Tickled Pink!

I have been a bit blue lately so it cheered me up no end to be the recipient of a "Best Blog Award" earlier this week. It was most kindly presented to me by Anna at Greentapestry and Tatyana at My Secret Garden. I am tickled pink that they thought Wisteria and Cowparsley worthy of such an award and it has made me smile through the howling storms and rain of the last few days.


I must now pass this award on to other blogs who I think deserve such an award along with these instructions ~

Post the award on your blog along with the name of the person who passed it on to you and link to their blog. Choose blogs which you have recently discovered and you think are great and pass it on to them.

I am going to nominate blogs that I have discovered since I started blogging at the end of February this year and have been enjoying immensely. If you have not already come across these blogs I hope that you will visit them soon. They are:

A Photographers Garden Blog

An Artist's Garden

Blogging from Blackpitts Garden

Elephant's Eye

Esther's Boring Garden Blog

Frugilegus

Going to the Dogs

Mutterings in the Shrubbery

Plant Tips and Guidelines for the Desert Garden

Ryan's Garden

Teza's Garden

The Galloping Gardener

The Inadvertent Farmer

The Inelegant Gardner

Transatlantic Plantsman

Veg Plotting

Victoria's Backyard

The End of the Line.

The End of the Line.

Klimt on a stick!

Allium nectaroscordum siculum.

Great Chalfield Manor: An English Country Garden.

Great Chalfield Manor

Last month, on a deliciously crisp and sunny October morning I went to visit the gardens at Great Chalfield Manor. I knew nothing about them except that they were supposed to be in an "Arts and Crafts" style. The Manor was in quite a remote part of the Wiltshire countryside. My journey took me along narrow tree lined lanes until I was beginning to wonder whether I had taken the wrong road and then suddenly the lane opened out and there was Great Chalfield; an extraordinarily breath taking 15th century manor house with sunshine dancing off its bull rush edged moat.

Entrance with Parthenocissus.

After I had admired the quite unexpected beauty of Great Chalfield Manor and its very striking Gothic windows from the front I made my way through an arched gateway dripping with rich red Parthenocissus vines. The Manor sits in a small estate comprising of an active parish church, gardens, woods and farmland. The estate was left to the National Trust in 1943 by Robert Fuller but is still home to his grandson Robert Floyd, his wife Patsy and their family.

Church Spire

The current gardens at Great Chalfield are based on designs drawn up in 1907 by Alfred Parsons. Patsy Fuller is a keen gardener and she has played a significant part in helping to rejuvenate the gardens in recent years. In fact she was out working in the garden with her two dogs keeping her company when I visited.

Topiary yew 'house'.


Gargoyle

Centaurea.

Lunaria annua.

The Paved Courtyard was one of my favourite spots. Although it was the end of the summer, and the roses were beginning to tire a little, it felt like a special spot. The four beds in the court are planted with the pink flowering polyantha rose "Nathalie Nypels". Self seeded Campanula pyramidalis, wild strawberries and Mexican daisies poke through every available gap in the walls and flagstones and an old rocking chair sits on one side looking out into the courtyard. I fancifully imagined myself sat there on a warm summers evening with the sweet aroma of the roses and a glass of wine.

The Paved Court.

Nerine bowdenii.

View of one of the yew 'houses' and the church.

Lavatera.

Verbascum.

One of the borders was spilling over with white Gaura. Amongst it was a pinky orange Potentilla cheekily smiling though the sea of icy white. I really enjoyed the contrast, it was particularly striking even though the border was in shade during my visit.

Gaura and Potentilla.


Cricket.

Clematis.

Japanse anenome, Verbena bonariensis and Tithonia rotundifolia.

Another area of the garden that really appealed to me was full of rich oranges and purples. Tithonia rotundifolia with Verbena bonariensis weaving through it, dark leaved smoke bushes, Amaranthus and Dahlias all exuded sumptuous colours.

Painted Lady butterfly of Verbena bonariensis.


Amaranthus

Whilst the gardens were not particularly large, there was a lot to see, even in October. Great Chalfield is a garden I will most certainly be returning to if the opportunity arises. It was full of English charm, dew covered roses, quirky topiary and happy insects. I spotted countless ladybirds, butterflies and bees. And all of this was presented with the back drop of some of the most delightful architecture I have seen in years.

Euphoria

A November Stroll Around Tumbledown.

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny November day at Tumbledown so I took the opportunity to take one of my usual strolls around the smallholding. I was accompanied by all four of the Tumbledown cats who were in great spirits. They love nothing better than to accompany me when I go for a walk. Leo is the most independent of the boys but yesterday he was in a particularly good mood and even let me photograph him several times.

Leo

The trees are in the last throws of providing some stunning Autumn colour. My favourite is the Acer "Flamingo" which is covered in lichcen.

Acer negundo "Flamingo"

Gleditsia triacanthus "Sunburst"

Liriodendron tulipifera

Liriodendron tulipifera

Titch, the alien of the family.

Even Titch came out for a bit of fresh air. Our aged Devon Rex was a present to my dad ten years ago from a parent who was grateful for dads help with her off the rails teenage son. He was not the sort of cat we would ever have thought of going out and buying but he is now one of the family even if he is something of a elderly looking Martian.

Toadstool beneath one of the willow trees.

Parts of the garden now are looking ready for bed, sleepy and done for the year. Seed heads still provide a bit of autumn interest and shelter for the ladybirds who are now trying to find somewhere to hibernate for the winter.

Astrantia

Scabious

Agapanthus

Ladybird

Ladybird on twine.

It is not quiet at Tumbledown at the moment. It is the middle of the mating season for the goats so the air is filled with the cries of our randy males and the females calling to them from afar.

Dorian the billy goat.

Parts of the garden are pushing out a last flush of colour. The Salvias are all still flowering their socks off, even though I have marched most of them into the greenhouse for the winter. The pink hebe below has only just come out and the Hollyhocks and Dahlias still look beautiful.

Hebe

Dahlia

Hollyhock Creme de Cassis

Melianthus major, Salvia "Dyson's Orangy Pink", Salvia muelleri, Salvia patens 'Guanajuato'.

House leek

Artichoke

The boys were particularly playful and delighted in a game of hide and seek in the old hay store. They chased each other around and around, in and out of the shed and hid behind the hay bales.

Leo in the old hay store.

Silvi and Stilton in the old hay store.

The stand off!

Stilton; stealth stalker extraordinaire.

Catch me if you can!

So it has been more play than work this week at Tumbledown.

Electric