#SixOnSaturday: Softly, softly

Soft yellows and greens are the standout colours in my secret garden this weekend!

A couple of years ago I bought a collection of four or five ferns. Most fell by the wayside a bit – largely due to my incompetence – but this athyrium niponicum ‘Ursula’s Red’ has quietly made itself at home. I initially planted it in one of my raised bed but it got completely lost. I rescued it last year and it seems much happier on its own in a pot.

Last autumn I treated myself to some Sarah Raven daffodils when I bought my tulips and snowdrops, and the first couple of flowers appeared this week: narcissus ‘Geranium’ (top right) and narcissus ‘Silver Chimes’ (bottom left). I deliberately went for paler / white varieties that should only grow to about 30cm because they should suit the colours and proportions of the garden better than the tall, bright yellow / orange varieties that I regret planting in the early days!!

Lamium (middle right) has become one of my favourite spring plants. It might look like a nettle but it’s sting-free and the bees go mad for the flowers, which on this variety are white / pale pink. I’ve actually ordered a second variety which should be a deeper pink. It divides incredibly easily so I now have a couple of clumps in the garden and I think I took a bit to the allotment too to help with attracting pollinators.

The hostas have crept up on me a bit this spring, which I like! Over the last couple of years I’ve been adding to my collection with plants from the reduced bench, of which this, ‘Ripple Effect’, is one. Although I haven’t seen much in the way of slugs and snails in the garden so far this spring, I suspect they will soon start their inexorable march towards the hostas…

And finally, this lovely yellow wallflower (erysimum) made a fleeting appearance in last week’s #SixOnSaturday but I felt it deserved a little more airtime this week!

Head to The Propagtor‘s blog to see what’s going on in other gardens in the UK and beyond!

This week at Waddesdon

This was the first week of my internship at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire! First things first: I’m sore and tired but have lived to tell the tale!!!

It was a great few days. The team seem lovely, with a nice mix of gender, age and experience; the longest serving members – both gents – have been at the Manor for thirty years and the shortest (apart from me and my fellow intern!) has done six months. They were very welcoming, although I’d hazard a guess that the tin of homemade brownies I took in on the first day probably helped…

On Monday I spent the day in the greenhouse potting on seedlings – calamagrostis brachytricha and lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) – ultimately destined for an extension of the existing wildflower planting on the estate. No joke: I reckon I potted up in excess of 2000 individual seedlings, albeit in clumps of 5-10. Puts the 36 marigolds I did in my kitchen yesterday into perspective!!!!

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was deployed to The Dairy, Waddesdon’s posh wedding venue, where I had a crash course in what it takes to maintain a formal garden! I spent most of the two days clearing up the aftermath of the trimming of euonymus borders – raking up detritus and snipping stray foliage – as well as weeding a unkempt border and tying in rose shoots.

I’ll be honest, my major concern about taking the internship was that I simply didn’t know if I was physically capable of doing it. I’m an overweight, unfit middle-aged woman who’s never done a manual job: this was a not unreasonable concern!!

I knew I could manage a 4-5hr stint – I’ve been doing that at Launde every week for six months; could I do three seven-hour days on the bounce?

Turns out I could! It was genuinely tough, and I’ve accepted that realistically painkillers are likely to be a necessity for the first few weeks, but this week I’ve proved to myself that I can physically do this.

Unfortunately, finding work gear that actually fits me is proving to be a whole different ball game…

Well, that’s quite enough for one week! Happy gardening!

Louise

Twitter and Instagram: MySecretGard