A great day at the Palace...
I had the incredible experience of being invited to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. The day before I went, a friend said I ought to wear a buttonhole made up of flowers from the garden. Why had I not thought of that? It had been the garden that had ultimately got me the invite, so I really ought to take a part of it with me.
I selected a rose called ‘I Am Macmillan’, a kangaroo paw, some lavender, phuopsis ‘Pretty Pink’ and some greenery. It certainly did the trick and caught the eye of the Prince of Wales, when he came over to talk to my 91-yearold mother and I. We had the opportunity to have a good look at the Palace gardens, too. A great day.
Back at Driftwood, we’ve had three open days already and the garden has looked pretty amazing, for me to say that it must be good! Award-winning Chelsea gold medalist and garden designer, Juliet Sargeant, opened our first public day, the Mayor’s Garden Trail, on June 10. There were lots of wonderful comments about how lush the garden looked. A lot of this has to do with the feeding regime. I’ve now fed every single plant, shrub and annual five times this season and the results certainly speak for themselves.
Looking amazing at the moment are the beautiful lilies. They belonged to an aunt who died in 2004 and they’re still dazzling us all.
I’m particularly pleased with the area around the pond. There’s so much colour on show and the wooden sculpture I bought last autumn really complements the planting.
Another plant making a statement at the moment is the magenta ‘Veilchenblau’ rambling rose behind the house.
The kangaroo paw, from which I cut the flower for the buttonhole, is making a real statement in the gravel bed at the back. The white bottlebrush came through the extremely cold winter and has flowered profusely again.
Meanwhile, in the front beach garden, the sea thrift has produced many gorgeous long stems that support globes of bright pink flowers that contrast beautifully with the gravel.
Read more on Geoff’s garden at www. driftwoodbysea.co.uk.