The combination of being able to nosey round Other People’s Houses, take in some inspiration from real garden spaces, get advice from enthusiastic home gardeners and eat cake at virtually every stop was fairly hard to resist so Mr M found himself dragged along to the Heaton’s Open Garden day yesterday, though I think he secretly enjoyed it 😉 The gardens ranged from the back of suburban terraces to the enormous wow-we-never-expected-that surprising, neither of us were disappointed.
You rarely get to see behind those front facades so, for me as a keen gardener, it was a real treat to find out what other people are growing, plus see what works and what doesn’t. I was SO jealous of other people’s tulips, what is in the water in Heaton Moor?! Mine are piddly this year and most haven’t even flowered – the ones in the Heatons were MASSIVE!!
The Japanese Acers on display were absolutely beautiful, in all shapes, sizes and colours:
Apple trees and blossoms were everywhere and due to late blossoming this year we saw them at their prettiest. I loved the idea of tying the branches to grow the trees together as a blossom fence, and will definitely be doing that one day in my garden:
Lots of people were growing their own in a variety of different ways, I found myself getting very envious of lettuce!
*Somebody* fancied koi for lunch…. 😉
Lots of different way to display flowers and planting, you don’t have to just stick to pots you know! Wait til you see my upcycled drawers done for Crafty magazine in a couple of weeks – they’re LUSH!
In lots of different gardens there were chives which had been allowed to flower (left hand image) as both young and old enjoyed the open gardens 🙂
Looked like purple was a hit for 2013, lilac and aubergine hues absolutely everywhere!
I bought a jar of honey and ate cake at the most amazing garden on Princes Road where Heaton Honey is made:
But my award for the most imaginative and eclectic garden goes to the one below which, YES, is all one garden, can you believe? Absolutely stunning.
