I’ve got the summertime blues, pinks, reds, oranges, yellows... The old Eddie Cochran song is about the “summertime blues” but as I write it looks like we’re heading for a proper summer this year and if you’re like me you’ll be out in your garden as much as possible. I’m always looking for more colour, scent, shape and texture for the garden and this year I’m looking for even more flowers to attract bees and especially butterflies to the garden. Our plant fairs have just the right range of top quality nurseries to provide plants for every part of my garden from patio pots (as well as the pots) through to ornamental trees. I’ve included my little guide to common garden butterflies in this edition with information about their food plants and photos taken here in Hankelow Cheshire. Best wishes
Martin Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Peacock One of my garden’s showiest butterflies with its slow, strong wingbeats and those amazingly coloured “eyes”. The caterpillars live on nettles (pictures shows one preparing to pupate). Adults can live for up to a year, hibernating through the winter in dry places like sheds.
Happy returns to Arley Arboretum We were absolutely thrilled to be invited to hold a plant fair again at this Worcestershire gem after a few years absence. The arboretum and gardens are truly magical, filled with a sense of peace and tranquillity punctuated occasionally by the toot of a steam train on the nearby Severn Valley railway. Much has happened there since our last visit and we are looking forward to discovering the new developments along side the long history of the trees and woodland. Our last fair was a tremendous success with over 1000 plant lovers flocking along on a sunny Saturday. This year we are back on Saturday 4th July from 11am to 5pm. Entry is half standard price at just £2.50. We have a great line up of 20 nurseries including your first opportunity to meet Scotland’s famous Edrom Nursery at a Plant Hunters’ Fair.
This year Dr. Steve Reynolds will be holding his famous drop-in “What’s Up Doc?” clinic at Arley Arboretum Bring along a sample, photo or description of a flower, fruit, or veg pest or disease (all samples in sealed bags please!) and Steve will help you find an answer to it. If your gardening club is looking for a lively, knowledgeable and professional speaker then we can highly recommend Steve to you. Please see Steve’s page on the Plant Hunters’ Fairs website garden speakers directory. You can contact Steve to book a talk: Phone: 01588 660 618 Mobile: 07929 303 425 email: drstevebreynolds@yahoo.co.uk
Arley Arboretum & Gardens Upper Arley, Near Bewdley Worcestershire DY12 1SQ Email: info@arleyarboretum.co.uk Estate Office: 01299 861368 website: www.arleyarboretum.co.uk
Saturday 4th July 11am-5pm Entry is just £2.50 Dogs on leads welcome
Summer’s abundance at Sugnall Walled Garden Summer in the kitchen garden is my idea of bliss. Vegetables growing before your very eyes, the fragrance of ripening fruit, the buzz of insects and all that produce to cook and enjoy. So I was really pleased when it was suggested we moved our second fair at Sugnall Walled Garden from its traditional autumn spot to early July. Sunday 5th July is the new date and the garden gates open at 10am. I’m looking forward to sampling some of the garden’s produce in the restaurant. This spring the visitors particularly praised the freshly picked asparagus and poached eggs from the garden’s chickens. The menu for the summer will be packed with similar seasonal delights. The garden will be full of the fragrance of lavender and old roses as well. We have a great line up of 17 nurseries and it is still just £1.00 to come in and enjoy it all.
Sugnall, near Eccleshall, Stafford ST21 6NF Phone: 01785 850820 email: info@sugnallwalledgarden.co.uk Website: www.sugnallwalledgarden.co.uk
Sunday 5 July 10am-4pm Entry is just £1.00 Sorry no dogs allowed in the garden
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Speckled Wood Increasingly common in my garden well away from any woodland this is a territorial butterfly that patrols sunlit areas in dappled shade chasing off other butterflies. The caterpillars live on various species of grass.
Get carried away at the N.M.A. Ingenious solution to that perennial plant fair problem In our spring newsletter we invited you to get carried away at our 3 Plant Hunters’ Fairs at the National Memorial Arboretum this year and some of you needed no encouragement when it came to filling your bags with top quality plants. Then comes that inevitable time when your hands are full. Every plantaholics nightmare! Regular plant hunters’ Roy and Sheila came up with this ingenious solution and carried on getting carried away unfettered by a lack of hands! Whether you are looking to fill a whole new garden or just want a plant to fill a gap you’ll find our nursery folk just as willing to offer advice to help you get the right plants.
Our next fair at the National Memorial Arboretum is on Saturday 1st August and you’re more than welcome to borrow Roy and Sheila’s idea—just don’t forget to bring your own sticks! National Memorial Arboretum Croxall Road Alrewas Staffordshire DE13 7AR
Saturday 1st August. 10am-4:30pm Free entry to arboretum and fair. (Pay and display parking)
Tel: 01283 792333 Email:: info@thenma.org.uk website: www.thenma.org.uk
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Painted Lady These large and lovely butterflies are summer migrants travelling more than 600 miles to reach these shores. Some years there are just a few and others it seems like an invasion with the garden full of them. The caterpillars feeds on thistles, mallows and burdock. This generation is on the wing in September and October. They are unable to survive a cold winter here.
A Helping Hand for Hope House Hospices Our first plant fair at The British Ironwork Centre raises lots for Hope House Children’s Hospices. We had a great time at our first ever Plant Hunters’ Fair at the British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry on 17th May: it’s such a fun place with those magnificent and sometimes whacky metal animals. But the event also had a more serious side with the £1.00 entrance fee going to Hope House Children’s Hospices. By the end of the day the event had raised £1470 for this very deserving cause. The fair and sculpture park were buzzing with plant lovers and their families with the keen ones on their marks well before the 10am opening time and still going strong at the 5pm close.
The event was such a hit that the centre’s owner and chairman Clive Knowles and Martin got together before the end of the fair and agreed to hold it again in May 2016—watch out for the date on planthuntersfairs.co.uk and in our Spring 2016 Newsletter. The British Ironwork Centre Whitehall Aston Oswestry Shropshire SY11 4JH
E-mail: Info@britishironworkcentre.co.uk Phone number: 08006888386 website: www.britishironworkcentre.co.uk
Summer at Dearnford Lake, naturally Even more to enjoy this August. Our plant fairs at this Shropshire beauty spot have proved to be a hit with plant lovers from near and far. This August there will be more nurseries than ever with 20 top class growers booked including a few who will be new to this venue. August is the best time to enjoy some of the wonderful wildlife to be found around the lake including many different and spectacular species of dragonfly. The fairs completely free to visitors including easy parking, lakeside walks and access to the restaurant. STOP PRESS: Paviour & Davies have been added to the event line up
Dearnford Lake, Tilstock Road, Whitchurch, Shropshire SY13 3JQ phone: 01948 258639 email: info@dearnford.com website: www.dearnford.com
Sunday 2nd August 10am-4pm Free entry, free parking.
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Red Admiral The name of this butterfly comes not from the sea or any supposed resemblance to any gaudy military uniform but from a corruption of its 18th century name of “The Admirable”. Most flying early in the year are migrants arriving from the Continent. The caterpillars, like those of many of our favourite garden butterflies, feed on nettles: so there’s every excuse for leaving a patch of nettles in even the tidiest garden. The favourite food plants of the adults include Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium), Ice Plant (Sedum), Perennial Sunflower (Helianthus), Michaelmas Daisy (Aster) and of course, as pictured here, left: Bugbane (Actaea) and right: Heleniums.
You’ll go a long way to find better plants Plant lovers will literally go a long way to pick up that plant treasure they’ve been seeking from one of our specialist nurseries. This spring at Bodenham Arboretum these two ladies from Sweden arrived to get some choice plants to take home with them. We regularly welcome visitors stopping off from longer journeys and those who have planned holidays and visits to relatives to coincide with the chance to take in a Plant Hunters’ Fair. And why not when you have the chance to visit so many top nurseries and take in a garden visit all for such great value entrance fees.
Our nursery folk are also great travellers and its testament to the support we get from so many plant lovers that we are able to attract nurseries from all corners of Britain. At Bodenham this September we have nurseries from nearby Warwickshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire and also Gloucestershire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire and Lincolnshire. Bodenham Arboretum is situated between the A442 and A449 just north of Kidderminster – use postcode DY11 5TB for Satnav. The fair is open from 11am to 5pm. Entry to the fair and parking is free as is access to the restaurant. The arboretum is open and optional entry is at normal ticket prices. Bodenham Arboretum Wolverley, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY11 5SY Phone: 01562 852444 Website: www.bodenham-arboretum.co.uk
Saturday 5th September 11am—5pm Free entry to fair, free parking. Arboretum open at normal rates.
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Small Tortoiseshell This must be one of the most numerous Butterflies in our garden, with often clouds of them dancing over their favourite plants. They love Heleniums, Verbena bonariensis and all nectar-bearing flowers. Their caterpillars also feed on nettles. The adults are capable of living through the winter by hibernating in dry sheds and garages so we often see them awakening on warm days in late winter and early spring.
Summer sensation at Abbeywood Gardens Spectacular summer colour in the heart of Cheshire Abbeywood Gardens is a treasure waiting to be discovered by garden lovers. There is so much to see, enjoy, and admire. The Exotic Garden, inspired by Christopher Lloyd’s Great Dixter, greets you as you leave the café and the planting is like a blaze of trumpets in its bold, hot colours; amazing leaves and bizarre shapes. From here you pass into the complete contrast of peace and serenity in the pool garden. Beyond this the long herbaceous borders lead the eye to the distant vistas of the Cheshire countryside. The formality of the borders melts into the naturalist planting of the prairie garden. Turning back you’ll find the Chapel Garden, full of scent and the Pergola Walk. The cool shade of the Arboretum invites you on a summer’s day leading to the meadows and vegetable garden. Beyond the café there is the cutting garden. We love this garden so much that we’ve given you 2 pages of photos with many more on our website and Facebook page. The plant fair will be set in the meadow area, near to the parking and we have a great range of nurseries including some new to the area such as Paviour & Davies and Edrom Nursery. It’s also a chance to visit nurseries like Bob Brown’s Cotswold Garden Flowers , Shadyplants.com and Green’s Leaves who haven’t attended a fair in this part of the county before.
Entry to the fair and garden is half normal price at £2.75—we can’t think of a better value day out in the region. The garden café will be serving teas and light refreshments and there will be ample free parking on the fields at the entrance to the gardens.
Abbeywood Garden Chester Road Delamere Cheshire CW8 2HS Tel: 01606 888251 website: www.abbeywoodestate.co.uk/gardens/
Sunday 23rd August 10am—5pm Entry to fair and gardens £2.75 —half standard price
Plants ahoy! at Carsington Water The second of our free plant fairs Despite the icy cold weather our first fair in March was a big success. This time we have even more nurseries and hopefully it will be dry enough to spread out on the field next to the visitor centre. In march 48 hours of rain prior to the fair led to a quick move to the paths in front of the visitor centre for the fair. This time we have 20 nurseries from all over with Edrom Nursery travelling from Scotland, Shady Plants from Gloucestershire and Pottertons Nursery from Lincolnshire, in all representatives from 10 counties are making their way to Derbyshire for this free to enter event.
The Visitor Centre Big Lane Ashbourne Derbyshire DE6 1ST There are brown signs to direct you from Ashbourne Phone: 01629 540696 email: carsingtonwater@severntrent.co.uk Website: www.stwater.co.uk/carsington-water
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Small Copper A member of the group of small butterflies that include the blues—actually with their wings closed the small copper and common blue are very similar. The hairy caterpillars eat sorrel and dock—they are most welcome to all they can stomach in my garden! The large copper became extinct in Britain in 1865.
Sunday 26th July, 10am-4pm Free entry to country park and fair. (Pay and display parking) Dogs welcome
More to smile about at Weston Park Looking forward to our first autumn plant fair at this stately venue Our early May Bank Holiday fair at Weston Park has become an established favourite at this major venue, so we were pleased to be asked to put on an autumn plant fair as well. Sunday 13th September is the date and entry will be at the even lower price of just £2.50. It’s our final fair of the season and we expect to go out with a big smile on our faces!
Don’t miss the wonderful gardens, 1000 acre parkland, walled garden and so much more. Sunday 13th September 10am-4pm £2.50 Dogs on leads welcome Weston Park, Weston-under-Lizard Shropshire TF11 8LE Phone: 01952 852100 Email: enquiries@weston-park.com Website: www.weston-park.com
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Gatekeeper Any butterfly who’s caterpillars eat couch grass is most welcome in my garden! Gatekeepers are one of the most abundant here loving all our perennials as well as flowers on the oregano in our herb patch. The caterpillars hatch in August and hibernate through winter, pupating in June.
Where did you get that hat? Our stallholders and customers brave everything that the British weather throws at them but sometimes they have to resort to some very becoming headgear. Here’s a few embarrassing (or otherwise) shots of them in action.
There’s no point in pretending you’re enjoying the sub-zero temperature Tony and Sylvia from Shady Plants we all know what you’re saying inside!
Dorothy Clive in April 2010 must have been a cold one if Ali from Slack Top and John from Hillview are anything to go by and the clue is in Martin’s “coat and 3 fleeces and still cold” look.
Getting the right look is so important. Jane from Mayfields opts for “Freedom Fighter”; Jack from Wildegoose: “Country Gent” and Jacqueline from Architectural Impact the “Ladies Day” look.
Andi and Helen are all “peace & luv” in the cold at Carsington Water in march
A bad case of “Cap Envy” for Anthony from Conquest?
Where did you get that hat?
Martin wins the floppiest hat contest at the NMA hands down
Not a hat but an ark is the order of day at Sugnall but Paul Green keeps jolly through it all.
Carrier bags come in handy (don’t try this at home!) The heat definitely went to the head for Nic from Hall Farm at Adlington Hall a few years ago, and Sarah from Penmere is trying hard not to look a drip in the rain at Hodnet.
Whoops there go the hats at a windy NMA
It is sunny and hot sometimes! Rob from Pottertons practices carrying two ice cream cones at Consall
Judy from Woodfield through the seasons (not saying its cold in Wales)
Autumn-Ness The first Sunday in September see Plant Hunters’ Fairs return to Ness Botanic Gardens on the Wirral. There’s lots to see in the garden with the late colour in full bloom—we love the heleniums and helianthus, the alpines, the berries on the National Collection of Rowan and so much more. It’s just £1.00 to enter the plant fair and this can be redeemed if you pay to enter the garden.
Sunday 6th September 10am-4pm Entry is just £1.00 Ness Botanic Gardens Neston, South Wirral CH64 4AY Tel: 0845 0304063 Email: nessgdns@liv.ac.uk website: www.nessgardens.org.uk
Garden Butterflies with SpecialPerennials: Comma This butterfly gets it name from the small, silver “comma” on the underside of the wings. They are most common in our garden in late summer, although we do see adults that have hibernated flying in early spring. The caterpillars feed on hops, nettles and currant bushes.
Watch out for our next newsletter We will be publishing our annual magazine newsletter in late winter with news of our new events plus some exciting announcements about new venues for 2016—we have two new venues lined up already and we are currently working on the details. If you don’t want to miss out then subscribe on our website at www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk/subscribe.htm
High and dry at the Dorothy Clive Garden Plant fair takes the high ground We’ve always loved coming to The Dorothy Clive Garden on the Shropshire / Staffordshire borders for our twice yearly plant fairs. This August Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday will be our 8th year at this lovely garden.
The new site created a real buzz
This spring we moved the fair from the sloping grass field to a more even and drier hard standing at the top of the garden near the tearooms— “closer to the beating heart of the garden” as Curator Marcus Chilton Jones put it. Less of struggle to browse, drier under foot, cosier and with a real buzz. Over 1600 visitors came along to give it a go and the feedback about the change was almost 100% positive. Fair Field Garden Bygones set up shop in the pavilion with their beautiful and useful vintage garden tools. This time they will be joined by Pottertons Nursery with their “bulb bazaar”. New to the venue are Edrom Nursery all the way from Scotland with their internationally renowned selection of alpines and woodlanders.
Fair Field Garden Bygones set up shop in the pavilion
We also welcome craft potters Studio 8 to the garden for the first time. This Staffordshire pottery has proved to be outstandingly popular at our other events this year. All their wares are hand-thrown and wood-kiln fired using Staffordshire clay. As always the gardens will be looking at their summer best with a riot of colour to enjoy. Even after 8 years of fairs there’s always something new to enjoy at the Dorothy Clive Garden Plant Hunters’ Fair. And don’t forget entry is half standard price as well!
As always there will be a great line up of top name nurseries
Bank Holiday Sunday & Monday 30th & 31st August 10am—5pm £3.50 for fair and gardens. Free parking Dogs on leads welcome
Willoughbridge, Market Drayton Shropshire, TF9 4EU Tel: 01630 647237 email: info@dorothyclivegarden.co.uk
Local craft potters Studio 8 will be at the event for the first time
2015 Plant Hunters’ Fairs July th
Sat 4
Arley Arboretum, Near Bewdley, Worcs. DY12 1XJ 11am-5pm
th
Sun 5
Sugnall Walled Garden, Eccleshall, Staffs. ST21 6NF 10am-4pm
th
Sun 26
Carsington Water, nr Ashbourne, Derbyshire. DE6 1ST 10-4pm
August st
Sat 1 National Memorial Arboretum Alrewas Staffs. DE13 7AR 10am-4:30pm Sun 2nd Dearnford Lake, Whitchurch, Shrops. SY13 3JQ 10am-4pm
Sun 16th Bodnant Garden near Colwyn Bay, Conwy LL28 5RE 10am-4pm Sun 23rd Abbeywood Gardens, Delamere, Cheshire. CW8 2HS, 10am-5pm Sun/Mon 30th/31st Dorothy Clive Garden, Newcastle, Staffs. TF9 4EU 10am-5pm
September th
Sat 5 Bodenham Arboretum nr Kidderminster, Worcs, DY11 5SY 11am-5pm Sun 6th Ness Botanic Gardens Wirral, Cheshire. CH64 4AY. 10am-4pm Sun 13th Weston Park, Shifnal, Shropshire. TF11 8LE 10am-4pm
You can contact us by: Email: martin@planthuntersfairs.co.uk Phone: 01270 811443 Twitter: @plantfairs Find us on Facebook as well. Website www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk Details published in this newsletter are we believe correct but please do check on our website or with the venue before travelling as occasionally arrangements do have to change. All views expressed are those of the authors. All text and images in this newsletter are copyright to the respective authors. Please ask before republishing anything from this newsletter. You can subscribe or unsubscribe on our website or by email.