St Michaels Hospice Garden, Bartestree, Herefordshire

[lugg]

Well I don’t want to bore everyone with yet another garden, but this one is very special to me so I am . It will be a very short report and, hopefully, sweet. To explain, firstly it is special as it is located in my home village. It is entirely managed by volunteers, although they do have help with donations from local companies and receive some expert advice. And even more importantly it is special to me as my Mum died at the hospice in 2002. In her last few weeks the gardens (although not as developed as now) gave her great pleasure, particularly as she was a keen gardener. The care she received there was second to none, at first as a day patient when she came to live with me, and then, choosing to be admitted for the end of her life. The first few minutes were hard as I walked passed her room, but really the joy of this place shone through.


The garden was open to all this weekend as the hospice held their annual, Plant Fair fund raiser. I am not sure if the link below will continue to be seen, but for now it is live. It was free of charge to enter but of course the plant, food and craft sales, etc. all helped towards boosting the funds. It is an opportunity to recruit volunteers, to gain more contributors to various fund raising activities such as its lottery but also to spread the word about its services.

www.st-michaels-hospice.org.uk/how-you-can-help-us/fundraise-for-us/events/plant-fair/

It is not part of the NHS . Some figures – it costs 9.5 million pounds annually to run, 22% is received from the government, 8.1 million pounds is the shortfall and required annually in fundraising.

A little history;

www.st-michaels-hospice.org.uk/who-we-are/history/

Dr Miller was still present and visiting the hospice when my Mum was there –we met him and yes he was an inspirational man.

www.st-michaels-hospice.org.uk/richard-miller/

Anyway I digress, but I hope this preamble shows a little about how much I care about this wonderful place.
So before I start I think I will just show some pics taken a while ago that place the hospice in the setting of my home turf. I have some better ones somewhere but I cannot find them at the moment The hospice is built in the grounds of a former convent (hence the nuns in some of the pictures in the history link) Now it is converted to housing and apartments.
The hospice is on the right

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And so on to the garden,

I am, of course, biased as I love my home turf, but I believe that the setting for this garden, especially on such a beautiful day is just wonderful. It is bordered by apple orchards and in the distance the hills of the Woolhope dome.

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It is only a small garden , probably 2 acres maximum but there is a lot packed in, as were the large number of visitors.
Part of the garden has been left in its natural state , with a small pond in the middle.

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Onto the more formal areas,
The ground slopes away from the buildings and so the gardens are terraced at initially with a winding path wide enough to allow those with less mobility to be transported.

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As it has such a sunny south facing aspect the many flowers , including roses were quite well advanced

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Does anyone know what this is ?

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At the bottom of the terrace is the poignant Stream of Memories,

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but also honouring / remembering others - this from the commonwealth graves in France

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Lots of pollinators everywhere,

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The event was also being supported by various vendors who gave a proportion of their takings to the hospice- so many but here a few images of those that caught my eye,

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Moving on at the bottom of the garden there was even more to admire,
The tower in the distance is part of the old convent,

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I am absolutely going to seek this plant out for my garden , Blue Shrimp

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I imagine this is a lovely place for the residents to sit and admire the garden and the views but today it was given over to plant sales, I bought some bedding plants that looked healthy and were a bargain.

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That’s all I have to show you for now, just this last one to finish,

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[htmb]

Such a lovely, calm, beautiful place. How gratifying it must be that your mother was able to receive some comfort here. Thank you for your personal descriptions and photos. The colors are quite striking, but the beautiful roses really stand out to my uneducated eye.

[fumobici]

Lovely report! What a beautiful place they've made. And I'm glad it's Summery somewhere, and England no less!

[bjd]

As ever, lovely garden report, Lugg. You certainly live in a pretty area of England.

[lugg]

Thank you all .

[bixaorellana]

May 22, 2024 19:17:47 GMT lugg said:

I don’t want to bore everyone with yet another garden

Would you stop with that foolishness?! The only objection I might have to your garden reports is that they make me drool on my keyboard, not to mention my envy over your garden photography prowess.

This report, besides being beautiful as expected, is also very thought provoking and moving. It's also heartening to know that there is such a place -- that the founders, those who run it, and the volunteers are motivated by such deep empathy and imagination.

I love how so much is left to look natural and am amazed at how many of the plants are what I associate with much warmer climate. They, and the colors chosen, certainly make for a cheery mood.

You are so right that the Stream of Memories is very poignant. It's also lovely and appropriate & makes me wonder why this mannor of remembrance isn't more widely used.

I wouldn't swear to it, but the plant you asked about might be some kind of New Zealand flax / Phormium tenax.

Another wonderful wander around a garden most of us would never have heard of if not for you. Thank you, Lugg!

[kerouac2]

Absolutely perfect weather for an event like that!

I imagine that the memory rock storage facility is to keep the stream from getting too clogged as inevitably it would, sooner or later.

[lugg]

Thank you both

I think that New Zealand Flax may be right Bixa , thank you