August 2022
August 2022
Stephen says
The garden is reaching its peak through August and September. The Hornbeam Walkway is full and lush. The Hot Bank is bursting with fiery colour. The Traditional Border is showing off its’ mixed perennial bounty. Broad leaves bananas and tall cannas are focal points in The Tropical Border. The Annual Border and The Dahlia Borders are growing well and we are full of expectation for a blast of colour through the late summer and autumn.
Behind the scenes
In the Hot Bank we have been cutting back the Penstemons to encourage a second flush of flowers in early autumn, pulling spent Alstroemeria to create space for the surrounding plants to grow, deadheading the dahlias and supporting the tall flower stems of the majestic Lobelia Tupa.
In the Dahlia Border wooden stakes have been placed into the dahlia border ready for labelling and to tie in the dahlias as they grow.
Plant of the month
The Lobelia Tupa is looking wonderful! This unusual plant comes from Chile and has blood red lobelia shaped flowers that have a pale orange throat. The broad velvety pale green leaves resemble tobacco leaves (hence its’ common name, Devil’s Tobacco). It grows to around 2.5m tall, and is ideal as a feature plant scattered throughout the border. They prefer full sun and rich, well drained soil, so do well on the hillside of our Hot Bank. Don’t forget to spot them in The Hornbeam Walk as well!
Garden Tips
Spend time in your garden not only with your plants but enjoying the wildlife that shares it with you! Because the plants we grow tend to be open petalled or tubular and nectar rich (e.g.Echinacea, Geranium, Sedum, Penstemon, Salvia) we are surrounded by bumble and honey bees, hover-flies and ladybirds. These in turn bring in a variety of birds.
In the News
The garden will be open for the NGS ( National Garden Scheme) on
August Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st
From 12pm to 5pm
Entry to the garden is £5 per person
There are 7 borders to see, the shop and cafe will be open, and there are plants for sale.
Stephen and the garden helpers will be available to answer any questions you have about the garden during your visit.
We are selling plants until the end of September! We have chosen plants that we grow in our borders so you can recreate a bit of the Aston Pottery gardens in your own garden. Find them at the entrance to the shop.
Volunteering
Our gardening team is very small.
Stephen is head gardener, when he is not making pottery, making cakes, serving in the café or helping in the shop.
Nicky volunteers one day per week, Gill volunteers one morning a week, Richard volunteers 3 days a week and Kian works in the garden and workshop 4 to 5 days a week.
More help would be very welcome! Would you like to volunteer too, either on a regular basis or for one of our big plant outs?
You will be reward by being surrounded with wonderful people and plants, along with a cuppa and some fabulous cake (and lunch if you do a full day)!
To get involved, contact Stephen Baughan via email at info@astonpottery.co.uk
