In the garden

The garden looked so different after a week away. A week's growth is so dramatic at this time of year!

The raised vegetable beds are beginning to fill up with home grown produce. However,there is always room for improvement and we shall try a autumn sowing of broad beans this year.Our broad bean plants still look so small and forlorn!

There is also very little to show in the cutting garden at the moment!

Our first rose opened while we were away this is a David Austin rose called Darcy Bussell. I bought it having after seeing an inspirational picture on Pinterest. I love the colour - it is more burgundy than red.

It is always good to be inspired by others and so we visited a local garden last weekend that was opened under the National Garden Scheme. (NGS.) 

This garden in the grounds of a pre Geogian mansion in Beaminster, was fantastic and the formal areas were beautiful and well designed.

However it was the small wall garden that stole my heart and  had me pointing the camera in all directions! One of our local magazines described the potager garden as providing the 'oh ah' factor for flower freaks! They weren't wrong, I am proud of being a flower freak!

Flowers,fruit and vegetables were mixed together in mad profusion!

 Many of the plants have been planted to encourage the bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects to visit.

This purple leaf shrub Physocarpus opulifolius Ninebark  ‘Diabolo’  was popular with the butterflies. Has anyone else  planted this in their garden?

I loved this combination of the purple and blue of the Alluims and cat mint,

and the lovely roses with the contrast of different colours of the foliage.

Even the chimney of a redundant milking factory adds to the scene.

  Daisies were spilling out from many of the borders and the wooden water barrels were so much nicer than the plastic ones!

The borders were so full  and there are still many plants to flower.

There was a large area of containers too.

 and colour, colour everywhere!

As if this wasn't enough to 'oh and ah' over it is clear in the more formal parts of the garden to see that someone with an artistic eye lives here. (This chair reminded me of your red gate Freda!)

This is also home to furniture designer  John Makepeace we were also lucky to view some of the furniture he has  designed (click here to see designs.) What a shame there is none in my price range, still at least I can take some good ideas home from his wife's potager garden! I've just now got to sneak even more flowers amongst our vegetable! Somehow I think my husband would notice!

Sarah x

The garden is open under the NGS once a month during the summer see here.