To read in timeline order, scroll to the bottom and read up
So, from a seed of an idea when I visited the show last year, and decided I would have a go, to getting my design in at the eleventh hour, and then panicking because I thought I had done it the wrong way round......finding a gate, a mosaic , the lovely cow parsley sculpture made by Toby Winterbourn, sourcing plants, watering plants...endlessly... spending the hottest day for years getting lost on the Norwich ring road with two apples trees wilting in the back of the car, driving in a thunderstorm to Leicestershire to collect the gate and having to stop every five minutes to adjust dodgy windscreen wipers, paying for it all as no sponsors came forward , even though I went looking for them ( I have borrowed from the bank of Dad), Warren getting Norfolk Reclaim to lend us stuff and slogging away for four days with Warren to create it, and then dismantle it all ....there you have it..."A garden for the bees".
Here is the plant list of bee friendly plants
Achillea "Moonshine"
Achillea "Walter Funcke"
Agapanthus "Northern Star"
Alcea "Polar Star" and Nigra
Allium Sphaerocephalon
Apple trees, cordon Red Falstaff/Cox
Basil, African Blue
Bronze fennel and plain fennel
Chocolate Cosmos
Echinacea "Hot Summer"
Echinacea "Yellow Spider"
Echinops
Eryngium "Blue Hobbit"
Geranium "Rozanne"
Hawthorn
Kniphofia "Toffee Nosed" and "Innocent"
Lavender
Nepeta "Walkers Low"
Origanum "Dingle Fairy and Nanum "Compactum"
Salvia "Amistad"
Salvia Nemerona "Caradonna"
Salvia Nemorosa "Lubecca"
Salvia Nemorosa "Mainacht"
Salvia Uliginosa
Sanguisorba "Tanna"
Scabious barroca
Stachys officianalis "Hummelo"
Thyme "Foxley"
Verbena bonariensis
Please plant some or all of them in your garden, and then the slog of this show garden creation will have achieved what I set out to do.....get people to plant for the bees.
1st August
Well, what a whirlwind few days it has been....Here are some photos of the final Show Garden...the crowds and the bees came in droves. The hollyhocks didn't make it to their full glory, but a few came into flower, so you got the gist of what I had intended
Well, what a whirlwind few days it has been....Here are some photos of the final Show Garden...the crowds and the bees came in droves. The hollyhocks didn't make it to their full glory, but a few came into flower, so you got the gist of what I had intended
Warren Challis ( of Challiscape) made a gorgeous water feature from old grinding stones and the wonky old brick path I had in my design. He is brilliant at coming up with something artistic and original.
By the end of it, I was on my knees
25th July
We are finally there, and have made a start......many of my plants flowered too early and are not looking very good now, but I will be able to use what I have from my "overbuying " of plants reserve.
Although it absolutely poured with rain last night, it had all drained away this morning, the sun came out and we had a good day.
We are finally there, and have made a start......many of my plants flowered too early and are not looking very good now, but I will be able to use what I have from my "overbuying " of plants reserve.
Although it absolutely poured with rain last night, it had all drained away this morning, the sun came out and we had a good day.
23rd July
Getting there....laid some of the plants out on the measured out space to try to get an idea of what it will look like....been to the reclaim yard to look at the stuff we are using from them, and hurrah, hurrah, a hollyhock is in flower.
Getting there....laid some of the plants out on the measured out space to try to get an idea of what it will look like....been to the reclaim yard to look at the stuff we are using from them, and hurrah, hurrah, a hollyhock is in flower.
18th July
The low down on Scabious
It is claimed that Scabious are good nectar plants for bees....but do your homework (well, I have done it for you), because in my experience, they greatly prefer some to others.......I have field Scabious, Scabious Barocca and Scabious caucasica blue put aside for the show garden. They love the first two, but show less interest in caucasica blue, which is a shame because it is very beautiful.
The low down on Scabious
It is claimed that Scabious are good nectar plants for bees....but do your homework (well, I have done it for you), because in my experience, they greatly prefer some to others.......I have field Scabious, Scabious Barocca and Scabious caucasica blue put aside for the show garden. They love the first two, but show less interest in caucasica blue, which is a shame because it is very beautiful.
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17th July
The Hollyhock drama.....will they, won't they?
The dear old bees LOVE hollyhocks, and they are THE plant that reminds me of North Norfolk, so I included them in my design....what a foolish pixie!!!! Hollyhocks are biennial and have long tap roots.....they will happily grow up through paving cracks and squeeze themselves into unpromising places, but put them in a pot and they just laugh at you...... I am really hoping/willing them to come into flower for the show. This is the look I was hoping for, but I may just have a lot of foliage and Sue Welfare's lovely mosaic; and of course if they do flower in time, there is the stress of getting them safely to the showground with out bending or snapping
The Hollyhock drama.....will they, won't they?
The dear old bees LOVE hollyhocks, and they are THE plant that reminds me of North Norfolk, so I included them in my design....what a foolish pixie!!!! Hollyhocks are biennial and have long tap roots.....they will happily grow up through paving cracks and squeeze themselves into unpromising places, but put them in a pot and they just laugh at you...... I am really hoping/willing them to come into flower for the show. This is the look I was hoping for, but I may just have a lot of foliage and Sue Welfare's lovely mosaic; and of course if they do flower in time, there is the stress of getting them safely to the showground with out bending or snapping
What we need is some nice sunshine and liquid seaweed OR a good sprinkling of fairy dust.
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Things you don't think about.......large pots of tall verbena bonariensis blow over in the wind, so I have made these little walls to keep them upright
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15th July
It's been busy, busy...........quite a challenge keeping all these plants in pots....some in the shade to hold them back and some next to a south facing wall, trying to persuade them into flower; discovering who needs water even though in the ground they seem to cope well without...sea hollys proving to be particularly awkward.....meanwhile, Sue Welfare has created this beautiful mosaic...what a talented woman.
It's been busy, busy...........quite a challenge keeping all these plants in pots....some in the shade to hold them back and some next to a south facing wall, trying to persuade them into flower; discovering who needs water even though in the ground they seem to cope well without...sea hollys proving to be particularly awkward.....meanwhile, Sue Welfare has created this beautiful mosaic...what a talented woman.
29th June
Some of my plants......Penstemon and Salvia
Some of my plants......Penstemon and Salvia
24th June
Five weeks to go ...eeek. The area where I am storing my plants is buzzing with bees, who really don't care what the garden looks like, but DO NEED pollen and nectar.
Five weeks to go ...eeek. The area where I am storing my plants is buzzing with bees, who really don't care what the garden looks like, but DO NEED pollen and nectar.
23rdJune
Components coming together...... I have commissioned a mosaic of a hollyhock to be made by Sue Welfare. She is cracking on with that...I have about two thirds of my plants amassed and the gate is sitting in the sunshine aging.........
Components coming together...... I have commissioned a mosaic of a hollyhock to be made by Sue Welfare. She is cracking on with that...I have about two thirds of my plants amassed and the gate is sitting in the sunshine aging.........
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19th June
Have been busy checking, nurturing and watering my show plants this evening.....quite stressful....are they going to come into flower too early, are they going to flower at all? They would all be happier in the ground than in pots. Tomorrow I am going to Market Harborough to collect the gate.
Have been busy checking, nurturing and watering my show plants this evening.....quite stressful....are they going to come into flower too early, are they going to flower at all? They would all be happier in the ground than in pots. Tomorrow I am going to Market Harborough to collect the gate.
16th June
My original inspiration for the garden was these rustic gates and lavender. Lavender is a quintessential plant for a bee garden. It likes lots of sun and well drained soil.
My original inspiration for the garden was these rustic gates and lavender. Lavender is a quintessential plant for a bee garden. It likes lots of sun and well drained soil.
14th June
Sandringham Flower Show is on Wednesday 29th July, and Bee Happy Gardens will be creating a show garden there.
The concept of a show garden is pretty mad; making a garden for a day or a week, which looks great on that day; getting all your plants flowering and looking their best, sorting out all the hard landscaping, sourcing the "ingredients" for your design, funding it, and dealing with waking up at three in the morning thinking "why did I want to do this?"
However, it is a very good way of getting my message "out there", and meeting people. Sandringham is local to me, and it's a lovely day out.
Over the coming weeks I will be keeping a little diary here of progress.
Not surprisingly, the garden is called "A garden for the bees", and my intention is to show that in a small space (3.84m x 5.74m) you can have a pretty garden which supports and feeds bees and is also a pleasure to be in yourself.
The design is very simple, with a gate and a path leading to a seating area. There is a pond and LOTS of bee attracting plants.
I will be aided and abetted by Warren Challis who is in charge of hard landscaping.
So, if you want to follow the development of this venture, watch this space.............
Sandringham Flower Show is on Wednesday 29th July, and Bee Happy Gardens will be creating a show garden there.
The concept of a show garden is pretty mad; making a garden for a day or a week, which looks great on that day; getting all your plants flowering and looking their best, sorting out all the hard landscaping, sourcing the "ingredients" for your design, funding it, and dealing with waking up at three in the morning thinking "why did I want to do this?"
However, it is a very good way of getting my message "out there", and meeting people. Sandringham is local to me, and it's a lovely day out.
Over the coming weeks I will be keeping a little diary here of progress.
Not surprisingly, the garden is called "A garden for the bees", and my intention is to show that in a small space (3.84m x 5.74m) you can have a pretty garden which supports and feeds bees and is also a pleasure to be in yourself.
The design is very simple, with a gate and a path leading to a seating area. There is a pond and LOTS of bee attracting plants.
I will be aided and abetted by Warren Challis who is in charge of hard landscaping.
So, if you want to follow the development of this venture, watch this space.............
