Summer Round-up

It was a really busy year, and we decided to take the summer off from blogging to allow us to get some other projects underway (details of those to follow). But now we’ll be back to regular updates here on the blog. You may also like to check out our Facebook Page.

Garden Borders

This year has seen the redevelopment of a further set of borders as we continue our four year project to bring the softer, floral elements of Harold Peto’s garden up to the quality which his buildings now deserve.

Working with garden designer Alison Jenkins, the annual border from last year (which was an emergency measure owing to a late winter!) has been replaced by the planned perennial border. And following a prolonged summer, it came into its own bringing colour right through to the end of October.

Next year it should be even better as the hardier, slower growing plants will have established themselves properly.

Iford Arts - Cloister Centenary Season

This year was the 100th Anniversary of Harold Peto’s Cloister, a remarkable building from 1914 in the 12th Century style, which today houses our performances of opera, jazz and other events.

This year the season was entirely Italian in style. Productions included the charming love story of Puccini’s La Rondine, Donizetti’s comedy La Fille du Regiment (reworked brilliantly by Jeff Clarke to be set in a troop of Californian bikers) and an emotionally intense production of Monteverdi’s Ulysses. Keep an eye out for next year’s programme or sign up to the mailing list on the Iford Arts Website.

Wisteria Season - all year!

A most unusually dry, warm summer, ensured that the wisteria flowered not once or twice, but sporadically all through the summer, only losing its last flowers on the First of October.  Who knows whether this will be repeated next year, but we can only hope!

Hydro Plant Update

The downside of a great summer is that there's no water in the river from which to make electricity - so the Hydro Plant has been almost completely dormant for 5 months.  In recent weeks we have got it turning again and now we are back, thankfully, to generating some meaningful power.  We will still probably manage to make this an average year (the first quarter was jolly wet, after all), but it's a relief to have it running nevertheless.

Visitor Numbers

We found ourselves on television earlier in the year, as the garden designer Paul Hervey-Brookes asked the BBC to film his Chelsea Flower Show introduction here, which was very kind of him!  As a result we saw more visitors to the garden in June than in recent years, and a much larger number of 'pilgrims' who had travelled from across the country specifically to visit the garden.  

It is always humbling to be reminded of the meaning and value which people place in the gardens here which we seek to maintain true to Mr Peto's ethos.

Tea Room Success

Iford's Housekeeper, Sarah (The Crafty Housekeeper), made a great impression this year in the tearoom with a new range of cakes and tasty bites.  The Rocky Road was a particular favourite and one member of the family (yours truly) had to start exercising more as a result.

Other Events

Butterfly Day 2014 was a roaring success; various charity walks and sponsored events came through; our tiny caravan site has welcomed a small number of rallies and casual visitors; we hosted three motocross events; it was a busy year on the farm dealing with new cattle housing; we removed our crop of Miscanthus which was under-performing for various reasons; repairs to the cloister became urgent as was suffering some ground instability under one corner; and this morning the 350 runners on the annual "Over the Hills Race" forded the river and ran the half mile up the drive on their 8 mile cross country run.

Roll on the winter!  I wonder what it will bring.

Autumn turns to Winter

A lot going on in the garden and on the estate, so watch out for some reports on that - ranging from Peto's rose garden, to Alison Jenkins' new designs for the borders on the terrace for 2014, some stonework challenges, and the excitement of winter garden maintenance.

Meanwhile, here are some photos of the winter transition.  For more, you can find us on Facebook here:

Post by Iford Manor: The Peto Gardens.

  

Autumn images

Autumn colour - pots, beds and leaves

Alison Jenkins produced some brilliantly colourful borders this year.  Now, with winter approaching, the team has taken the annuals out in preparation for the first of the perennials to be planted.  This is the next phase of our Replanting Scheme which is a three year project to realign the floral element of the garden, to be more in tune with Harold Peto's ethos.

With the warm weather still just about clinging on (although we had a light frosting last night on the top of the hills), we still have some late colour in the garden, and not just from the pots.

  Visitors today were treated to a warm afternoon bathed in beautiful, low autumn sunlight which back-lit the leaves of the great cercidiphyllum...

...and here the Vitis coignetiae which blushes through the old (150-200 year old) yew tree by the conservatory.

 The venerable chestnuts are changing their costumes too, and in a fortnight or so I would expect to see the beech trees above begin to turn and the acers by the cloister to join in the fun.

Welcome, Autumn!

The evenings are drawing in now that the equinox is passed, and whilst the birds may still be singing and the Indian summer sun breaking gently through the mists, the mellow fruitfulness requires some pruning.  Mark, our fruit tree expert has been putting the cordon trees to bed for the year.  The oldest apples in the kitchen garden pre-date Harold Peto by quite some stretch, but they battle on (mostly).

 Meanwhile, the last of the floral colour in the garden is holding out, while we wait for the trees to change their wardrobe for the 'fall'.

 

 But the trees aren't far behind... so don't forget that Iford is still open on Sundays in October.

A walk round the garden this afternoon

I had twenty minutes spare this afternoon, and the sun was shining.  So, armed annoyingly with the less good camera, I set off into the garden to see what I could find.  Leaves, mostly, and the odd berry.

 

The last vestiges of Autumn

What a damp chill in the air today!  Autumn is most definitely losing its battle against winter's vanguard.  A couple of days ago I was out in the garden with the camera and I was lucky enough to enjoy a half hour's sunshine in the morning.  Light never ceases to amaze me.

[apologies for image quality - something went awry with the compression for web - if anyone's desperate, I can have another try]