The Picton Garden / Old Court Nurseries – End February 23

[lugg]

Really there is not a lotof info about this small garden , so this report is mainly photos. So it will be short, and, hopefully sweet. I certainly loved it and it was good to see so much colour as Winter ends.
The garden can be found in a village called Colwell just on the Herefordshire border with Worcestershire at the base of the Malvern Hills. It is a small site of just about 2 acres which is also home to a nursery specialising in Michaelmas Daisies (Asters) ; it houses the National Collection, about 430 varieties. It sits in the middle of the village and is bordered by roads and houses, an oasis of peace and calm. I can imagine how lovely it would be to live in one of the houses with views of this garden.

Some more info here ;

www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/gardendetails/the-picton-garden

And taken from the web-site ,

Situated on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills Old Court Nurseries & The Picton Garden covers 2 acres on the edge of the village of Colwall. The nursery was established in 1906 by Michaelmas daisy breeder Ernest Ballard to start commercially producing his plants. Over the decades he raised many award-winning cultivars including the well-known ‘Marie Ballard’.
In 1947 he was joined by the first of the Picton family, the great plantsman Percy Picton, who came to manage the nursery. At this stage all the asters were grown open ground.
In 1952, soon after Ernest Ballard had died, Percy bought the business and in 1959 was joined by his son Paul. Unfortunately, during the 1970’s asters stopped being so popular and gradually the stock of daisies was reduced, and part of the nursery became a garden of stock beds.
In the early 1980’s Paul met and married Meriel and together began to restore and enlarge the collection of Asters. Before long this was recognised by NCCGP (now Plant Heritage). During this time Paul began to enlarge the stock garden in the southern 1 acre of the site to display the increasing numbers of Asters. After Percy’s death this garden was named the Picton Garden in his memory and coincided with the Wyche and Colwall Horticultural Society founding the Percy Picton Memorial Fund. The latter raises money for students of Horticulture from the HR, WR and GL postcode areas. Since then the garden has been featured on several TV programmes including BBC Gardener’s World and regularly in magazines and newspapers.
More recently Helen, Paul and Meriel’s daughter and the third generation of Picton’s, along with her husband Ross Barbour have taken over the nursery and garden. Helen and Ross are now the curators for the Plant Heritage National Collection of autumn flowering asters and related genera with more than 430 varieties. They continue to take the garden forward, expanding the seasons of interest and pushing the boundaries of this little 1.5-acre garden, using lots of winding paths to create the illusion of size. There is an evolving woodland area, thanks to Pauls brilliant tree choice, where a great range of unusual plants can be found including a large part of the 300+ varieties of Snowdrop and over 100 different ferns. There is always something of interest, but the early Spring is when all the little treasures really shine. Beyond the wooded area herbaceous thrives interspersed with mixed bulbs for early season but, its true peak comes August through to late October.

So the garden was open as part of the National Garden Scheme with the usual £5 entry fee.

I will start with some general views of the garden.

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I will finish with some of the details, it was so lovely to see blooms and colour; the end of Winter is here, finally. Food for my soul.

Anemone
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Primrose
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A huge variety of snowdrops were blooming , here are just a few,

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Also a variety of Hellebores added more welcome colour to the garden ,

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As did a whole host of other plants / trees..just a few of the many images I took.

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Even the seed pods from last year’s Honesty were splendid to see,

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Anyway, that is all for now but I will try to re-visit in September / October, as the photos I have seen suggest that it is very special then.
Also …It will be interesting to see what is planned for here,

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PS …Can anyone id this for me …

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[htmb]

Springtime! I love all the various colors and sometimes wish we could longer periods of time when the flowers and trees are just starting to blossom. It looks like you had a nice day to enjoy the gardens, too.

[fumobici]

Lovely! I'm more than a little jealous as Winter is hanging on tenaciously here and it even snowed a couple of inches last night

[bjd]

Here too it's still cold and around freezing every morning so I am happy to see all the spring flowers in your photos.

[kerouac2]

Looks like spring is in a hurry to go full steam ahead.

Gardens in the winter can often be fascinating (as this one is), but now you'll have to return in the summer to show the difference.

[lugg]

Thank you for your comments as ever. I hope that those who are not in the throes of Spring get there soon.

[mickthecactus]

I've only just got to this. What wonderful gardens and pictures. Thanks lugg.

[lugg]

Feb 28, 2023 9:31:42 GMT mickthecactus said:

I've only just got to this. What wonderful gardens and pictures. Thanks lugg.

Thanks Mick -- any ideas re the id ? #

[mickthecactus]

Feb 28, 2023 19:49:14 GMT lugg said:

Feb 28, 2023 9:31:42 GMT mickthecactus said:

I've only just got to this. What wonderful gardens and pictures. Thanks lugg.

Thanks Mick -- any ideas re the id ? #

None whatsoever. Don’t even look real.

[onlyMark]

Wonderful Mick. Pass on my thanks to your daughter.

[cheerypeabrain]

Glorious lugg...a whole splendid wodge (its not a word I know but you know what I mean) of early spring colour. A Green Man plaque too !

As for the succulent...if Mick doesn't know???....I'll google....

[cheerypeabrain]

I did wonder if it was something like an emerging cardoon or sea holly? But it looks like a succulent..

[mickthecactus]

If it was it should be stone dead with this winter.

[mickthecactus]

Mar 1, 2023 8:34:21 GMT onlyMark said:

Wonderful Mick. Pass on my thanks to your daughter.

I take it you mean Korea and Japan rather than Picton Gardens?

[lugg]

Feb 28, 2023 21:44:22 GMT mickthecactus said:

None whatsoever. Don’t even look real.

Mar 1, 2023 8:51:52 GMT cheerypeabrain said:

I did wonder if it was something like an emerging cardoon or sea holly? But it looks like a succulent..

It was definitely real (.... but now I doubt myself) - there were several dotted around - will have a look at your suggestions thanks Cheery.

[mickthecactus]

Mar 1, 2023 19:31:54 GMT lugg said:

Feb 28, 2023 21:44:22 GMT mickthecactus said:

None whatsoever. Don’t even look real.

Mar 1, 2023 8:51:52 GMT cheerypeabrain said:

I did wonder if it was something like an emerging cardoon or sea holly? But it looks like a succulent..

It was definitely real (.... but now I doubt myself) - there were several dotted around - will have a look at your suggestions thanks Cheery.

It looks like a small metal sculpture...

[cheerypeabrain]

Lugg medear, have you thought of emailing them and asking what it is?

[lugg]

Mar 2, 2023 9:09:40 GMT cheerypeabrain said:

Lugg medear, have you thought of emailing them and asking what it is?

Nope but now that is a great idea ...thanks

[bixaorellana]

Finally getting around to taking in this treat of a garden visit -- outstanding, Lugg!

I appreciate your second photo as it clearly shows the layout, something which will probably be less obvious further into Spring. I also love how you repeatedly captured the beauty of bare branches, something as integral to the early Spring garden as the jewel-like emerging blossoms beneath them. Your pictures of hellebores bring home how they can become a collecting obsession for some gardeners. Just a beautiful report, including the brooding skies. Thank you!

[lugg]

Thank you Bixa glad you enjoyed yet another Herefordshire garden post . x