Intoxicated bees

We are getting lots of concerned visitors worried about the bees that are feeding off the nectar from the Eryngium giganteum, commonly called Miss Willmott's Ghost!

The bees are very busy feeding on the nectar - making them appear drunk [as drunk as a bee!] and lazy, eventually falling asleep to sleep off their over indulgence. I quizzed Eric our resident bee expert and he reassured me that the bees suffer no long term consequences and actually benefit from the sugar content of the nectar.

The bees that seem to be the busiest around the Eryngiums are the bumble bees with a few honey bees also benefiting.

Just for your information Miss Willmott's Ghost is so called because the Edwardian garden designer and friend of The Major's, Miss Ellen Willmott, use to collect the seed and when visiting friends or clients would scatter the seed. With the Eryngium being a bi-annual, it would germinate and flower the next year, so therefore becoming known as 'Miss Willmott's Ghost'

Regards

Glyn

Sun glorious sun

What an amazing Bank Holiday weekend. The sun shone, the flowers bloomed and we welcomed a record amount of visitors. Sunday was our second busiest day ever - with just over 2,600 vistors enjoying the garden! It was amazing to see so many people here making the most of the glorious weather.

Our week long programme of Food Glorious Food events also got off to a great start with children discovering more about the art of gardening with our tomato plug planting workshops and seed giveaways. Let's hope we've inspired the next generation of Kitchen Gardeners.

Inspirational Hidcote

Congratulations Ulf Nordfjell on not only winning Gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show but also winning the prestigous Best in Show award. Ulf's garden successfully tied the knot between Swedish modernism and traditional English-cottage gardening. And his inspiration for this - Hidcote. Ulf said "This idea I had from Hidcote...The tall hedges and sense of enclosure are something the English love".

Hidcote can inspire you too!

The great tulip giveaway

No sooner have the tulips finished flowering than the garden team have been busy digging them up. To the surprise of visitors, the gardeners have been bagging them up and offering them as souvenirs of their visit. The tulips have quite literally been walking out of the garden! It's not too late to take home a piece of Hidcote, there are still some left but they're going fast. If you can't make, there's always next year.

Purple rain

Well it might have been a bit colder, windier and wetter than we're used to but it hasn't stopped the garden from turning purple. Yes, it seems that all things purple have started to flower. The wonderful wisterias were the first to start the trend, quickly followed by the amazing alliums in the Pillar Garden and more recently the unusual Foxglove Tree in the Orchard. Purple is certainly the colour of the month at Hidcote.

Hidcote book unveiled

If you're passionate about Hidcote, mark Friday 3 July in your diary. The renowned international garden writer Ethne Clarke will be launching her newly revised book 'Hidcote - The Making of a Garden' here on the Theatre Lawn.

Since the book was first published in 1989, Ethne has been busy delving deeper into Hidcote's history. The newly revised edition sheds more light on the garden as well as revealing more information about Johnston's other garden, Serre de la Madone in the South of France.

Join Ethne and Glyn at either 2pm or 4pm on the 3rd for a fascinating introduction to the new publication - followed by an exclusive book signing. A day not to be missed.

Gardeners get creative

It's not everyday that our garden team get the chance to show off their artistic talents, but visitors were been amazed when the new hazel supports were positioned along the Rose Walk. The supports, designed for the sweet pea displays later in the year. were painstakingly woven by gardeners Gordon, Eric and Sarah. A surprised Eric remarked "They do look really good!"

Lovely Limes

The garden team had to use all of their muscles last week when four very large European Lime trees arrived ready for planting. The trees, measuring in at a whooping 25ft high and with a root ball weighing over one tonne, were purchased from a nursery near Tewkesbury to replace some that failed in previous years. The new trees won't look out of place in their new home along the Lime Avenue (also known as the visitor picnic area), as they are believed to be at least 15 years old complementing those already growing.

The photograph shows James, one of our Gardeners, making the final adjustments!

No need to get lost

It will soon be almost impossible to get lost at Hidcote. We've just taken delivery of 40 oak posts, each engraved with the name of one of the various garden 'rooms'. The posts, which will replace the aging and at times completely missing, numbered stakes, will be installed in the next few weeks.

The new posts have been designed to complement the garden map and will really help people to find their way around and avoid the perennial problem of visitors getting lost!

The installation of the new posts has been made possible by a very generous private donation.