Lullingstone Castle

November 2005

The garden suffers the worst frost!

It’s been a weird month – winning the award and collecting it on Sunday 13th November at The Royal Albert Hall was surreal  but then the frost came!  The frost did so much damage – Australia was very badly affected (my mini Australia that is – not the real one!).  the weather was so extreme – we had 20 degrees one day then ten days later we suffered minus 10 degrees in the garden at night  My field of eucalyptus trees out the back of the Castle – which was one of the largest collections in the Northern Hemisphere  - was damaged very badly indeed.  But that’s gardening for you!  You have to take the rough with the smooth.  I’m going to use more fleece next year!

Christmas – February

Adrian , my wonderful garden helper, and I spent two months burying over 2,000 car tyres to create the raised beds for planting.  It was an enormous job for the two if us, but we managed it, and managed to build up the muscles in the process.

Easter Opening to the public April.

Save Lullingstone Castle, the story of the creation of The World Garden project airs on Tuesday nights 8pm BBC 2 and everything goes a bit mad!

Southern Africa.

Visitor numbers begin to climb and we’re hoping for a great summer.

April 4th

Save Lullingstone Castle, the story of the creation of The World Garden project airs on Tuesday nights 8pm BBC 2 and everything goes a bit mad! Visitor numbers begin to climb and we’re hoping for a great summer.

The response from the programme was instant.  Our website went down after it received 20,000 hits in an hour. The following weekend – the 7th - 9th was the busiest we’d experienced since the days of the silk farm.  It was all hands to the pumps as Gran, Mum and Dad greeted the visitors in the porch and I showed the garden visitors around the 2 acre walled garden site.

April

In between weeding, planting and showing the group tours around the garden and house we’ve experienced both good and bad weather.  The rains are helpful for the new plants, aiding them to ‘bed in’ their new homes.

The visitors are keen to see the characters from the TV programme and are amazed at the difference in the garden to the one they have been watching on BBC2. 

In the last minute of the final part (0f 6) I’m shown saying; ‘off to battle the weeds’ - and the very LACK of weeds in the garden now is causing some surprise for the visitors – they can’t believe how good the garden looks! 

May

May has proved to be incredibly wet – one of the wettest on record, but I’m not complaining.  The plants need the rain, and despite the dire drought warnings, our planting plans are going very well indeed.

The Canaries are looking particularly good now with the Aoniums ready for the coming sun and the trio of Date Palms spreading their fronds to create a nice canopy for the smaller succulents at their feet. 

The UK garden in June.

June

The sun’s been out and encouraging growth in all the continents and I’d assumed that  the rainy days of May were now a thing of the past.  However I hadn’t bargained for the flash floods that came following the prolonged sunny spell.  After a trip out plant hunting I arrived back at the Castle to find we’d suffered a huge flash flood in my absence. Earlier in the day, on the way back in the car, I’d suspected that something was up when I saw signs saying that the Blackwall Tunnel and Dartford Tunnel were closed.  But on my return, but I wasn’t prepared for the extent of the extended water treatment from above!

A large slew of the white gravel from the pathways had floated out of the moon gate!  I spent the next two days clearing up and returning the gravel to the paths. 

The plants loved the deluge and sprouted forth in the following sunny days.

With the exception of the flash flooding, this month has proved a challenge in terms of keeping everything watered.

Australia and New Zealand are looking good.  But perhaps my favourite at the moment if the UK – with the Orchids starting to bloom and the sea of daisies to greet visitors as they enter through the moon gate arriving first in the UK.

Flaming June

July

Despite the hose pipe ban, we're coping very well at the garden this month. Visitor numbers have been amazing.  People are coming to see us off the back of the TV programme, and drawn in by our mini site at BBC Kent.  We're so thrilled with the response too. 

I've had to answer a lot of gardening queries.  Visitors are actually surprised to see me, Mum, Dad and Granny on site - I'm not sure where they think we'll be! - but they're thrilled to chat about the series and the progress of the garden. 

Watering is an enormous job when you have to take watering cans around the world.  I've been lucky enough this month to have a French student on site.  Nicholas has come over from Paris to help me for the whole of July.  Nick’s amazed by  the variety of plants we've managed to seed here in Kent.

August

The heat continues unabated in the South East and while the desert plants are enjoying the sun and the red hot pokers are stunning I’m getting a little concerned now about the lack of rain!!  Our last proper rain fall came at the end of June and I’m praying and mentally  performing a rain dance every night!

Despite the warm summer conditions my mind has turned to the future autumnal months and the early frosts.  I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to source a second hand marquee to cover the whole of Mexico – no easy task!  Unfortunately despite my best sales pitch I’ve  been unable to come up with the goods as yet. 

Tom inspects Crac's Delight in Mexico

It’s an unusual request; ‘excuse me could you help me to cover Mexico as I’m worried about the impending frosts!’  A marquee isn’t as bizarre an idea as it actually sounds – the light will be diffused, we can raise the sides to let in the air in the day, and the canvas will protect the delicate blooms and the cacti such as  Agarve Americana (the first plant interred in the grounds by Paul Winder and myself back in March 2004).

Mexico is looking really stunning at the moment, with ‘Crac’s Delight’ the Penstemon plant I discovered in the canyons of Mexico in November 1999, and named in my Gran’s honour, is out in full bloom and has been awarded the title; ’Plant of The Month’.