The sun shone on both Saturday and Sunday as we welcomed 177 lovely people to tea on the 30th and 31st of May. Our guests drank industrial quantities of tea, ate truckloads of scones with jam and clotted cream, and, importantly, chomped through an array of amazing homemade cakes provided by the wonderful chaps who bake for NGS garden Ferns Lodge and its opening… Thank you Karen, Barbara, Adele, and scone master Gary…
We sold masses of plants, grown here as well as by our lovely neighbour Nicky, as well as 94 jars of Ferns Lodge honey (it tastes amazing!) for which we thank the bees, Harry, and Corine. Also, thanks to Josh and Steve who provided tastings and took the loot for us!
Barbara’s marmalade (the best in the known world) and chutneys also found homes. A massive thank you to her and to Chalky, who priced and sold plants at a furious rate…
Tea is a serious business here, so massive thanks to Sue, Susan, Hollie, Adele, and Sophie for wrestling with the recalcitrant tea urn and feeding all our guests…
Isabel and Charles, our finance department, took the money and organised everyone. A big thanks to Charles for all the help with the build-up and shut-down too… Melvyn, our car park director in the field, was as ever amazing, and thank you to Cameron and his horses for making way for the cars that visited us, bringing hungry guests!
Gardener Simon did everything and was everywhere as ever, as well as totally ignoring my panicking throughout. Also, thanks to Lawrence, whose patience with my limitations as a blogger is heroic, and his help with social media is so much appreciated.
The mid-garden, despite dry weather, put on a great display, and next year it will be even better… Now that the NGS signs are gone, furniture is back in place, and the greenhouse and potting shed are returning to normal, the rhythm of this old place has returned. Unsold plants that I have brought on are going out into the garden – I feel like a thief as I pick them up and plant them in my garden! As spring slides into summer, together with some welcome rain and a not-so-welcome breeze, we are now cutting back and watching the summer planting develop.
And of course, there are now new projects in the planning, people to see, stuff to research, and then hard work in the garden to be ready for our NGS opening next year… We hope to amaze you in 2027!
Contact sue.grant@fernslodge.co.uk.
