special place because of the extended closure this year.

Avon bulbs stall in the walled garden

Unfortunately, the weather gods were not on our side, gifting us extended periods of not very helpful days; the ground was either far too wet or too frozen to be able to attend to our tasks easily or with any form of comfort.

However, despite the dipping pond succumbing to cold temperatures, we persisted and by January 27th the garden looked a treat, even though we say it ourselves - we felt happy to let Snowdrop Season begin. Even the weather obliged!

As the first Galanthophiles arrived to collect orders from Avon Bulbs, here for their last sale before the Plant Nursery closes its doors, or to see what treasures were on the tables, it was gratifying to speak to folks who noted how clumps of snowdrops had bulked up in the borders and around the trees in the orchard in the last year or so.

Rubus - the Ghost Bramble

The nivalis, ‘common snowdrops’ so carefully planted individually by Geoff many years ago are now a real presence in the Stellata Border under the magnificent Rubus cockburnianus - the Ghost Bramble (pictured).

We had added short descriptions and prices taken from the original Catalogues to our display of bulbs sold by the Company - many visitors were overheard carefully working out price changes from the 1960s to now!

Corinne Hockley had been commissioned to make a series of snowdrop fairies for a trail as well as doing a workshop for small people. The fairies were a delight, each having an individual personality based upon the name and patterning of its own snowdrop flower.

Ruth - artist in residence on the snowdrop weekend

In the Pavilion, Artist in Residence our own Ruth spent many hours painting snowdrops using colours she has made from plants in the garden. Always fascinating to watch, Ruth shared ‘what she does and how’ with many visitors. Naturally tea and cake proved popular!

As well as interest in the snowdrops, we had visitors who took time to visit the vegetable area of the Pergola and raised beds which thanks to much hard work particularly by Sarah and Helen was immaculate! The composting area was well visited and discussed while prospective purchasers checked out what is in the ‘Holding Bay’ area for sale in due course. The bees, as temperatures rose, were out and about and the hedgehogs remained, we trust, tucked up in their houses during colder spells.

At the front of the museum the snowdrops in borders, planters and in the Yew Tree Garden were peeping through and it is a delight to see the range of colour of witch hazel, Salix ‘Mount Aso’ , hellebores, primroses, narcissus and cyclamen beginning to burst into life. It is then you realise just how welcome Spring is.

Galanthus elwesii 'Godfrey Owen' in the orchard of the walled garden

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog January 2024

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A belated Happy New Year to All!

Gardeners enjoying a cuppa in the garden

After a couple of weeks off, we were back in action at the Walled Garden.

We’d moved plants about a bit before the Christmas break…and January meant we had to tackle the soggy stalks and broken stems.

We’ve had a few busy weeks trying to cope with the weather and to prepare for the Snowdrop event.

Now we can’t wait for you to see the Walled Garden again in its Winter dress. We’ve left some seed heads and stalks intact but cleared parts of the banks ready for Spring bulbs:

Don’t be fooled by the blue skies and smiley faces! It’s been very wet, then very cold! We’re all wearing layers and layers of clothing and have had to eat all of the ‘Christmas chocolates’ to keep our energy levels up while we tackled essential jobs.

Caroline has weeded meticulously around every snowdrop in the meadow and here, between the irises.
Helen, Sarah and Cheryl have prepared the pergola for the planting of new veg and soft fruit bushes.
Cleo, aided here by Rosie, has been up the ladder pruning the orchard trees and wisterias in the Garden. 

Frozen dipping pond!

Do come to see us as the Museum opens for 2024 (Saturday 27th January), with Snowdrops at the Walled Garden. After all our attention, we hope the plants will try hard to put on a show for you! (…and that the ice will melt!).

For more information please visit the museum’s snowdrops page.

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog October/November 2023

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We have been very busy in the Walled Garden recently, with no time to send a report in October – sorry! Each Monday, and most Wednesday mornings, we’ve been tackling some big jobs. We haven’t finished yet, but here’s a taste of what been happening…

Box in our bobbly boarder

Box Moth: Now that the weather has cooled, the Box Moth caterpillars seemingly have disappeared –But following advice from local nurseries (and Monty Don) we are removing our Box, replacing it with a mixture of IIex Crenata, Lonicera, Yew , Euonymus and Osmanthus. We know the caterpillars will return, but for now we have left the topiarised Box; we’ve been encouraging it to grow for seven years, and we just want to give it one last chance in case somehow it escapes the attack.

However, in October we placed a moth trap near the Box; in just 3 days, we collected 137 moths. (The Box doesn’t really have a chance!)

The box Moth trap being held by a garden volunteer

When you next visit, you’ll see the ‘Bobbly Border’ still looking good – as we’ve already replaced some ‘moth-eaten’ Box. We were able to buy new plants for this border thanks to proceeds from our plant sales.

Meanwhile, the flower borders are in the midst of a major tidy-up. The Garden has evolved since the initial planting in Spring 2016, and this year has started to look a little on the wild side!  So, in November, Cleo led a Big Sort Out, involving a lot of digging up and re-arranging, which will continue for a while.

In September, the Stellata border looked magnificent. But in fact, we were not in control. Now, we have reduced the white aster, rescuing the lavender and the magnolias.

It’s taken some effort to weed out and split plants in the ’Med’ border. We’ve lifted out whole sections, removed the weeds which were infiltrating the roots of plants, and repositioned some of the grasses.

In September, the Bonkers Border was looking wonderful… but again, action is needed! The Bonkers Border is the largest, in the Walled Garden, with a colour scheme ranging from reds to oranges, yellows and pinks. We still have quite a lot more to do in this section, and the weather soon may call a halt on progress for now.

The meadow was cut in September and next, we must weed the beds around the orchard trees.

Like many growers, we had very few apples and pears from the trees this year; but we were able to donate those we had, to the ‘juicing’ event at Horsley.

Along the pergola, Sarah has now pruned and tied in the tayberries you see here; and we shall lift and replace the gooseberries and other soft fruit bushes in the Spring.

Helen N as cleared the last of the veg at the pergola and is preparing the raised beds for winter. And Helen K tended the espalier fruit trees at the lawn.

So, behind the scenes, there’s plenty of action! We shall continue while weather allows…Cheryl will be in the very lovely garden she’s making under the yew tree at the courtyard, and the rest of busy round the back, in the Walled Garden.

We look forward to seeing you after the winter shutdown when we shall be Celebrating Snowdrops on the weekend of the 27 and 28 January 2024!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog September 2023

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Regular readers of our Blog will know there’s never a dull moment in the Museum Walled Garden, and I can’t resist starting with this wonderful, fun-filled photo of Nicola and Rosie at morning tea break!

Supporter and gardener Jane Kilpatrick had spotted a gadget to ease our knees when weeding…a One-Leg stool! The other two legs needed to balance are your own…

Absolutely brilliant once you get the hang of it!

 

Jane’s also kindly donated a sundial, an excellent link to the Museum gallery displays on the theme of Time. Here’s Geoff, setting the dial to BST (we shall leave it permanently on summertime).

Next…hedgehogs news!

Annie Parfitt, founder of the local Help a Hedgehog Hospital, came to see us after visitors had reported spotting hedgehogs in the garden during daytime.

Annie had realised the potential of the Garden as safe haven for the creatures in the very early days of the walled garden project. Hedgehogs are happy here! She  rehomes some of the hedgehogs each year to ensure the food supply remains plentiful and that the population does not become too in-bred.

The first photograph below is from 2017 when our first adult Hedgehog arrived.  This year, new parents arrived in May and in September we found two Hoglets, a brother and sister.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Garden, some unwelcome creatures have arrived…Box Moth Caterpillar.

Nicola has spent the last couple of years carefully feeding the Box, to keep it robust and healthy. Unlike many gardens we have successfully avoided Box Blight… only to find these green critters munching through her prized plants.

Gardener reinforcements stepped in to try to find and remove the caterpillars, with Nicola leading the way… We are currently at the end of the ‘season’ and hope that vigilance and removal will ‘hold’ the situation for the time being. However like gardeners across the nation we now have to consider our options for dealing with the problem which fit with our organic principles. We are also looking at alternatives for replacing or supplementing the box should that be necessary.  Hopefully we will have a well researched plan of campaign in place for next year.

But, we’ve had other little jobs to do, like cutting the meadow…and weeding…..

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog August 2023

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The Peacock tiger flower

Were we to have a ‘Most Admired Plant’ competition in the Walled Garden, then this would be the August winner! The Peacock Tiger Flower (Tigridia pavonia) has attracted plenty of attention in the Bonkers Border, amongst the reds, oranges, and yellows of competing flowers.

Many visitors talk to us when we are working in the Garden and it’s lovely to enjoy their compliments.  At present, the talk also is all of the rain, then the sun, and how our gardens have been battered by wind.

Also, we’ve noticed much interest in the vegetables this year; what we grow, what happens with the produce, what variety are the apples, pears, and plums (pictured). Pictured below is Philippa and Helen harvesting the onions…

Clairgeau Pear tree

…Whilst Volunteers Susan and Caroline have been trying to identify our plum trees, which are original to the Walled Garden. The plums are ‘clean stone’ fruits, i.e.. The stone comes away easily when the plums are either eaten raw or cooked. Susan explains that they are “Switzers’ or in the original German, Quetsche or Zwetschen .

And David at ‘Days Cottage’ has confirmed that the pears at the edge of the meadow are the variety “Clairgeau’ and not yet ready to pick.

Back to the Flower borders:

In the Stellata border, Carroll is working on Miss Willmott – swathes of Eringium giganteum have now been removed. (Though seeds will come up for years to come!)

Below is a photograph of the shady bank in the Walled Garden where the hydrangeas and ferns are now becoming well-established.

The Gardeners look after the borders in the courtyard to the front of the Museum, too, when we have time.

Behind the beech tree hedge, one gardener, Cheryl, has transformed a neglected pocket which had become overgrown with Japanese anemones. Years ago, gardeners amongst the Friends of the Museum tended these borders, and Cheryl has uncovered some almost-lost plants, while making additions of her own.

Underneath the shade of the yew tree, Cheryl has made a truly delightful garden. She has chosen plants to suit the conditions and has used our own Walled Garden compost to improve the soil.

We encourage you to visit and enjoy this other little Secret Garden at the Museum, in the meantime here are some photographs…

As we started with a bright colourful flower, we’ll finish this blog with another - the ever popular sunflower, with a busy bee!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog July 2023

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This month’s blog begins with a photograph of Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’, looking fabulous in the stellata border. However, she doesn’t realise she is soon for the chop! We are taking action very soon – in fact, Carroll has already begun – to remove this plant, which has seeded about in the garden, and has deep tap roots, very difficult to remove!

So, feast your eyes while Miss W is still in her glory!

And now to our wonderful veg patch! Along the pergola there is an abundance of organically grown fruit and vegetables, all masterminded by Sarah, with help this year from Helen N and other walled gardeners.

There is inspiration here for all: in this small space we have broad beans, peas, shallots, purple/red orach, and lettuces; and along the front edge, rhubarb, and chard. Now, in July, the beans are finished, giving space for the squashes to take the sun.

The fruit and veg is harvested and if you are lucky enough to come into the garden on a day when we are picking the produce, you will be able to taste and perhaps to buy some of our organic produce.

 True, many of the berries are sampled by visitors…the blackbirds are particularly fond of the strawberries, of course! And the raspberries disappear quite quickly – though some mistakenly pick tayberries – here, the red one looks ripe, but beware! Until they turn deep red/purple, the tayberries are tart! There are soft fruits to the other side of the border: raspberries, tayberries gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, strawberries, and even a kiwi (though no fruits on this yet)    

Then we have the raised beds…here’s just one, seeded with early salad vegetables, in a photo taken in early June. We’ve picked the lettuces now, and the spring onions, which grew huge! The radishes are over, too, but the beetroot, sown a second time after the seed failed, are only just sprouting now, in late July.

In the next bed, the courgettes are growing fast! Look at the other raised beds; you’ll see more salads, and onions, between the pots of potatoes.

And have you found the blueberries? The apricot trees?

And did you spot our (tiny at the moment!) vine?

And look at the fruit on the apple and pear trees in the orchard!

Then there are the herbs (pictured), carefully tended by Nicola.

We hope you will venture along the path through the pergola and discover some delights of this part of the garden.

…not forgetting the hedges and the lawn (pictured below) at the top of the Garden, of course, kept in trim by Geoff, to give a satisfying sense of calm against all the colour and growth elsewhere.

Next time: the Yew Tree Garden……..

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog June 2023

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You may have noticed the Dye Garden, a small patch in a raised bed by the vegetables in the Walled Garden, where we grow woad, weld, madder, camomile, and golden rod, along with French marigolds. Gardener Ruth tends this patch; over the last few years she has learned to make ‘inks’ from the dye plants and others in the Garden, to paint pictures.

Recently Ruth and other Gardeners (who are members of the Stroudwater Textile Trust, too) delivered a ‘Natural Dyes’ workshop for Gloucestershire WIs.

Meanwhile, our irises were a joy to see in the sunny borders. The Sarah Price Garden at Chelsea this year featured eight blooms from the Benton Collection, seven of which were in full flower here in our Walled Garden, carefully labelled by Penny and Sue.

The hot June weather means…watering! This year, we have decided to water only the vegetables and the largest flower border, the ‘Bonkers Border. Most of the perennials have been in the ground for a few years now, and we put down a deep mulch late last year, so, fingers crossed our flowers will cope with the heat. We have ‘spot-watered’ the most vulnerable plants …and had totally emptied our new, tall water-butt towers! Then came the big thunderstorm, so we have rainwater in stock again!

The flowers are doing well… The white Wisteria and the white Camassias looked fabulous (pictured)! 

And the meadow (pictured) is colourful and teeming with insects.

Last year, David (pictured) rescued a pyramidal orchid from the lawn of a house in Stroud and carefully positioned it in the Walled Garden lawn. Success! “Our’ orchid has flowered again, in the protected patch we reserved for it. Here he is with this year’s flower.

Also pictured is gardener Helen, planting a grape vine taken from a cutting a year or so ago and nurtured by several gardeners. The vine grew in the garden of Dame Margaret Weston (former Chair of the Museum’s Cowle Trust). One day, we shall be enjoying her delicious, sweet grapes!

In the same patch, we are attempting to grow Dipsacus pilosus, the teasel variety once used in the local mills to raise the nap on woollen cloth, it being a tougher variety than the ordinary wild teasels. Not only a nod to our local heritage, the teasel heads are also now needed by the Stroudwater Textile Trust for use in their gigg at Dunkirk, and we look forward to being able to assist with this project.

Finally, we are maximising the potential of vegetable-growing at the Walled Garden pergola, with broad beans, shallots, peas, runner beans, lettuces and orach (a warm-season alternative to spinach)…not to mention the raised beds! But more on this in the next Blog!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog May 2023

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We began the month feeling rather soggy, but undaunted. Here are some of us, cheery in the rain! And out in force on the ‘Big Help Out’ Volunteer Bank Holiday Monday. (Amazing, the effect of tea and cake at breaktime (Thank you, Caroline!).

Then to get a few things sorted out. The pond, spoiled by the extreme frosts, has been repaired – here it is, under wraps but re-lined:

We are pleased to report that the pond plants have survived and are now back in the pond; and already the leaves are reaching the surface. Within days they were joined by pond-skaters and the water began to clear after some attention from Geoff…

…So, this month, the Garden theme is of casualties, recovery…. And with the warmer weather, things returning to normal.

As in many gardens, we’ve lost our all hebes, penstemons, olive trees and some euphorbias, some black-stemmed bamboo to the winter frosts.

Last week we were on the brink of removing the Bay and the Euonymous standard trees, when we realised, they are still alive! They’re not looking pretty, but we are giving them a stay of execution. And two ferns we thought were gone, are recovering, too.

It’s now the week of Chelsea Flower Show – and we think our meadow flowers can rival any display we’ve seen on tv! And look at our Comfrey! And the white Wisteria! And of course, our Irises!

Impossible to do justice to the plants in these photos – you must come to the Walled Garden and see for yourselves.  The Garden has recovered and is positively blooming!

PS. And we have a new colony of honey bees in the hive, too! On Sunday 28 May 2023 11am - 3pm you can come and meet Stroud Buzz Club and find out about the bees in the Walled Garden. In addition you can also simply call in to enjoy delicious cakes and homemade soup at Miss Daisy’s Pop Up Café in the walled garden.

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog April 2023

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At last, some colour! Our Blog seems to have turned into a bad-weather report recently (so we won’t mention the rain!). Instead, here’s a short report on activities in the Walled Garden during March and April.

As the whites of snowdrops disappear, new this year are our ‘Stanley’ daffodils at the edge of the meadow, a special donation from Kings Stanley.

Meanwhile, the ‘Thalia’ narcissi and white hyacinths have looked splendid, doing their job of holding the space in the bed reserved for Geoff’s’ dahlias.






Following the talk by Rosy Hardy of Hardy’s Garden Plants (pictured) we spent the following Monday planting a few new purchases in the Garden! The talk was a new venture for us and very well supported by gardeners and members – thank you!

The tulips have given us much needed colour and look gorgeous! This one in the Med border has sparked a debate:  is it pink? Or is it ‘blueish’ as we wanted it to be when we chose it. In different lights, it truly does have a blue tinge…






Meanwhile, more hedgehog news: Annie from the Help a Hedgehog came to check the boxes. Of the six babies born autumn, we can account for five of them, and two adults. We know there is at least one more hedgehog out in the front garden, and today, something had been out digging for worms….

The smallest hedgehogs have gone with Annie to help them put on more weight, and then they will be back in the walled garden to help us keep the snails at bay!

Then, on 15th April, Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers came to the Pavilion to give a talk and advise us on plants which deserve a place in our gardens. We were entertained and learned a great deal!

The dipping pond is due to be re-lined during April and hopefully will be ready to be filled and re-planted soon.

The Walled Garden is looking bright and cheerful now with Spring flowers. Do come and visit us soon…the Garden is changing every day!

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog March 2023

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‘Gardeners report dead plants after 2022 Winter’!                         

Caroline, Volunteer Gardener,  spotted the headline in this month’s ‘Gardens Illustrated’ and sent to us all – it’s Not Just Us!  

We are assessing the damage to the Garden - waiting and seeing which plants will recover. Here’s Geoff rescuing plants from the pond which was badly affected by the cold weather and has sprung a serious leak:

Meanwhile, there’s still winter jobs to be done! We have just finished mulching all the flower borders….

...hard work, but you don’t feel the cold!

The middle compost bay is full and will be sealed and left to ‘cook’. Now it’s time to sieve the ‘ready’ bay. The compost there is dark and fine – it’s perfect once any debris is removed and will be used in the Garden – our own, organic, home-produced compost.

Buzz Club with Peter and Pat returned on a sunny Sunday at the end of February. The news is that our bees died in the extreme cold and Peter is considering whether to provide more insulation for the hive. 

Peter and Pat brought in the hive to show the store of honey. Buzz Club members and visitors that day were treated to a taste of the sweet, light honey made by our bees, fed by the walled garden flowers.

We are hoping for a new colony in May.


Now, our new water butts are installed and are full; the hedgehogs have a neater ‘escape ramp’ at the old stone steps, should they get stuck there; the broad beans, garlic and the shallots are sprouting …there are signs of Spring.

Hope to see you soon in the Walled Garden!

PS. Garden Talks on 23rd March Seasonal Flowering Perennials’ - Talk with Rosy Hardy and 15th April 'Too Many Plants, Too Little Space' - Talk with Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers.

Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog Feb 2023

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Green leaves with white frosting - looking very fragile

Frost is a double-edged sword giving some beautiful effects but, like all gardeners, we are discovering which plants can cope with the varying conditions we’ve had this year - the extreme cold being the most recent and potentially devastating problem. We are watching and waiting on some of the damaged plants… but with each loss comes a new planting opportunity…!

Two people standing together indoors, with snowdrop plants in foreground and garden in background through window

At the end of January we celebrated the Giant Snowdrop Company of Hyde who created the first snowdrop mail order company in the 1950’s. We are again grateful to Chris Ireland-Jones of Avon Bulbs (pictured) for his support and encouragement in ensuring the GSC does not get forgotten and for providing many snowdrop varieties for sale to our regular visitors and Galanthophiles alike.

Person sitting at desk indoors with paintbrush in hand using plant dye to paint. Other people in background with refreshments from pop-up cafe

 At the Pavilion, Ruth (pictured) demonstrated painting with natural dyes from Walled Garden plants while, indoors, the Museum displayed items from the Giant Snowdrop Company archive, and Mandy Bradshaw, the ‘Chatty Gardener’ gave a fascinating illustrated talk ‘on Photographing Spring  Flowers’.

Our snowdrops display will last a few more weeks so do come and enjoy them. 

When the ground had thawed a little, new edging was installed at the pergola. This will allow us to bank up the soil around the fruit and vegetables; Sarah has just sown broad beans and, on a freezing cold morning, she and Caroline tidied and tied up the fruit canes.

Meanwhile, in our bid to be sustainable, new water butts have arrived. We shall be able to collect four times as much rainwater to help us through the summer. Visitors who buy our plants and sundries have helped to fund the purchase of these new additions. Thank you, all, for your visiting the plant stall! 

Two people lifting beehive in garden in early evening light

Wildlife news: The bees were being very naughty and defensive of their hive so wouldn’t let us tend the espaliered trees at the wall or cut the meadow! The beehive (and bees) have temporarily been removed for observation by the beekeeper, and we can complete our pruning. The bees and Buzz Club will resume shortly.

And finally, in case you are wondering, the hedgehogs are all fast asleep in their hay-filled houses! Annie from the Help a Hedgehog Hospital is monitoring them.

PS. Dates for the Diary: Talks (and plant sales) :

23rd March 2023 : Rosy Hardy of Hardy’s Plants ‘Seasonal Flowering Perennials’

15th April 2023: Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers: ‘Too Many Plants, Too Little Space’!

Walled Garden Volunteers’ Blog Dec 2022/Jan 2023

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Finally, a weather- window and we had a Mad Monday at the very start of December to plant all the tulip bulbs. It was last- minute and needed a full- on effort from the gardening team! We cleared the pergola in preparation for the broad beans… but then the weather defeated us! Again!


Garden bank which is very wet, planting with some green colour, but mainly browns with some red

And so in January as we returned from the Christmas break, we were working ‘in reverse’, clearing what are now very soggy stalks… we couldn’t do the autumn cut- back because of rain … and then snow! We have lost so much gardening time! 



Two people standing beside a mainly empty dipping pond, with yellow hose trailing into the pond to refill it

We arrived in January to find extreme frosts have claimed a few victims; the Bay trees looked quite shocked, and our Myrtle, (Myrtus Communis) carefully nurtured by Nicola, is not happy at all!

The Dipping Pond was affected by the ice, and decided to empty itself…it’s happened before, but at the time of writing we are not sure whether there’s a more serious leak.

Then Marion came in to show us her Christmas Project: a beautiful woven ‘sampler’, made with wool which had been dyed by Ruth, using plant materials from the Walled Garden. Wonderful!

And the Witch -hazel (Hamamelis Orange Beauty) is in full bloom to cheer us up; the white stemmed Rubus cockburnianus on the stellata border is gleaming.

And… the snowdrops are coming up! We’re looking forward to you joining us on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th January for our Stroud Snowdrop Celebration. Ruth will be our ‘artist in residence’ on the afternoon on Sat 28, showing how she paints with ‘inks’ made from the plants.

The Walled Garden has become a Hedgehog Haven

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Leaves and vegetation forming a hedgehog nest within a garden border

The Walled Garden has become 'hedgehog haven' in the most inconvenient places for the volunteer gardeners (but we are happy!)! Three of our hedgehogs have hibernated in flower beds and, with lots of clearing still to do and cold weather forecast, this week we hurried to provide a quick but solid house round each of them, for their sakes and for ours.

During November the vegetable garden continued to produce impressive endives (a leaf vegetable belonging to the genus Cichorium), a local cider-maker was delighted to take our surplus apples, and the damp soil around the back of the dipping pond is the new home for more rhubarb (pictured).

Geoff lifted the dahlias at the end of November so we have filled the raised bed with pots of the spring bulbs we kept from last year, and with sisyrinchiums lifted from the flower beds and potted up for sale next year.

The extended growing season has meant several changes to our plans, with many plants flowering long after they should have finished, and we are only now able to plant the tulips that will give another spectacular show next spring. And the mulch has just arrived so we hope to get it spread about before the cold weather settles in. We have also done a thorough tidying of the front courtyard flower beds and, behind the beech hedge, we are transforming the shade garden.

A date for your diary: the final weekend of January 2023 is our ‘Snowdrop Celebration’. There will snowdrops on sale from Avon Bulbs, a talk in Gallery 2 of the museum on the theme of spring gardens, a pop up café, and our special collection of snowdrops representing the story of the Giant Snowdrop Company. Look out for more details on the Museum website.

Other photographs of our work and the borders of the garden and courtyard:

October in the Walled Garden

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 We ended our September report promising Autumn Colour – and here it is! Glorious!

Selection of different apples, ranging in colour from reds to greens and everything in between. Displayed with labels on shelving in garden.

(Above - five photographs of autumn scenes in the walled garden)

The apples didn’t disappoint, either. Here’s our display of some of the orchard apples – all are varieties local to Gloucestershire and the south-west, and many are on the rare’ or endangered’ lists now.

We are still collecting the Bramleys, the most delicious cooking apples that just melt into a puree. For a short while longer, apples are available from the stall near Reception. We have also donated some to ‘Orchard Revival’.

 

Volunteer sitting outside garden shed sitting in spaced out circle taking a rest enjoying some refreshments. Buckets with cuttings and weeds in foreground..

But the warm October days have confused the plants (and the gardeners!) as flowers continued to grow, and seedlings shot up, and the ground was far too warm to contemplate bulb-planting and cutting-back.

(Photograph of ‘confused’ gardeners drinking tea by the Shed!)

Instead, we busied ourselves with little jobs.



We admired the work of Greenfields gardeners, who came to give the Museum wisteria a late summer cut (with thanks to Jane Kilpatrick for her generous sponsorship for this essential work).




Volunteer, Sarah, standing next to mobile water bowser made of metal container on a modern trolley frame, with wooden lid

Sarah made a magnificent lid for the bowser





Penny discovered Miner Bees in the Mediterranean border






David came to sow seeds of the Bee Orchid and Scented Orchid.





We discovered a hedgehog nest (photograph) in the Garden, where we know we have two adult hedgehogs and four baby hoglets.






The dahlias continued to bloom (Photograph of pink/purple dahlia).






….and on 31st October, we found a friendly little mouse happily watching our activities!

 But now, the real work begins……..

September at the Walled Garden

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While some of the gardeners were still off on late summer expeditions, September passed by in a blur of activity here at the MiP Walled Garden.

First came the scything of the meadow, which proved a tricky affair! Unfortunately, the weather was rather sultry, brewing for a storm…and the bees were not happy! Our scythers, Fran and Dom, had to retreat with the meadow unfinished, seen off by scouts from the hive… A week later, Francis returned in protective gear, but to no avail!

The Buzz Club beekeeper, Peter, says the bees are fine – they just didn’t like us thrashing about near their hive this year! We’ve nearly managed to clear the meadow – it’s taken a while.

On Wednesday 7th September, Tim Hardy from Woodchester Park and Garden Services came to cut down the willow in the corner of the lawn. We think the tree had died through a lack of water. We shall use some of the wood as mulch, when ready.

 


Then came the drystone wall, a ‘teaching tool’ and part of the Museum’s Education programme. The wall is deliberately unfinished to demonstrate its construction.






Ruth continued with dye experiments, using plants from the Garden to make inks. Here on the left is her display demonstrating some of the colours she’s produced from flowers, bark, and leaves.






Cleo trimmed the topiary. After six years, the tiny plants we put in are now beginning to make more impact.

 

                                                                 




Away from all the distractions, we got on with some work: weeding, replacing the woody lavender plants with new ones and attacking the rampant Miss Willmott’s Ghost; potting up cuttings…

Cheryl is transforming the borders at the front of the Museum, at present working on the shady areas near the plunge pool.

Back in the Walled Garden, we’ve discovered our two hedgehogs have had babies! 6 hoglets, in fact!  We’ve had to construct a temporary ramp as we found two of them had got stuck at the bottom of the old steps. We’re also in close contact with the local Hedgehog Hospital regarding their welfare.

Phew!  It’s been quite a month! Now we look forward to some autumn colour… more in the next blog!  

August

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The hot weather continued, and fearing a water shortage, we invested in a bowser for the walled garden. Who needs weight-training in a gym, when you could be carrying full watering cans up and down the slopes at 6am? Caroline was in at this early hour through the hottest weeks, with Ann staggering in at 8am as backup (Not a morning person!).

The bowser made it easier to water the courtyard and the bottom of the garden as we could wheel the water supply to the plants!

Our bowser is a true antique but with modern, user-friendly adjustments. Tracked down by Sarah (demonstrating the bowser here), collected by Phil, and accessorised by Marion, this was another inspired project by the Garden team!

Meanwhile, the peas, beans and lettuces grew happily at the pergola and the onions expanded to exhibition-size! In the high temperatures, we had to suspend the plant sale and concentrated on keeping cuttings alive….

We were amazed to see the plum tree dripping with ripe plums…in early August! Too soon! Half of the Walled Garden Volunteers were still away on holiday, and we couldn’t quite keep up with the picking!

But our dyer-gardener, Ruth, had rich-pickings amongst the dye plants, demonstrating her skills each Wednesday morning at the Garden.

Now it’s early September; we have quite a list of tasks ahead of us. First, the scything of the meadow. A challenging morning: the humid air, threatening a thunderstorm, made our bees very grumpy.

Fran and Dom look cheery here, and ready to cut the meadow…but soon after, they were pursued by bees, and each was stung!

Fortunately, Peter and the Buzz Club were on hand to advise. We abandoned the meadow for the day, half-finished, to wait for a cooler morning and with the bees fast asleep in their hive.

The dead willow tree in the corner of the lawn is no more; Tim arrived on Monday and felled it, saying it probably had been suffering from lack of water.  We shall miss the welcome pool of shade up in the corner of the lawn.

The smaller branches have been shredded and will be left to be used as mulch in five months’ time.

But no time to ponder on that just now…time to get cracking!

High Summer in the Walled Garden

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The hot weather is challenging the garden and the gardeners but it is harvest time, so we all keep going.

The old Bramley apple tree is packed with fruit this year - and there are plenty of plums ripening, too; we’ll bag them up for sale in a few weeks time.

The surrounding meadow is in its third flush of wild flowers, purple knapweed dominating now. 

The garlic is already drying in the shed and Sarah lifted the onions from their raised bed this week. The everlasting sweet peas at the end of the pergola threatened to block the path! So Geoff tied them back.

In late Summer we shall start to lift and pot up any seedlings . We can then sell well- established plants in the autumn, to raise money for next year’s planting. However at present it is too hot and too dry to do this work. 

The mulch we put down in the winter must be helping to keep moisture in the soil, but we are keeping note of the plants which are coping with the current weather conditions. We may need to adapt the planting for future years ; however, the  garden is mostly in full summer glory, with sun-loving flowers enjoying the heat. 

Do come and sit for a while.

New Arrivals - hedgehogs and an orchid

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On Monday 27th June the volunteers oversaw the transplanting of a Pyramidal Orchid to the Walled Garden lawn. This orchid was donated by someone who was moving house.

We have twice tried and failed to transplant a wild orchid from one of the volunteer’s garden, but this failed!

Marking the location for the orchid

We found a local expert who went to see the orchid, anacamptis pyramidal, in the Stroud garden, observed its orientation, when and where the sun caught it, and then came to the walled garden to work out where best we might transplant the orchid, and marked out the spot on the lawn.


They then prepared the spot for the orchid and went to dig out the orchid from the Stroud garden, keeping the roots of the orchid undisturbed. They also collected the turf from around the orchid, marking it so that it could be replanted at the walled garden in the exact same positions.  

Preparing the ground for the orchid

After planting the orchid in the lawn the turf from the garden was placed around the orchid in the same orientation as it was found. We then placed a barrier around it to protect it.

At the time of writing the orchid is doing well, so far!

Orchid being planted
hedgehog in hand of student whilst be re-housed in the garden

In June we welcomed two hedgehogs into the garden. These were re-housed by Annie from the Help a Hedgehog Hospital. She was accompanied by students from Thomas Keble School. Puffin (male) and Prickleberry (female) took up residence under the plum tree in the wild meadow of the walled garden.

We had a good number of visitors to our first Stroud Open Gardens event. Our ‘Match the Vegetable to the Leaf’ challenge occupied many families, young and old alike!

Family in walled garden trying the vegetable quiz
The vegetable quiz