Welcome to the SRT blog No. 60
9th July 2021 – Welcome to our blog post No. 60
What a week at Hampton Court for Sunnyside, and it doesn’t finish until Sunday evening!
Last Friday Ann & Ian went up to deliver the planter plants and we had our first glimpse of the garden.
The Saturday team went up to set up the stand – and it rained – just a bit but we were able to keep everything off the ground, covered up and dry.
Good job, as Sunday night it poured with rain and on the drive in you could see so many puddles on the roads – and Hampton Court was a tad muddy in places. Tuesday helped a stuck ambulance out of the car park.
Monday was Press & Preview Day. It started at 9.00am with Tom Stuart-Smith, the garden designer, receiving his award from the Director General of the RHS, Sue Biggs for their recognition of him as their Iconic Horticultural Hero for the year. This was filmed and photographed by the BBC.
Then the morning was spent talking to press, photographers, writers, garden designers and bloggers all interested in our story and about the plants that Sunnyside have grown for this garden, this year. Everyone should be immensely proud as the feedback has been just amazing.
It was fantastic that 4 trainees from Hemel Food Garden came up to Hampton Court with Ian and Jules to experience the atmosphere and see the plants grown by Sunnyside in the garden. Then there was an 11.40 photocall at Tom Stuart-Smiths and Sunnyside’s, Iconic Horticultural Hero dry garden. Olivia, Robert, Katie and Gemma had their photos taken by the RHS press team and then went for a good look round the show.
Sunnyside was on the BBC coverage for @RHSHamptonCourt last night. If you missed it you can catch up on iplayer BBC1 RHS Hampton Court – Episode 2, about 15 minutes in. Here’s a mini clip for you.
The garden has been designed as a climate-resilient planting of meadow perennials interspersed with Mediterranean shrubs. It includes a loose planting of figs, Pistacia, Phillyrea and the rare Mediterranean conifer Tetraclinis articulata. Together these trees and shrubs form a framework for a colourful mix of flowers and grasses. Every plant included is adapted to hot and fairly dry conditions. Scroll to the end to see the plant list.
Here’s George’s video from the Tuesday team, to give you a view walking through the garden.
Absolutely fantastic.
What else is going on at the sites this week……
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Annette and Luka were working on the market stall this week – every Thursday 11.00 until 1pm, unless bad weather. There was still lots to sell even though much went to the Hampton Court stand.
Neil, Paul and Mark had their L plates on learning to use the lawnmower around the Activity Centre site.
Noreen is harvesting the first of the courgettes this season – green by the looks of them
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Last Friday at Hemel food Garden, it was all hands to the deck pressure washing the buses ready for their trips to Hampton Court – good to look smart.
And then on Monday it was paddling about and scooping out the flooded water……..
The bakery had its first outside group from Community Action Dacorum, join Aly for a team build morning. Lunch was served and the rolls, made in the morning were filled with goodies from the café. I can smell them now. Yummy.
We met Toby the dog the other week – now he has his own awesome bean house, built by Heidi’s team this week.
The beetroot harvest for the veg boxes.
Couple of birthdays this week at Hemel Food Garden – Jules and Heidi celebrated.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you both!
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Northchurch have had their first strawberry harvest of 2021.
Sean helping write labels for the veg bags for the veg boxes. Preparing the beetroot for the veg boxes.
Common orchids have been spotted on site and they are wild so very exciting and no picking for the flower vase.
Sheep continue to enjoy and munch down (officially called grazing) on their new patch.
The team have been carrying out more work on the pond adding more wood chip to the path and cutting back around the fence.
Around the new pond, next to the mess room and patio, Norhchurch did some more planting and it’s starting to looking good, just need a few more plants in there.
Kevin and the gang were carrying doors down to the goats space to add to their newly built shelter.
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Here’s the list of plants grown Sunnyside for the @tomstuartsmith Hampton Court garden.
PERENNIALS
**Achillea ‘Credo’
**Agastache ‘Blackadder’
Allium sphaerocephalon
Atriplex halimus
Bupleurum falcatum
**Catananche caerulea
Cenolophium denudatum
Cynara cardunculus
Cynara cardunculus
Dianthus carthusianorum
Digitalis lutea
Echinacea pallida
**Eryngium yuccifolium
Eryngium zabelii ‘Big Blue’
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’
Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’
**Geranium ‘Brookside ‘
Geranium ‘Havana Blues’
Geranium psilostemon
Geranium sanguineum ‘Elsbeth’
**Gillenia trifoliata
Knautia macedonica ‘Mars Midget’
Kniphofia ‘Mango Popsicle’
**Liatris pycnostachya
Helianthus salicifolius
Macleaya ‘Spetchley Ruby’
**Monarda bradburiana
**Monarda fistulosa
Nepeta ‘Summer Magic’
Melianthus major
Penstemon digitalis ‘Dark Towers’
Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’
Salvia ‘Dear Anja’
Salvia turkestanica
**Salvia ‘Amethyst’
Scabiosa columbaria
Sedum ‘Pueple Emperor’
Thalictrum ‘Splendide’
Verbena officinalis ‘Bampton’
GRASSES
Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’
**Festuca glauca
Melica ciliata
Stipa calamagrostis
We have quite a few of them still available to buy (see **) at Hemel Food Garden, but some have all been used in the garden and will be going onto RHS Garden Wisely after the show. They will be used in the replanting of the bicentenary glasshouse garden, which Tom originally designed in 2007. This garden is now being adjusted to cope with hotter, drier summers.
Photos next week of the teams at Hampton Court each day this week. Thank you all.