UPTON HOUSE PLANT SALE

You can’t beat a good plant sale when it comes to chasing away bank holiday blues. We’ve been coming to the Upton House annual plant sale for a number of years now and whilst it’s not one of the biggest we’ve been to, there’s always a bargain or two to be had if you look around.

Upton House plant sale

There’s one particular stall that always sells small Acer trees for a fiver. Our lovely red leaved acer came from this stall many years ago and, fingers crossed, has happily thrived in its pot on the patio ever since, surviving the best (and worst) of the English weather and completely recovering from being decapitated by next doors roofers last year. It’s grown into a beautiful specimen and I was almost tempted to come away with a green variety to keep it company.

The Acer stall - good for a bargain

Moving on from the Acer stall, I was also tempted to splash out on a yellow or white variety of Thalictrum (meadow rue) as I’ve become quite enamoured of these tall classy flowering perennials. They fit in well in the flower borders with their elegant stems and powderpuff blooms. But, no my purse remained tightly shut as I made my way round the stalls passing up the Thalictrums instead for a Kirengeshoma Koreana.

Kirengeshoma Koreana

Kirengeshoma Koreana otherwise known as Korean waxbells is a herbaceous perennial shrub like plant primarily grown for its foliage having lovely maple-shaped leaves. Good for part shady areas, it will look lovely near the Acer once the patio has been re-arranged around the bricked up back door. These plants are deemed fairly low maintenance although quite rare to find in everyday plant nurseries.

And after a good splurge round the plant stalls, a bit of relaxing photography around the Upton House cottage gardens.

Exploring the cottage gardens

I loved the vibrancy of the pink

Tiny hidden 'lanterns'

Garden photography is always greatly rewarding. There's a thousand different colours and shapes to catch the eye. The hardest part is in choosing what to photograph and to capture the very essence of the flower from its tissue thin petals to those tiny pollen laden stamens quivering in the lightest of breezes.

More interesting when viewed close up

A beautiful orange poppy

Loved the veined detail on the petals

Another glorious vibrant pink bloom

Serene yellow irises swaying in the breeze

From the riotous colour of the flowering border to the peaceful English countryside with its rolling hills, stony tracks and abundance of creatures large and small.

The Old Granary - Wareham

Mum's swan taxi

Arne Farm

The hedgerow

Where does this track lead to?

Strange silvery trees in the forest

Looking across Poole Harbour

A white heron/egret

Jet black slug