French Interest in Stevington's Ghostly Birches

I can't quite believe that our white stemmed Birches Betula untilis var. jacquemontii 'Grayswood Ghost' were purchased as sapplings about twelve years ago. At that time the ghostly hue was nowhere to be seen; only time would tell whether they would prove worthy of the position we had in mind; an avenue running from east to west leading to an ellipse. The decision to buy was taken on their reputation alone. Plus the fact that Bedford itself had many of the species growing as street trees throughout the town.

Last autumn the well known French photographer and bark specialist Cedric Pollet phoned to say he wanted to visit. He came on a glorious sunny autumn day and repeated his visit last week though truth be told the shy was heavy laden, the atmsosphere wringing with rain. Such a shame there was were no low rays of wintry sunshine to emphasise the ghostly glow. But these birches never fail to create an atmosphere of their own and sun or cloud they aare always very special. I wash them with a power hose at the end of January. The green algae goes and the bark radiates.

Thank you Cedric for your photos including the high rise views of the winter garden with its colourful cornus and weeping birches. I look forward to your return visit next year.

© Cedric Pollet; please have a look at his wonderful website: www.cedric-pollet.com

Sticks and Cones

Using cut foliage and stems to insert into winter contianers is an old idea which I read about in a Victorian container gardening book. It works wonders transforming an otherwise fairly sparse planting scheme into something altogether more attractive and interesting.

Pussy willow, hazelnut with catkins, fiery cornus stems all add their own sort of magic and will last for several weeks just pushed into damp compost. You might even find they have rooted by the time you take them out!

I have lots of spare, very spare, soft green moss in the garden at the moment and have enjoyed weaving it amongst my bulbs and plants in the containers. It makes them look so snug, and the bright green colouring helps to set off the flowers so well.

Fir cones are another good addition, again adding warmth and texture.

All these plants can be bought in the garden centres right now to make instant containers; adding stems, moss and cones really sets them off. They make a little, go a long way.

Our last Winter Tuesday open day is on February 22nd, 12-4pm. Hot drinks and scrummy home made cakes are on offer. Today it was rosemary and orange drizzle, and oh there was carrot cake too.

Feast for Winter Bees

February 8th has been a lovely warm day, frosty at first but then filled with sunshine; a welcome change from the endless grey days of late plus the roaring winds.

Suddenly I heard a great commotion on the verandah where baskets of hellebores and winter flowering aconites were in full bloom. I noticed not just one, but maybe 8 or 10 honey bees buzzing about from one flower to another, most indignant that I had appeared and interrupted their feast. One bee had a huge sack of pollen; it could hardly move. Weeks of starvation meant that it was determined to go home laden. Our two beehives seem to have survived the winter so far. These have been extreme times for them.

By coincidence I wrote a blog on February 5th last year after noticing the bees on hellebores and snowdrops. Maybe we should collate the information in a survey of winter honey bee sightings, as is done for garden birds!

The sunshine was especially welcome today as this was one of my February Open Tuesdays bringing visitors to see my winter garden. The grasses were magical with their sunny backlight,the cornus stems glistened,and the newly washed white stemmed birches positively gleamed. The aconites were in full flower and the bees obviously enjoyed them.....the snowdrops will follow in the next ten days.

Afternoon tea in January

Afternoon tea can be fun when new Magi-mix is on hand to make chorizo and olive bread, topped with fennel, goats cheese and hazelnut spread. Sweet extras included giant Ginger Cake with Sparkles and tiny Hearts, orange jelly segments in orange peel cups, Violet jellies with blueberries topped with real violets...yes I was able to pick twelve....with a drizzle of cream laced with violet liqueur.

Star of the show and taste buds though was Hannah's gluten free cake laden with plums and blueberries made specially because of our friend Paula to welcome her back from a long trip to New Zealand.Have a peek at Hannah's blog and all her wonderful books. www.hannahscountrykitchen.blogspot.com

Four of us tucked into a table of treats and thoroughly enjoyed our stolen moment of teatime madness.

Honey Marmalade

I was busy buying some sweet oranges in Sainsbury's, when I noticed that Seville oranges were available, so I bought a bag and thought I'd make a batch of marmalade and flavour it with our Stevington honey.

I read up my old Mrs Beeton cook book dated 1924, goodness knows how many printruns there had been since it was first published, and saw that she had four orange marmalade recipes. One of them was called Orange Marmalade made with Honey. Her recipe allowed 1lb of honey to every 1/2lb of prepared orange rinds. Then I looked up on the internet and noticed that making marmalade with all honey and no sugar made a soft finish which meant that it didnot set as well. Anyway,not having pounds of honey available, in fact just half a jar, I thought I'd compromise and make the usual mix but add the honey as an extra.

My mum used to make marmalade and I can just see us now, sitting round the large kitchen table, cutting up the rind by hand.

Well my new Magi-mix does it in seconds. It does the juicing well too. So all in all its an easy task. Result: the marmalade set well, the rind is thinly cut, the colour is glorious and the taste is fantastic. Can't wait for Saturday morning to come and try it out with warm toast and fresh brewed coffee for breakfast. Maybe I could make a marmalade honey cake for my February Open Days...Tuesday afternoons when the snowdrops and aconites are out in flower.

My favourite pots: Mirror pots

One of my favourite plants this summer was a wonderful bronze grass called Pennisetum Rubrum which I fell in love with and planted in a shiny mirror pot. It looked wonderful front lit, back lit, sideways lit...anywhere where sun could shine through its foxy flowers. It isnot hardy so I am trying to over winter it in a frost free greenhouse. I hope it survives. Otherwise I shall have to start again next year. I don't know which I like most, the plant or the pot!

Winter in Narnia

The hoar frost on Tuesday brought an eerie beauty to the garden. Just over the hedge by the road, the trees in the Great Ouse Valley had all been painted white. John Bunyan the preacher stood with arms outstretched beneath the icy tentacles of the beech tree, while in the Hepworth Garden all the grasses and birch trees were exquisite. It was like a magical brush had swept over the whole area.

Helping Hands at Harvest Time

Apples have been made into delicious lemony apple curd. It was made by Jonathan home from Sweden see his blog www.http://aroundbritainwithapaunch.blogspot.com.
He also transformed red peppers and chilies into pepper jam; addictively jummy!

Suzie came home from London and used apples to make our Christmas mincemeat which we are looking forward to trying it out soon.

I made crab apple jelly flavoured with rosemary sprigs, and another batch with ginger, mini beetroots and hot chillis. Both preserves taste good with all sorts of foods including soft cheese and cold meats. These medlars are our first crop, really fragrant and soft and delicate. The recipe books are out!

KITCHEN CONTAINERS

I have really enjoyed my kitchen containers this summer with mustard greens, watercress,corn on the cob, dwarf French beans, courgettes, herbs, tomatoes, chillies, beets, chard, spinach and last but hopefully not least several lots of celeriac.

All made possible by a lovely range of containers made by Harrod Horticultural. The Manger and the raised table bed were super to work with while the bookshelves and ladder systems offered lots of flexibilty.

Some of these veggies I grew from seed, others I purchsed as young growing plants. The watercress came from Sainsburys as growing punnets and happily moved outside for several weeks during late summer. The flowers were as tasty as the leaves!

Oh, forgot the carrots and chard. What a joy to wander outside the kitchen door and pick, and pluck and forage!

The Growing Tastes Demonstrations at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

I have lots of groups visiting the garden at the moment both from the UK and abroad including Holland, Germany and Japan. They want to enjoy the garden, of course, the roses have been spectacular, but they also like my cakes.

The idea of sitting on a lovely green lawn, in the shade of a tall walnut tree laden with pretty Rosa 'Pauls Himalayan Musk', sipping tea and devouring moist sponge cakes is hard to beat on a glorious summer day. Rose petal cakes are a speciality of the house, but now the lavender is in flower I am busy making lavender and lemon drizzle cakes as well. The flavour of lavender is subtle but scrummy especially when I add an extra lemony lavender filling in the middle. If you want to try it for yourself visit the garden on any Tuesday afternoon in July and August, tour at 2pm, tea at 3.15-3.30pm.

I am demonstrating at The Growing Tastes Demonstrations at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show at 12.30 and 2.30pm next Thursday 8th July.

Our latest addition in the garden

We have great news...a new addition to the Manor House Garden with an adorable face and a very waggly tail. She loves to run around the garden, sniffing here and there, biting allium leaves that stray on to the lawn and has a fascintation for blue cornflowers which do the same.

Quite where it will all lead I have no idea but if I turf out a weed she pounces on it and gives it a good shaking. I think she will love the business of tending the garden and is deffinitely a fully appointed member of staff so when people ask how much help do we have the answer is now three. The Head gardener, ie Simon, then there's me and now there is Pandora or Panda for short!Here she is at 8 weeks old, lying in a special puppy nest which has been specially made for her by my friend Helen who has just started making them as a business. Panda certainly loves it...so cosy!

A bleeding heart

Dicentra spectabilis lives up to its name; pure white, stark, beautiful, a trail of perfection. Its delicate white blooms pair beautifully with the soft subtle pink Narcissus called 'Roseworthy'. An exquisite match for all spring gardens whether in pots or borders.

A swarm of bees in April

Apparently our bees are close to swarming; is that because we have had a garden full of nectar since our winter garden open day in mid February or because it has been unseasonally dry and warm, perfect I guess for gathering stores?

My brother in law near Plymouth tells the same tale about his bees.

Is it weather or availability of nectar or both? Can you to distinguish the two....except to say we do have a rich store of flowering plants from late winter through to mid autumn.

The Romance of Spring

I really cherish the bulbs of late April with tulips such as dusky Negrita, perfect with pale blue pansies or the emerging foliage of purple heuchera. Add double pink 'Angelique' to the mix and you have a marriage made in heaven. Another favourite is creamy green Tulip 'Spring Green' (seen here); not easy with white, its too subtle for that, but really beautiful set amidst the soft felty foliage of foxgloves.

Then there are still lots of daffodils such as 'Pipit', 'Bell Song', and soft salmon 'Roseworthy' (seen here) giving such a glorious show, added and abetted by the lime green foliage of golden feverfew, or Bowles Golden Grass.

We have an open day this Sunday; just hope the weather is kind between now and then so that our visitors can enjoy the show.