What a month! It has been very busy with, amongst other things, a Royal helicopter landing at the front of the house. The Duchess of Gloucester was opening a hospice in Worcester and a hospital in Pershore, so her helicopter was landed in our front field, on the same day as the marquee was erected for the first wedding reception of the season. We were warned not to cut the grass on the same day as a helicopter landing, otherwise there would be grass everywhere!
The following week I moved home from the Granary to Gardener's Cottage, where Elgar sometimes stayed during his visits to the Berkeley family. The cottage is in the garden and overlooks the peacock pen. I have yet to decide whether I still like the peacocks as I now get woken at about 5am every morning!
Then the BBC arrived to film a couple of pieces for a series called Castles in the Country. It took all day to film two slots, each of 4 minutes! It has been a really busy 3 weeks.
Keeping the wildlife out of the Kitchen Garden is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Mice have eaten the seeds, pigeons have nibbled off the brassicas and to top it all I noticed that rabbits have been grazing off the onions and parsley! Hazel sticks laid over the rows reduce the pigeon damage, and my old Head Gardener suggested moth balls to keep mice at bay, which seem to have worked really well; however every now and then the odd smell of elderly wardrobes mingles with the scent of philadelphus on the breeze.
After all the rain the garden borders are really looking good, the herbaceous paeonies are almost over but the tree paeonies are just beginning. The bright pink gladiolus byzantinus (see pic.) have made a really showy display and the tulip tree in the copse is flowering again.
Phillip, our stand in help, has now finished and is hoping to make a career in radio, whilst Richard has recovered from his knee operation and will be back at work at the beginning of June.
