August 2012

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Lavender Meadow in the heart of the Cheshire’s Dane Valley

22 August 2012 | 1 comment

Last weekend I visited this hidden gem in the Dane Valley.  The lavender meadow is at The Swettenham Arms near Congleton. The pub is tucked away in the small village of Swettenham behind a church, the fragrance from the flowers is divine.

The local wildlife seem to appreciate the lavender, it was alive with honey bees and butterflies.  I spotted beautiful peacock butterflies that have eyes on their wings and comma butterflies which are orange with black spots and feathered wings.

The lavender meadow is in bloom throughout July and August, it’s a perfect backdrop for wedding photos.  There also is an arboretum and nature reserve next to the pub as well that visitors can walk round.

The pub itself is a delightful traditional building dating back to the 16th century.  During my visit the window boxes were overflowing with vibrant summer flowers.

If you work up an appetite walking round the meadow and arboretum, the pub serves delicious food and cream teas.  I enjoyed lunch outside the pub, as it was a rare sunny day this summer.

The Swettenham Arms maybe off the beaten track, but it’s worth the effort to find.  The address is Swettenham Village, near Congleton, CW12 2LF.  Put the post code in your sat nav to find it or take a look at their website.

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Show Gardens at Southport Flower Show 2012

21 August 2012 | Permalink

I’ve wrote a couple of articles on Southport Flower Show in the past few days.  Today’s is all about the Show Gardens.  The garden above is by Greg Mook of Mook Gardens, they named it Keep Cool & Carry On.  It was awarded a Large Gold Medal.

The theme for year was ‘cool’, the garden reflected the theme in the colours of the planting.  They used plants in blues mixed with black foliage plants.  The tall verbenas and agapanthus looked great set against the white walls of the garden.

This garden by Crosby Landscapes featured a cool pink and white theme with clipped box trees.  A waterfall in the corner flowed into a pool which ran through the garden, stepping stones crossed the water to reach the seating area. The garden won a Large Gold Medal.

This garden featured Verbena bonariensis as well, it was popular at Southport this year, as it was at Tatton Flower Show.  The designers verbena around the walls of the garden.  Myerscough College were awarded a Large Gold Medal for their design.  The garden was named Personal Serenity, the cool shades of lilac, purple and white created a very tranquil space.

The Cool Runnings garden is by Brian Caunce Paving.  It won a Large Gold Medal and was based around the Jamaican bob sled team.  The central path reflects the bob sled track winding through the garden.

The Coronation Street garden was commissioned by Southport Flower Show to celebrate Coronation Street’s trip to the seaside.  It features the famous chimney pots from the street, the bar from The Rovers Return Pub and street sign. A chill out area was provided with a comfy sofa which was surrounded by planted beds and traditional red brick walls.

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Floral design at Southport Flower Show

20 August 2012 | Permalink

There were a number of contemporary floral design classes at Southport Flower Show.  The show theme for 2012 was ‘cool’ and the competitors had free reign to interpret the theme as they chose.  The floral design classes included Ga Ga, MacQueened, All the Angles and Threadless Light.

I didn’t agree with all the places awarded, but you can’t please everyone.  I’ve included a few of my favourite pieces in today’s article. The MacQueened class attracted some unusual entries, most competitors made dresses out of fresh materials and textiles.  This design by Margaret Whittaker was awarded second place.  The design was a complex shape with that appeared to defy gravity; it has lots of curved lines covered with intricate textiles and flowers.  I felt this design was worthy of first place.

This piece by Paul Lomax was entered into the class, ‘All the Angles’. It had a lovely reflective quality as it was contained in a large mirrored cube.  The outside was covered in layered foliage and inside was filled with a compact design of all white and green flowers.  It featured lots of green lovelies like sedum, eryngium, green trick carnations, and alchemilla mollis.  The design was awarded third place.

Myerscough College made some gorgeous pieces, their entry into the Threadless Light class was my favourite piece overall.  The design was to be viewed from all sides, and was simply stunning from all angles.  The flowers were arranged in vibrant groups dotted with tiny echeverias and tillandsia.

Craig Bullock’s piece entered into the Ga Ga class won the award for best Contemporary floral design.  His flamboyant piece featured hanging heliconias, roses and chrysanths, mimicking the eccentric outfits Lady Ga Ga is famous for wearing.

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Southport Flower Show 2012

18 August 2012 | Permalink

 

I enjoyed a grand day out at Victoria Park yesterday, despite the damp weather. A bit of drizzle didn’t put off visitors, the show was very busy.  Last week I featured an article about what you could expect at Southport Flower Show. Today’s article has a few snippets from what I saw at the show.  Over the next few days I’ll feature some more articles on the show gardens and floral designs.  Visitors queued up to have their photo taken with a pint at the Rovers Return, in the Coronation Street garden.  The garden includes features the famous street sign, the bar and chimney pots.

Southport Flower Show has the largest amateur growers competition in the country.  Competitors bring their home grown flowers, plants and vegetables, all keen to be crowned the best in their chosen category. There were some beautiful examples, grown by talented amateur growers, including the biggest leeks I’ve ever seen!

Visitors were entertained with bird of prey displays, medieval knights and live music throughout the day.  I took a break from plants and flowers to watch The Knights of the Damned display of ye olde English jousting.

The Grand Floral Marquee contained displays from 66 exhibitors.  The marquee showcases everything from cottage garden flowers to Bonsai trees, all grown by specialists.  Visitors can get expert advice and buy plants and seeds direct from the growers.

 

Tomorrow (Sunday 19th August) is the last day of the show, it’s open 10am till 5pm.  If you’ve not got tickets, you can buy them on the door for £21, concession tickets are £18.  Kids under 16 get free entry when accompanied by an adult.

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Olympic Gold Meadows at London 2012

15 August 2012 | Permalink

 

 

These glorious flower meadows surround the Olympic Stadium.  They are full of tiny flowers that don’t have much impact individually, but en masse they are almost too beautiful for words.  Can you tell I love flower meadows? Full of vibrant annual flowers that grow from seed, flower and finish all in the space of a year.  The vast meadows are the largest annual meadows ever used in a public park.  Professors Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough created the Meadows in their role as the principal consultants for horticulture and planting design at the Olympic Park.

They developed an ambitious planting strategy for the site, which promotes biodiversity and sustainability.  The park will be transformed for public use after the Olympic Games. The meadows are just one part of a huge planting scheme around the Olympic site.

There were specific requirements for the meadows.  They had to be in peak flower for the opening of the games, look good before the games and continue to flower throughout the games and Paralympics.  The colour requirements were yellow and gold, so the meadows could be known as ‘Olympic Gold Meadows’.

The ground at the site was highly contaminated, so a clay cap was used to seal the contamination beneath.  Sand and subsoil were layered on top, followed by top soil which the seeds were sown on. The planting sites were available in 2010 and 2011, so the site was sown to assess the quality and colour combinations chosen.  Annual plants flower and finish within the same year so the meadow was started again for the Olympics.

To sow the seeds they were mixed with sawdust, so the seed can easily be seen on the ground.  The seed was sown by hand at a rate of 2g per square metre.  The ground was then lightly raked and covered with biodegradable jute mesh to stop the rain washing the seed down the slopes.

The seeds were sown in late April to early May to ensure the flowers were at their peak during the games.  Native and non-native plants were used in the meadows.  Main plants include Cornflower, Corn Marigold hybrids, Star of Veldt, Pot Marigold and Prairie Tickseed.

The meadows were blue and orange earlier in the season and then gradually transformed to yellow and gold.  They will continue flowering until the frost in winter.

The meadows are stunningly beautiful and will continue to delight visitors for months to come.  Don’t forget the meadows will continue to flower after the Paralympics so you have plenty of time for a visit.  You can read more about the meadows and the other gardens at the Olympic Park on Nigel Dunnett’s website.

 

Images:

Nigel Dunnett

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