July 2026

by anne chambers

No rain since I last wrote this diary a month ago.  It is getting fairly desperate as hot sunshine and wind which dries out and fades the plants.

We are having to work harder than ever to keep everything going but slightly wonder what is going to happen later in the season as so much is flowering early. However it is a good lesson to rethink planting for future as certain plants have thrived in the sunshine and drought so we are taking note for next year.

 We visited the Badminton Flower show which was being held by the RHS for the first time in Gloucestershire.  All very well organized and the floral marquee was excellent with a great variety of nurseries displaying.  The Tom Stuart Smith show garden was also very impressive and attractive. We felt sorry for the exhibitors as the heat was tremendous and not sure how they kept everything looking so good for five days.

I also attended a Historic House Garden Committee meeting at Easton Walled Garden with Ursie Cholmeley and saw her wonderful garden.  Again very hot but her sweet peas were all in flower and because of the heat she was not dead heading as worried that they would not set seed for her collections and sales later on.

 Here the lilies have been looking great and also the clematis along the walls in the four squares have flowered profusely and are still looking good. We will have to see what August brings but endless reports of fires all over Europe and Scotland so keeping fingers crossed we escape and the rain comes soon.

Not surprising but our plant sales have been below normal. In the heat and drought it takes extra time and effort to keep young plants alive and growing.  We are therefore planning to start our BARGAIN BASEMENT earlier this year to balance up our stock to take over to next year. Lots of excellent plants at ridiculously cheap prices!

June 2026

by anne chambers

June has come and gone in a flash with a brilliant flowering season for roses.  Unfortunately, the very high temperatures recently have made the roses fade and go over more quickly than usual.  However the Kiftsgate rose flowered better than ever and was a sight to behold!

Daughter Clare and I joined the Historic Rose Society on a trip to Germany earlier in the month.  One of the highlights was a visit to Sangerhausen in East Germany where they have the world collection of roses.  Hella Brumme the retired Director took us round and we also visited her private garden.  It is a vast site but managed to find a Kiftsgate rose, albeit pruned to a minimum and not flowering.  The collection is slightly overwhelming but we were lucky that many of the old fashioned roses were in full bloom.

The delphiniums have reached new heights and combined with the Graham Thomas roses look lovely in the yellow border.  They are always difficult to tie and keep upright but Philip does a great job.

I also flew up to Scotland to see my sister near Inverness and her garden was looking marvellous too.  The mecanopsis flourish here, we have tried to grow them but failed miserably, but there they thrive.

It is a tricky weather year with much higher temperatures than normal and endless winds.  We need rain but will have to wait and see what the rest of the summer brings.

May 2026

by anne chambers

May is my most favourite month and this year has not disappointed. With rain limited the tree peonies have flowered for longer without being bashed by rain and the intersectional ones are now full out with the herbaceous peonies still to come.   We have planted quite a few intersectional over the past few years and they are proving to be magnificent.

Currently we are enduring a record-breaking heat wave so imagine everything will burst into flower earlier than usual this year.  The gladiolus byzantinus have spread throughout the garden and think we will have to thin some out as they are taking over!

Earlier in the month we pruned the clematis armandi that has wound its way around the little lower pond. We cut it really hard as it had got very messy and old.  It was kill or cure and luckily I noticed that it is already beginning to shoot again so hopefully will return in its full glory in a year or two.

We did a quick visit to friends on the west coast of Scotland and visited a beautiful garden outside Oban.  The rhododendrons and azaleas were at their best and luckily sunshine prevailed. A completely different style of gardening on their more acidic soil than we are used to and it did look    spectacular.

 Busy in the garden with Chelsea now over but imagine this Bank holiday will be hectic with the sunshine and warm weather.

April 2026

by anne chambers

Another glorious sunny day towards the end of the month, we have been blessed with a wonderful Spring with cold temperatures at night but warm in the day and no rain.  Everything has responded including the tree peonies which have flowered magnificently and not been spoilt by rain.

 The bluebells were also marvellous this year but now starting to go over, however the camassias are full out in the orchard . Every shade of green makes it a wonderful time of year.

In the lower garden the arbutus we bought from Pan Global many years ago is flowering and growing well, I remember seeing them in Ireland and was captivated by the flowers and splendour of these large shrubs, small trees.

 We had a fascinating trip to southern Spain with the IDS in early April, visiting Alhambra which was looking stunning but sadly very crowded, a perfect time of year to be there with the wisteria, banksiae rose and judas trees all flowering. 

 Abies pinsapo, a species only found in southern Spain was another highlight of the visit involving a good climb into the mountains to get a good view of them. We also visited Seville, Ronda and Jerez so altogether a memorable trip.

Now nearly May with extended opening and visitors from abroad booked in to visit around the Chelsea flower show which is only three weeks away.

March 2026

by anne chambers

We open in a couple of days so last minute preparations are under way with plants labelled and in place and the tearoom and shop ready to welcome our visitors.

It has been a good March with sunshine and showers and the daffodils have flowered better than ever even after last summer’s hot temperatures, indeed not so many blind ones this year despite the drought.

The pink staphylea is also looking wonderful; it comes out before the white variety which is more common and is a sight to behold.  The magnolias have also been spectacular with no frost but quite a few already over.

 Hellebores are still flowering although the mice and muntjac have nipped off quite a few of the flowers. This beautiful double flower from  Ashwood nursery is so beautiful but tends to modestly hang its head rather low.

Easter is next weekend so hoping the weather stays fair and people are able to get out and enjoy the countryside and all the beauty of this time of year.

February 2026

by anne chambers

Rain and more rain, one of the wettest and mildest winters on record.  However, the days are getting longer and early  flowers blooming as a result.  The daffodils are now out, snowdrops over and shrubs bursting into life.

We had a wonderful holiday in Sri Lanka, hot and humid with quite a bit of rain.  Everything is so green and verdant, fascinating wildlife, plants and birds.  We found this amazing senecio type plant growing in the sand on the coast, lovely flowers and leathery tough leaves, extraordinary it survives and flourishes. 

Also stunning orchids planted in coconuts in the hotel garden.

Whilst in Sri Lanka we saw masses of tea and cinnamon plantations.  The

tea bushes were in flower and very similar to the only camellia we can grow

here, camellia cuspidata, which is also flowering now, tiny white flowers

with glossy dark green leaves.

Arriving home to the hellebores and cornus mass but we have got a serious deer problem with muntjac eating the tops of the emerging tulips and the new shoots on the roses.  There are far too many and even the Government is realizing something has got to be done to control numbers.

 Opening in a months time so lots of last minute jobs to do but looking forward to welcoming our visitors again.