The Frog Garden
By scotsgran
20 comments
The Suntrap Gardening Club make visits to gardens of interest throughout the year. Members have been to this garden in the past and it was a welcome return visit to this lovely tranquil space in the centre of Edinburgh.
I loved the little hedges placed to highlight some feature in this area
There were helleborus, paeony roses and trilliums are everywhere.
Garden sculture in the form of metal sculptures or driftwood pieces abound to pick up and highlight features like the pot which reflects the driftwood pattern in the photo above.
Island beds have been cut into the grass to accomodate the owners growing passion for alpine plants. Its lovely to walk around the beds and admire them from different angles. The lawn between the beds has been left wide enough to mow easily. As we travelled to the garden there was a heavy hail and then snow shower. That is ice lying all around not a scattering of flower petals. When we arrived the whole lawn was a sheet of white snow. It did not lie but where we trod on it it turned to ice. Unbelievable so late in the month of May.
There are several ponds around the garden but it was too cold for them to be out. The owner has provided little polystyrene hats which float on the surface of the water and provide shelter for the frogs. There are no toads but she does have newts.
The meconopsis provided a good contrast to the rhododendron behind.
This is one of the treasures included in the National Gardens Scheme yellow book. The proceeds from the garden go 40% to Frog Trust and 60% to the NGS charities. The plant sales area was bursting with goodies and we all came away laden with precious plants. In one instance so many of us wanted a certain plant that the owner fetched a trowel and some pots to ensure we all were happy. If you live within hailing distance of Edinburgh this is a great place to visit. I never wanted a pond in the garden and OH was not enthusiastic about them either but looking at this together I think the owners passion has rubbed off on us both and he asked where we should place it. Thank you Mrs Hammond for such a warm welcome on a very cold night and thank for showing us your wonderful garden.
16 May, 2012
6 likes
Previous post: Pulsatilla
Next post: A garden to inspire
Comments
Yes there was a lawn there originally and she just keeps chopping bits of it to grow what she likes. She has a website. http://www.froglady.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
It is worth looking at if you cannot visit in person.
16 May, 2012
what an interesting garden ~ thanks SG it was lovely having a wander around. there are some beautiful plants.
16 May, 2012
Some found there way home with me. A blue corydalys, a sanguinaria, an anemone nemorosa viridis which has a green flower and a helianthus which will grow to 6-8' tall.
16 May, 2012
oooh thats a lovely haul ~ well worth the visit then!!
16 May, 2012
It does look a well loved garden, I like the way its been set out so one can wander amongst all the beds and its very busy also what I like to see in a garden...
Thankyou for sharing your visit, the photo`s are lovely..
16 May, 2012
Yes Sticki. I can never get over how generous people are when they open their gardens thet charge well below GC prices for often superior plants. Linclass the couple who own the garden have lived there for forty years but had a family garden and the the husband had the far end of the garden for vegetables. The wife taught music, a wind instrument, which she had to stop doing in the early 1990's due to a health problem. As a release for her obvious artistic talent she started taking more interest in the garden and before long she was hooked. Her garden flowers all year, because knowing little in the beginning about plants, she went to Garden Centres. Whatever was flowering in any month found its way in to her garden. Over the years as her knowledge increased the garden has changed to reflect that. A friend introduced her to Alpine Gardening and again she fell in love with the plants available. She is an amazing lady whose passion for her garden is very infectious.
16 May, 2012
What a lovely garden, Scotsgran. Thank you for showing it.
16 May, 2012
its lovely to hear the story behind it too, thanks SG
16 May, 2012
Thank you both. Its not hard to see the love lavished on this space.
16 May, 2012
I hope the ice didn't last very long.
Tha garden looked crammed with interesting plants.
16 May, 2012
It lasted for all of the time we were there and it seemed to be quite frosty this am when I got up at 6am. The garden is a real treasure trove Hywel.
16 May, 2012
Gorgeous garden S....had a quick look at the website but will have a good look around it when I have more time.
17 May, 2012
I think you would like her Scottish. She is just so down to earth and honest about knowing nothing about gardening in the beginning - just like so many of us on GOY. To see what she has created gives us all hope.
17 May, 2012
That is a beautiful garden, Scotsgran! You must have loved visiting it. So much colour and variation. And I love the polystyrene "frog hats" - what a good idea! Your helianthus sounds interesting. The only ones I seem to have any success with are the ones that seed from the bird feeders. They are not always in quite the right place, but I do love them!
23 May, 2012
I have not planted the Helianthus yet. I can't make up my mind where to put it Melchisedec. The plant clump I got could be split in to four and I'm toying with the idea of digging up another bit of lawn. Its finding somewhere to accomodate a plant that high and how to offer it proper support. It is only 2' high at the moment and if I split it up I could probably use round steel obelisks about six foot high to give it support. This is a hardy perennial helianthus and will come each year but not shed seeds all over the garden. It multiplies by extending its roots sideways but not agressively. Because her garden is full of plants all year I will return again to see what is flowering at different times of year.
23 May, 2012
That sounds like a very attractive plant, Scotsgran. The obelisks sound like a good idea, and if it increases fairly easily, so does splitting it. Isn't it a frustration when you see something you really want and have to find a place for it? How are your begonias, by the way? I found an old flower bag in the corner of the greenhouse. It had begonias in it last year and I had forgotten all about it, having meant to empty it last autumn. To my amazement, 4 of the begonias were sprouting again. So I re-wet the bag and inserted a couple more begonias. I hadn't intended to have a begonia bag this year, but now I am really thrilled! Things like that are so exciting!
24 May, 2012
When I went to refill the begonia pots I too found some of them coming to life again. They have been outside all winter so I was surprised. Of the begonias I planted new this year, I have lost a couple to the slugs so I have just been out on a slug hunt. I still have a few spare plants. The ones in the hanging baskets, under the pergola, are coming on as well as they would have done in the cold greenhouse, but I have added extra chains so that they are much lower, so that I can see them and they are more sheltered. great excitement today because our swallows have arrived. We thought we were never going to see them again. They are very late this year. We have seen others swooping over the fields nearby in the last three weeks. OH finished making the new pot holders for the front door and painted them and we got the pots back in to them. He has agreed to make me some obelisks because the ones I have already are beginning to look the worse for wear. I have been struggling to get rid of Kerria japonica flore pleno which had grown through other plants in the shrubbery. I have filled three compost bins so far and am well on my way to filling a fourth. The roots run everywhere and I am trying to dig them out rather than have to poison them with chemicals. I have kept twelve plants to plant in pots, as a hedge, in a different part of the garden. I have quite a lot of shrubs waiting to go in so I won't need to go to the GC. I hope this good weather stays over in to next week because I still have loads to do.
24 May, 2012
What a job! They have the Kerria next door, and the new neighbour (keen gardener replacing elderly couple) have been clearing it and other things. I find even prunings mount up once I start. Thank goodness for the big green bin!
Glad your containers are all surviving - they should be fine now. I like the sound of the low-hanging baskets. And the begonias - so persistent!
I have one bacopa left to place. Am trying to decide between two places for it - back, or front? (My front garden is the poor relation, I'm afraid!)
I bet I don't last long without buying more. I have a couple of large pots I decided not to use, but I'll succumb when I see some end-of-season bargains!
24 May, 2012
Sounds like me. I can't see the poor things being left on the shelf.
24 May, 2012
Recent posts by scotsgran
- For Sbg
29 Apr, 2020
- A quick look at the garden in April 2020
25 Apr, 2020
- My new gardener
16 Apr, 2020
- Propagation part 2
27 Mar, 2020
- Spring is well on its way
26 Mar, 2020
- Propaging pleasure
18 Mar, 2020
What an interesting garden! I really like the grass paths that are, presumably, the remains of a lawn. I have intentions in this direction, too. Seeing it like this makes me want to just get on with it.
Thankyou for sharing this garden with us. Gorgeous, even in the dreadful weather.
16 May, 2012