November 2025
Dear Gardening Friends,
It’s a very busy November here with many garden visitors. I do enjoy the conversations and amazing connections that come with these visits.
Along with garden visiting, for at least twenty seven years we have held fundraising events in our garden. The event this year holds a special meaning for me as back in the late sixties I attended Russian lectures in a room off the quad of the Christchurch Arts Precinct. By then the science and engineering departments, and some of the arts had moved to the present site at Ilam. The event, organised by the Friends of the Arts Centre, is this Saturday 6th December from 12 noon until 3pm, tickets are $35.00 and can be bought at the gate. Music and refreshments available.
One of my much-loved group of plants is the clematis and ours are performing better than ever as they are all left to weave and roam freely instead of being tied to structures as in past times. They naturally reach for the sun.
Photo 1: Clematis 'Marie Boisselot' winding through epimediums .
Photo 2: Rhododendron ‘Ivan D. Wood’ is underplanted with the epimediums and ‘Marie Boisselot’.
Photo 3: C. ‘Niobe’ flowering well and looking good with neighbouring berberis, dahlia foliage and ivy.
Photo 4: C. ‘Recta’ drapes itself down the steps and through neighbouring plants.
Photo 5: The often-admired C. ‘Belle of Woking’.
Please note that the numbers on the photos aren’t the dates that the photos were taken. They are all flowering now.
Best wishes to you all,
Margaret
