Garden Blogs

Hello again! Did you know both the Rachel's Gardens have Gazebos? These are great mini shelters for any size garden. In both show gardens they will provide a hub and focal point around which the rest of the garden works. In Rachel's Passion for Taste Garden we have a pretty thatched timber Gazebo, a brand new product from the company Breeze House Ltd from Leek in Staffordshire. Positioned in the corner of the plot it will provide a great spot to sit and watch the fruit ripening all around you! I'm going to decorate and fill it with dried flowers and produce to suggest it’s a store as well as a good place to relax in the shade. It's open sided so will catch any cool breezes - as I'm hoping for a good hot summer at Hampton Court this year! I'm also planning to get some climbers going over it – I have my eye on a good size Actinidia (Kiwi plant) which is a fine climber for a sheltered south facing position. In Rachel's Stylish by Nature Garden we have a more formal timber and Glass panel Gazebo currently being specially prepared by Scotts of Therapston, Northamptonshire. This building is a very up market and will sit in the centre of the plot. Its octagonal with 2 panels on each side as windows and a central one as plain timber. The remaining two panels are open entrances. The idea is you can walk through it from one side of the garden to the other. Scotts are painting the exterior black and the window frames and interior white, to make it especially Rachel's! They are also leaving me an opportunity to fit a daisy design onto the finial – one more thing to think about! It will have seats on 2 sides so again a nice place for the Rachel's team to rest up after a hard day manning the stand at the show! I would like to get some fragrant white flowering roses over the building, the variety is a bit in the balance. Robert Mattock of Abingdon, Berkshire produces fine large climbing and rambling specimens in containers and I would like the intoxicatingly scented and appropriately named Paul’s Himalayan Musk … but will it be in flower?! More news coming soon!