Wild flowers and Echiums sway in the gardens at Ednovean farm in June in a flamboyant tumble of vegetation. The gravel border has a flourishing mix of sub tropical plants, the potager is abundant and we celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary with a special memento for the garden.
The British wild flowers add a sustainable nectar rich harvest, flowering with a stately progress. Ragged robins, foxgloves and borage to name but a few. Well maybe the stinging nettles are not quite such a favourite of mine but they are a never-the-less an essential part of the gardens eco system towards the gardens margins. Many of our native insects are happy to gorge on exotic flowers but do need native species to reproduce.
The wild flowers have a twin unseen advantage: – my gourmet rabbits prefer their fine dining to be of a herbaceous rarity. So wild flowers are a safe bet: “Digitalis yuck poisonous!” They also have the merit of shielding the beleaguered Russian sage from inquisitive noses and I have high hopes of maybe a flower or two to report later in the year. Strangely enough the rabbits have also worked out that Echiums, are poisonous. Savvy creatures, the native rabbit.
Echium Pininana season
By contrast, the exotic Echiums that populate the gardens are an endangered species in their native habitat. With their restless motion in the slightest breeze, they add a gently rustling soundtrack to the gardens along with harmonious buzzing of the bees satiated on the tall willowy spires of flowers.
Sadly they will now set seed and die as next years seedlings germinate and this year’s shrubs gather their strength. By the autumn we will drag the leaden spires away to the bonfire and reflect that “Pininana” apparently means Pine like!!
Return to the gravel borders
June is perfect time for me to show you the gravel borders again in the Ednovean Farm garden again. The micro climate in the Italian Garden, created the shelter of the formal garden rooms to the west and a Cornish bank to the east is perfect for sub tropical planting. In fact the Agaves wintered so well here that I’ve transferred some of the pots from the courtyard here too.
News from the Potager
The potager is Charles’s “Happy Place” with only the occasional blackly, slug or rabbit to destroy his Eden.
Tiny birds have taken advantage of the extra rabbit fencing that’s (also Spud proof) to rear their young. Spud-cat keeps an eager eye on the gate to slip into the forbidden paradise and prowl the soft bark paths. He is inevitably named and shamed, by machine gun tirades from the irate wrens, before being evicted.
Harvest are starting to come from the potager now, Abundant salads to accompany barbeques, the first delicious potatoes, delicate beans and one carrot for Sunday’s supper, aromatic onions ready to be strung, the list is endless. But the one thing we are watching with interest is the first Strawberry crops slowly ripening!!
30th wedding anniversary – a garden journey!
2021 is the year of our thirtieth wedding anniversary and I really wanted something to mark the occasion for our gardens. No pearls thank you I wanted pots!! And not just any pot but French pots. A pot along the lines of the pots I saw in the Russell Crow film “A good year” in fact!
This garden dream plan came slightly unstuck as the French are not (or maybe they’re unable) to sell to the UK at the moment. But from this initial disappointment a whole series of adventures emerged.
The adventure started early one morning via Instagram, when ex flower show stock in Bespoke Nurseries, tantalisingly appeared in my feed.
By ten o’ clock Charles had secured the anniversary present (and every chap knows that feeling!) Then their epic journey began. That morning the nursery owner accompanied them to stay with relatives in Newbury. A few days later they travelled with a part load, with furniture bound for Cornwall, (Crago Moves) cosseted in blankets! The whole enterprise hinged on the weight of the furniture for their ticket to ride. https://penzanceremovals.co.uk/
Serendipity – the gardeners friend
We sat down with them that evening with a bottle of chilled rose to toast their good health . Our celebration of thirty years gardening here at Ednovean Farm.
Isn’t it curious how serendipity can shape a garden from the self seeding wild flowers to hitch hiking garden pots!!
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