Play in the Garden

A sunny morning and playtime in the garden - Theo has a new golf set ...

..but he soon found out that an alternative use was walking sticks. 



We also kept an eye out for mini-beasts which Theo has been learning about at nursery.  Particularly spiders occupying the many delicate but intricate webs between the branches of the shrubs.

Colourful Flowers

Back to the garden at Kilver Court for a close-up look at some of the colourful individual flowers planted there..

This 'Chocolate Cosmos' was a very unusual colour.

The garden has a wonderful variety of dahlias..

Some of the dahlias were very popular with bees..

This extraordinary flower looked much like an orchid, but with a lily leaf..

Another very unusual plant - a shrub - Trifoliate Orange - also known as 'nature's barbed wire' - for obvious reasons..

The velvety fruit will turn bright orange in Autumn.  The thorns are quite formidable!

The Garden at Kilver Court

This 'secret' garden is tucked away behind the Mulberry Factory Shop and Designer Shopping Village at Shepton Mallett.  Formerly the grounds of a factory, it is an interesting blend of restored industrial landscape - mill ponds and mill race with a 19th century railway viaduct in the background - and some inspired modern planting.

There are quiet corners such as this little stone roundhouse, used for small weddings...

But also bold planting of colourful shrubs and perennials.,

An extensive rockery and alpine garden..

The garden was designed in the 1950's to re-create a Chelsea Gold Medal winning garden.  At that time the site was offices and factory buildings for the Showering company - inventors of Babycham.

The stone for the rockery and for some of the walls and paths came from all over the country.  Apparently the empty Babycham lorries, having delivered their little bottles of 'sparkling perry', would be loaded with stone for the return journey.

The original mill on the site is thought to have been established around 1500, using the waters of the River Sheppey.  More than 500 years later, the garden is a very quiet and beautiful spot.

Raindrops on Roses

This afternoon, having had lunch at Maggie's, we all went to Shepton Mallet.

There we visited Kilver Court - a Designer Shopping Village, Cafe, Garden Centre and Garden in the valley of the River Sheppey and under the Charlton Viaduct.

We focused on visiting the beautifully laid out garden and I took so many photos!  

Today I will focus on the roses growing in the Parterre - two colours - purple fading to blue (one was Blue for You, the other possibly Rhapsody in Blue)  - and deep pink..

There appeared to be two distinct varieties of rose in each colour.  Above - Gertrude Jekyll.  Below - a pink floribunda which we did not see a name for.

Each rose flower had large raindrops amongst its petals from early morning showers.

Really a beautiful corner of a lovely garden..

Colour in the Garden

A quick tour of Mum's garden this morning to capture some of the late Summer colour.  

These purple Morning Glory flowers are very vibrant and  almost give an illusion of light shining out from deep inside.

This Fireworks Hydrangea is doing well, many flowers and all at different stages..

The Cosmos were attracting the interest of a variety of bees of different types and sizes..

Finally, this beautiful Small Tortoiseshell butterfly seemed to favour the Phlox and the tall Verbena Bonarensis..

Emma, Lady Hamilton

In addition to the pleasure of being at home with family, it is always good to spend time with Emma - our last remaining 'family' cat - bought for Lauren around 15 years ago and living happily with her family now.

The 'Superman' pose seems to be a favourite amongst Birmans.