ABC Wednesday 5/ OOTS: J is for...

... Jaunt

I'm on my way over to Kent at the moment, for a jolly day tomorrow at Palmstead Nursery, where I will be immersed in a seminar on public planting best practice in the morning, followed by a tour of the nursery in the afternoon. There will be lots of purchasing opportunities, though I suspect these are expected to be by the odd thousand or two - as the seminar's aimed at local authorities and landscape businesses - rather than the few things I can manage to fit in the boot of my car :o

I'm expecting to learn loads from Chris Beardshaw et al. which I'm hoping to not only write about later, but also talk to my local council about :)

The picture's from another jaunt, recently made with my SUP friend S. We stopped off in Radstock on the way to Wells 2 weekends ago, to admire this stunning public planting right in the middle of town. It just goes to show it doesn't have to be all hanging baskets or eye fryingly bright bedding. More to come.

In the meantime, much more in the shape of J can be found over at ABC Wednesday.

Comments

  1. CanadianGardenJoy23 September 2009 at 12:44

    VP you are always on the go girl !
    I am very jealous of all these wonderful trips and seminars you attend .. but you are also very generous with what you have learned and what beautiful pictures you have taken : ) Have a wonderful time girl!
    Joy

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  2. Rose23 September 2009 at 13:35

    Sounds like a jolly day! Perhaps this type of seminar will go a long way in improving the kind of public plantings that you have been so kind to share with us, VP. I really enjoyed your last post; very informative. I'm sure the U.S. has some similar awards somewhere, but I'm not familiar with anything like "Britain in Bloom" locally. This has to be a good motivation for public officials and businessmen to think about their "outside appearance."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carrie23 September 2009 at 13:46

    Oh, sounds like fun!
    LOVE the photo, I adore grasses etc, so easy to look after and they look amazing all year round. I really must try and get some photos from my home town - they'll be wick but hey, let's compare x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gail23 September 2009 at 14:20

    Dear VP...I need a jaunt with a few gardening friends! This one sounds like fun and then the garden shopping makes it even better. So just how many plants were you able to fit into your boot? gail

    ReplyDelete
  5. petoskystone23 September 2009 at 14:48

    i enjoy plantings like radstock much more than the neon plantings! neon blooms seem to show more insect & sun damage to my eye.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Esther Montgomery23 September 2009 at 16:23

    I came to check that mentioning you on today's Esther's Boring Garden Blog (Flattening the Knoll and Comtemplating Age) is ok.

    Esther

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susan Tomlinson23 September 2009 at 17:18

    Now that's my kind of public planting. I love grasses and believe them to be ridiculously underused.

    Have fun on your outing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mary Delle LeBeau23 September 2009 at 20:18

    What a nice public planting. I, too, like the use of the grasses. Good travels to you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mr. McGregor's Daughter23 September 2009 at 22:21

    That planting would be right at home in Chicagoland, with all those beautiful grasses. Somebody's doing a great job over there,

    ReplyDelete
  10. colleen23 September 2009 at 22:30

    We had Richard Reynolds, Guerilla Gardener, come to speak to the East End WI last week and he was soooo inspiring ( hope I have not mentioned this before - but I was rather smitten). I've been going round looking for places to sow some seed surreptitiously ever since.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Frances24 September 2009 at 10:42

    Wonderful VP, your energy level is amazing. That planting shown is such a fine example of what can be done in home gardens as well as public places. More grasses and easy care perennials to make the buzzers happy. Love your dedication to improving things! :-)
    Frances

    ReplyDelete
  12. Carrie24 September 2009 at 13:59

    Please also note that you have an award to collect at my blog, yes you, yippeeee!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Plant Mad Nige24 September 2009 at 14:14

    That looks fantastically beautiful. And all those grasses will be so good during winter, and are so great for wildlife too.

    I think public planting is getting better but there's still a long way to go. The great thing is that people who live in the community should be able to help make decisions on what gets planted, rather than the local authority doing it all by the book.

    ReplyDelete
  14. VP28 September 2009 at 10:42

    Joy - thanks. I've got lots to tell you :)

    Rose - It was :) BIB's the largest scheme of it's kind in Europe. I sometimes wonder though if it stifles the freer, more sponaneous kind of community gardening activity like you have in the States

    Carrie - this isn't from my home town unfortuantely. The ones from Chippenham on the whole are also wick!

    Gail - I didn't feel like I could stuff my car boot because it's a wholesale establishment. Next time I think I'll be a bit bolder!

    Petoskystone - I like this planting even more every time I see it. I first saw it on a grey November day 2 years ago, an even greyer January day this year and now a sunny day in September. It certainly seems to be standing the test of time!

    Esther - thank you. I've been to visit already :)

    Susan. I'm only really just coming into appreciating grasses. Up until now I've been struggling to find a relevance for it in a small bed in a garden like mine. However, seeing it in a smaller scale public planting helps with the editing process and who knows what might happen in my own garden?

    Mary Delle - welcome! I'm glad you like it :)

    MMD - they certainly are. I must write to the council and ask them about how much time is taken with its upkeep for a fuller post on this planting.

    Colleen - I've only corresponded with him by email, so I'm quite jealous. One of the speakers (Brita von Schoenaisch) at the public planting seminar also said he's inspirational. I thought about cheekily suggesting him as a speaker at next year's workshop, but I suspect a number of the attendeed there last week wouldn't approve!

    Frances - that garden was alive with all kinds of buzzers - I love the way you say that!

    Carrie - yippee and thank you :) I'll be a little while in responding if that's OK as I have a couple of end/beginning of month regulars to do, plus I want to finish writing up my workshop notes on here before I forget all the things that were said around them.

    Nige - I think this planting's exceptional and I so wish someone in Chippenham council had a similar vision. You make such a good point about community involvement - it came up again and again at last week's workshop.

    ReplyDelete

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