Geoff Stonebanks Driftwood Garden Update

I saw this posted on social media recently!

“Gardening is an art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas”.

It was credited to Elizabeth Murray. It really tugged at my own perception of how I garden myself. As someone who has no formal background in gardening of any sort, and one who, to be totally honest, struggles to find the patience to grow from seed, this description best fits how I tackle my own garden, Driftwood, and prepare it for the 2,000 odd visitors that come to see it every year! I’ve always said I’m a bit of an instant gardener, as I want the area I’m creating or changing to look like the image I have in my head, instantly.

This description of being a painter and using the plants as paint is something many have said to me over the years. Interestingly, many of the plants I’ve used to paint since 2012 have come from Thompson & Morgan. Looking back to 2013, two of the trial plants I was sent were Dahlia ‘Fire and Ice’ and Tulip ‘Silver Parrot’. The former was the most impressive flower to set the borders alight with some dazzling colour, easy to imagine my brushstrokes creating this dazzling bloom. Likewise with the amazing tulip too.

Dahlia ‘Ice and Fire’ and Parrot Tulips. ©Geoff Stonebanks

In 2014 the standout bit of art for me was the stunning Gazania ‘Tikal Sunbather’, whose dramatic pointed petals really set the garden canvas alive on either side of the tranquil pond. By 2015 we took delivery of the outstanding Fuchsia arborescens. This was a much talked about work of art by many garden visitors, lots of whom had never heard of it. All were captivated by its elegance and its twofold purpose in the garden, producing amazing delicate flowers to paint the borders or containers and then to turn into delicious berries that could be eaten.

Fuchsia arborescens and Gazania ‘Tikal Sunbather’. ©Geoff Stonebanks

2016 saw the stunning Petunia ‘Night Sky’ delivered to Driftwood. These were certainly one of the most talked about pieces of flower art in the garden that year, I had lots of them tumbling out of my 200 or more containers and you could just imagine them painted on a night sky canvas.

2017 saw another gorgeous petunia take the crown for the most commented on plant in the garden. Like the night sky, you could just imaging an artist’s brush delicately painting the heart shapes across the flowers petals. Petunia ‘Amore™ Queen of Hearts’ was a great hit.

Petunia ‘Night Sky’ and Petunia ‘Amore™ Queen of Hearts’. ©Geoff Stonebanks

Moving swiftly on to 2018, the outright winner in the stand out colour and longevity category, without doubt, was the Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ that arrived and was planted into a large container. They started to flower very early on in the season and never seemed to stop until the garden gate was closed in September and beyond. So, what artistic contributions to the garden will 2019 bring? Well I’ve got 13 different plants being delivered by Thompson & Morgan this Spring, 2 are here already, Acanthus mollis and Alstroemeria ‘Summer Red’. But I reckon the stand out plant for me on the artist’s palette this season will be the Salvia ‘Amethyst Lips’. You’ll have to watch this space over the summer months to see how it turns out on my garden canvas!

Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ and Salvia ‘Amethyst Lips’. ©Geoff Stonebanks

Interestingly, back in 2017, a visitor to the garden posted this review on Trip Advisor after seeing the garden.

“The garden was a picture created by an artist – a delight of colours, secret glades of surprise, intricacies of fronds and leaves, inspiring and challenging, completely enjoyable”.

Read more of Geoff’s garden at www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk

The Road to Chelsea

A few weeks ago I was asked if would help out with taking the plants to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show that Thompson & Morgan would be using on various stands in the Grand Pavilion – having never been before, I readily agreed – what a chance to go and see a bit of “behind the scenes” at the world’s most prestigious flower show!

So, at 5.45am on the Thursday, five days before the show was due to start, I met with my colleague Peter Freeman, loaded up 7 trolleys of carefully packed plants (including some that were to potentially be judged for the Plant of the Year!) into a Luton van and away we went!

waiting to go in on the Road to Chelsea

The view of Chelsea from Battersea Park – Peter sitting in the queue

Unfortunately it wasn’t a smooth journey, traffic was horrendous and we eventually arrived at the main entrance to the flower show some 5 hours later (it should have taken about 2 hours!) – Only to be turned away and told to drive to Battersea Park and join the queuing system!

It wasn’t so bad, in the shade of some London Planes we patiently waited, glad that the plants were being kept cool in the back of the van, shuffling forward a few vehicles at a time until an hour later we were allowed back in!

Security was understandably tight, we were high-viz jacketed, steel toecap booted and then, suitably attired, we were scanned in and drove through.

inside the show - Road to Chelsea

It’s a bit busy in here!

To say it was absolute bedlam in there would be an understatement….and yet it was well organised bedlam, traffic marshals, were about, one personally led us to a place to park – somewhat amazed that we were involved in no less than 4 different stands!

There were literally vans everywhere and the air rang with the sound of circular saws, drills, cement mixers and hammers as sets were furiously being constructed, gardens created and magic was being woven into what everybody sees on the first day of the show.

unloading the plants - Road to Chelsea

Unloading the plants

Unloading the trolleys was fun as Peter and I negotiated them through tiny gaps between vans and got them into the Grand Pavilion. We immediately located Birmingham City Council’s Stand and duly gave them a huge number of Hydrangea ‘Black Diamond Shining Angel Blue’, Laurentia ‘Fizz n Pop Glowing Purple’, Orange begonias and stunning bi-coloured petunias ‘Miss Marvellous’. Peter soon located the Dahlia Society’s stand and they took their Dahlia ‘Lubega Power Tricolor’

By pure luck I spotted Mr. Peter Seabrook wandering through the throng and managed to accost him, say hello and got him to show me where the main stand for The Sun Newspaper was, the remaining plants, including a precious cargo of our SunBelievable ™ ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ , Gerberas and Hydrangea hybrid Runaway Bride® ‘Snow White’ were soon unloaded with them.

The sun newspaper stand - The Road to Chelsea

The Sun Newspaper stand under construction

Peter Seabrook absolutely loved both SunBelievable and the delightful spreading hydrangea was also greatly admired, soon both were being planned into the stand by Peter and Val, with Peter even clambering to the top with a huge pot, to see how it would look with a “river” of plants coming down the stand from the very top all the way down and then I got asked to go up too and hand him some more plants!

The last of the plants were delivered to the Horticultural Trades Association stand and we were then on hand to help with various bits and pieces, including taking some plants up to the Press Office area to “decorate” the steps.  And of course to grab a much needed bite to eat!

Once the van was loaded up with the now empty trolleys we slowly (and I mean VERY slowly) wound our way off of the site. As we were going so slowly, we had a great opportunity to peek at some of the other gardens and stands under construction, all looked amazing and I can’t wait to go back and see them finished

loading up and views - the road to chelsea

loading up and leaving the show

I’m returning to the show on the last Saturday to help on the stand, I’ll be armed with my phone’s camera and hopefully will have a tale to tell about the experience!

Trial plants at Driftwood Gardens

So, as we approach the end of the season, how have then plants received this year fared? Without doubt the one that has excelled and received many comments from our many visitors is Petunia Amore “Queen of Hearts”. It has  flowered prolifically throughout the season and is  still going strong in mid-September. It is interesting that many do not see the hearts in the petals until they are pointed out to them. A lovely plant that many say they will be buying in 2018. Another showstopper, without doubt has been the Sweet pea “Earl Grey”. I don’t normally have any  success with them in my windy garden but these seem to have  done very well and produced some amazing blooms greatly admired by visitors.

Petunia night sky, which I also had in 2016, has done very well again, many people still not having seen it before and much taken with it. The petunia mini rosebud Romantic Peach  took a while to get started but looked really pretty tumbling out of 2 rusty urns in the garden. A little bit  delicate, perhaps, for my garden as you really had to look to see  and appreciate them. The calendula “Winter Wonders Collection” did not work that well for me, likewise the Osteospermum “Falling Stars”. The latter arrived in poor condition through the post and you were not able to replace them.    The strawberries “Just add cream” started off really well but only one plant lasted the season and produce some delicious fruit. Geranium ‘Black Rose was a great success too! the dazzling blooms drawing attention in containers throughout the garden. Certainly one I would recommend. The Gazania “Shepherds Delight” were so very,  very slow to grow on and develop and I have to admit a few fell by the wayside, but then the flowers finally appeared, they were quite stunning. The Buddleja Davidii “Wisteria Lane” was not as impressive as I had hoped, maybe it was me,  but it seemed not to do too well in my coastal garden, quite badly bruised buy the salt winds.

Meanwhile the hydrangea Annabelle and the Erigeron Glaucas “Sea Breeze” that I purchased have both done really well.

In addition to this I was sent some trial, as yet unnamed, Hibiscus  and experimental lilies. Many suggested the lilies be called something along the lines of red hot chillies. Both were quite stunning when they flowered and were such bold colours. They received many positive comments from visitors.

Finally back in May we received the pack of experimental dahlias with just a reference letter to their name. They were potted up and have been such beautiful flowers. I have to admit the slugs and snails love them too, but the flowers have  been incredible. Dahlias, C, D, F & XXL were especially gorgeous and much remarked upon by visitors. All in all great season at Driftwood and we shall be doing it all over again in 2018.

Fabulous fuchsia tipped for success in 2017

Fabulous Fuchsia ‘Icing Sugar’ tipped for success in 2017: will this year’s cover outdo last year’s best seller?

T&M will give customers DOUBLE their money back if they don’t agree that this is the best fuchsia they’ve ever grown.

When Paul Hansord, horticultural director of Thompson & Morgan gifts the UK’s largest online plant retailer, saw Petunia ‘Night Sky’ last year, he immediately tipped it for success and featured it on the front cover of T&M’s spring catalogue. Sales of the spectacularly different petunia, which was a world first in flower patterning, exceeded all expectations with over 175,000 plants despatched last season. Retailers commented that they could have sold many, many more plants than stock levels allowed.

This year a fabulous new fuchsia is gracing the cover of Thompson & Morgan’s spring 2017 catalogue, and forecasts suggest that it will be the mail order specialist’s best seller for next season. Paul Hansord says: “I’m so convinced of the performance and flower power of Fuchsia ‘Icing Sugar’ that I’ll give our customers double their money back if they don’t believe that this is the best fuchsia they’ve ever grown!”*

Fuchsia 'icing Sugar'

Fuchsia ‘icing Sugar’

Paul’s confidence in Fuchsia ‘Icing Sugar’ is understandable. With its stunning frosted purple and cerise blooms and its compact habit, it is perfect for large patio pots and eye-catching border planting. Thousands of blooms are produced over the summer on a tidy cushion of dense foliage giving gardeners a great value, full season of colour. What also makes this fuchsia so special is that the rich, true fuchsia-pink sepals unfurl to reveal an unusual two-tone, twisting central corolla that has an intriguing frosted sheen to it.

Geoff Stonebanks, gardening writer, blogger and creator/owner of The Driftwood Garden near Lewes in Sussex, trialled ‘Icing Sugar’ for T&M last year and says: “The beautiful new fuchsia, ‘Icing Sugar’, certainly lives up to its name; a delicate and frosted gem.” Geoff added: “As an avid fuchsia lover, this delicate and frosted “Icing Sugar”, on show in my garden for the first time this summer, is utterly stunning.”

Petunia 'Night Sky'

Petunia ‘Night Sky’

Petunia ‘Night Sky’ has not, as is often the case after a loud launch and high initial sales, dropped off the best seller list and T&M forecasts the continued success of this very special petunia. Unlike the markings of other varieties, which can be inconsistent, the speckled stars of ‘Night Sky’ are consistent across all the blooms with every flower offering a different astral constellation. When Petunia ‘Night Sky’ was first introduced, some gardeners speculated that the images of had been digitally ‘enhanced’ until they grew the plants and saw the stunning markings for themselves.

Petunias and fuchsias are top of the UK’s list of favourite bedding and container plants and consistently come first in consumer surveys. With Petunia ‘Night Sky’ winning a People’s Choice Competition at Thompson & Morgan’s show garden at Jimmy’s Farm, in Suffolk last summer, there is every hope that Fuchsia ‘Icing Sugar’ will have similar success as T&M’s lead cover item this year. Paul Hansord’s confidence in offering a ‘double your money back’ guarantee would suggest that he is in no doubt that it will be a big hit in gardens this summer.
For information on how to grow fuchsias, go to www.thompson-morgan.com/growfuchsias

*see website for terms and conditions.

The dreaded Autumn Colour!

 

At the end of October we took a break from the garden and went to stay with our dear friend Sonja who lives in The National Forest (imagine small thatched ginger bread house in woodland clearing – no – small but perfectly formed terrace in Swadlincote). We left home on the Friday to summer’s last hurrah; two days later we returned to autumnal gloom. Knee deep in leaf litter everywhere; it’s all very well extolling the virtues of Autumn Colour (hushed voices, deep awe), if only it would stay on the trees! Gutters blocked, paths and lawns littered, shrub canopies choked, containers swamped. And then, do you let the leaves rot down to a natural mulch in the borders or do you clear them away so they don’t rot the crowns of your prized perennials? (Neat freak, clear them away, and then add somebody else’s mulch for £4.50 a bag.)

Acers on a spectacular scale - October 2016

Acers on a spectacular scale – October 2016

Anyway, mercifully so far I have been able to sweep this year’s leaf litter up during the current dry spell. Woe betide it should rain, you take your life in your hands every time you step outside your front door! (Talking of Autumn Colour, some of the best I’ve seen has to be on the stretch of M1 motorway between Northampton and Leicester.) Autumn Colour apart, it’s the low light levels at dawn and dusk, casting their luminescent glow over the fiery landscape that gets me every year, just magical.

Coleus 'Campfire' & Hydrangea 'Zorro'

Coleus ‘Campfire’ & Hydrangea ‘Zorro’

In contrast to my androgynous gardening demeanour, Sonja, being a perfumery consultant, is a fragrant jewel! So for the first time in about 30 years I treated my feminine side to some perfume. And the point of the story is this: Wearing said perfume whilst sweeping up the dreaded Autumn Colour (and why not?) just smelled wrong! It masked the scents of the soil and natural fragrance of the flowers that I hadn’t even consciously registered before. How about that!

Now it truly is autumn in the garden

Now it truly is autumn in the garden

……Anyway, back in my gardening world, I was so excited about all the plants I was going to grow in my new propagator that I forgot one fundamental thing – to water them: Guess what, they all died! I am rubbish at cuttings, I really am, having always put it down to lazy horticultural practices. A brief knock to my confidence before taking another lot of cuttings (host plants looking a bit bald thereafter) whilst promising to learn by my mistakes. So we will see. However as insurance I have supplied a duplicate set (what is the collective for cuttings?) of salvia involucrata and confertifolia (sounds like a musical score) to the Chairman (Chair, Chairperson, whatever!) of our local Hort Soc, who is a veritable cuttings magician.
Whilst we are on the subject of my shortcomings, how many times do I have to lose my heucheras to vine weevil before I learn my lesson? Empty pots, add fresh compost, plant heucheras, feel noble. Simple! And why oh why do I put off splitting perennials for five years? A WW1 trenching tool was the only implement hefty enough to shift the clump of white phlox with a root ball the size of a wrecking ball! While we are at it, perhaps it would be a good idea to clean the greenhouse windows before the automatic lights stay on permanently. (The electricity bill has already doubled due to the heated propagators, and David’s paternal concern for the mice.)

flaming central bed & FUCHSIAfuchsiaberry

flaming central bed & FUCHSIAfuchsiaberry

Really though I cannot believe we have reached November already. Whilst David is raring to go with his festive red berry lighting for the front garden, I am so behind with my jobs: so reluctant to lift the cannas, some of which have only just come into flower; have hastily stuffed & wrapped the tree fern (oven ready?) but must must must raise the containers onto pot feet, fleece the eucomis and bring the tender salvias under cover. T & M Crackerjack petunias and new Bidens are still flowering in the hanging baskets, half hardy annuals, tender perennials and my treasured ricinus are still in full swing but surely it’s only a matter of time before they are cut down by frost. I did succumb to tulips in the end, black Paul Scherer and white Triumphator (not sure, threw the packaging away, why do I do that every year?) planted in amongst the grasses out front.

Hanging baskets just keep on going!

Hanging baskets just keep on going!

I am so reluctant to get on with it all, as it will signify the end of this amazing horticultural year for us. But no doubt I will find something to write about in December but until then have a productive autumn and be careful not to slip on those dratted leaves.

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