Cutting the miscanthus

On the estate farm we have been experimenting for a few years by growing an energy crop called miscanthus, more commonly known as elephant grass.  It's getting late, so I'll spare you the smug "green" chat about why it is that we put the crop in, and how wonderfully energy efficient it is and all that, and instead just show you some photos of the really amazing machine that the contractor used to slice-and-dice the crop.

In a following post, one of these days when time allows, I would like to expand a little more on how Iford is doing its bit to promote renewables.

Garden Update 15 April 2010

If the gardens at Iford are anything to go by, there is definitely plenty of evidence of "green shoots"...  here are some of the highlights from my walk around this afternoon.  

Iford is open on Sundays from 2-5pm currently, and at other times for groups by appointment.  From May, full opening commences, with almost daily opening.  See Iford's website for details.

Perhaps most magnificent is the magnolia by the Loggia pond, just entering its prime this coming week.

The semi-shaded white magnolia in the yard has a week or two to go as well

Little ferns in the shade outside the side door of the manor unfurl with the warmer weather

Wild flowers under the mulberry tree, happy to see their chequerboard lawns smartened up this morning 

Japanese Cherry

This Vitis Cognitiae, which lives in a yew tree (and which gives us a glorious display of red leaves towards the end of the summer) is unusually flowering this year.  Could this be as a result of the harsh winter, anyone?

Wisteria-watch: in front of the house, three weeks or so away

But the warmer wisteria on the front face of the house, has two fronds opening.

Cherries on the lawn are in full flow

Wild flowers on the Cloister path provide a merry scene.

And of course, although we have been enjoying them inside the house for a while, the first round of 'public' orchids have appeared in their pots.  Here, pictured in the Loggia window.

Healthy lichen, healthy air.

Lichen has long been understood by scientists as an indicator-species for air pollution, and it is my understanding that the more frail-looking and leafy a lichen is, the more it is susceptible to air quality. 

So it brings great satisfaction (and not a little relief!) to discover that despite the flight path for Bristol airport and the A36 in relatively close proximity, our lichen are telling us they're happy with an explosion in the growth on the old cherry tree on the great terrace, amongst others.

So... if you need a gulp of fresh air, you know where to come!

p.s. Starter for 10:  can anyone name the lichen pictured?

Garden report: Easter Sunday (April 4th, 2010)

Thank you to all those who visited us today for our first day of opening this year.  We were all rewarded with sunshine and a brisk breeze.

During the summer season, we quite often get our regular visitors ring us up and ask whether they might know if the x, y or z has come into flower yet.  Usually it's the wisteria, sometimes the magnolia, on occasion the cherry blossom.  Well, we're absolutely delighted that people want to know, so please, don't feel embarrassed or apologetic about asking - we'd much rather you saw what you wanted to see, than that you arrived expecting wisteria and found you'd missed it by a day or two, or whatever.  Instead, be proud to be an Ifordian, part of that select club of people that are 'in the know', and keep in touch!

To make things a bit easier, and very much on the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, as the summer season progresses we're aiming to post (at least fortnightly, if not weekly) a short pictorial report on the current plant-situation in the garden.  This will act as an opportunity to see what you missed if you didn't visit last week, and also to show you what you might expect to see if you were to visit in the next couple of weeks.

And here is the garden report issued from the Iford office at 19.00 hours on Easter Sunday:

Blooming marvellously are:

Clematis armandii on the front of the house

Grape Hyacinth

Fritillary (with a pair of anemonies)

Camellia by the loggia

Iford's native buxus sempervirens (and what a crop of seeds we had!) which grows to 40 feet

And budding up nicely are:

Ornamental cherry on the top lawn

Cotton buds on the ornamental willow

Fig on the South Wall of the Cloister

Clematis montana rubens in the Cloister

Japanese White Iris kaempferi in the Oriental Garden

Magnolia soulangiana by the Loggia

Tree Peony lutaeia (probably not 'ludlowii')

Wisteria sinensis on the Casita

And not forgetting the orchard...

New Season

The sun is out, the spring is here and the little narcissi are smiling.

Iford opens at 2pm for the new season.  We're also open tomorrow for Easter Monday, again 2-5pm.

Why not pop over for a potter in the grounds and a cup of tea in the tearoom?