'Hot Peppers.'

Wednesday evening Our Garden@19 was the venue for the Upton upon Severn 'Hot Peppers' W.I. garden party.

Daughter Mary, who is secretary of the group took care of the BBQ...

...the Jamie Oliver apron makes all the difference...

...a formal meeting was held under the watchful eye of the county adviser...

...before drink and food was consumed...

Irene & I sat quietly in the background helping to eat the food and sample the drink...

...you may be wondering why they are called the 'Hot Peppers' W.I.

The old church at Upton upon Severn is affectionally known locally as 'The Pepper Pot' due to its shape. You can read more about its history Here

The garden is planted by Upton in Bloom.

Why 'HOT' Peppers I have no idea!

To see if you can find out visit their Facebook page Here

" A swarm in June "

"A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon."

This swarm was on an old damson tree in a garden where I was working.

Unusually, they stayed in the tree for most of the day.

The old farm house has a wild honey bee colony under the roof.

I was a Beekeeper many years ago, the original hives came from my grandfather.

Whilst a swarm of bees flying through the air can be a noisy and frighting sight to experience, swarming bees fill up with honey before they leave the hive and are not usually aggressive (they have no home to defend).

This old saying relates to the amount of honey that could be produced by a swarm of honey bees collected and re-homed in another hive.

A swarm in May is worth a load of hay;

A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon;

A swarm in July is not worth a fly.

Please visit Gardening Jules Here for more information about bees and other pollinators.

Tree following June. (In the pink!)

"In the Pink"...meaning...in perfect condition...especially of health.

 The leaves of the Acer negundo Flamingo that I have chosen for the tree following meme are now fully open revealing their pink edging... 

...pretty in pink, nicely contrasted by the copper beech in next doors garden.

Flamingo is in the Oriental Garden, this is the new gravel river...

...flowing from the bamboo water spout, backed by two Cranes, those Japanese symbols of good fortune.

Somewhere to sit and relax..... (In the pink!)

Where are you sitting... ('In the pink'?)

Please click on any picture to create a slide show.

NGS Weekend.

The Garden@19 was ready...

...the extension to the refreshment area was erected (To keep the sun off)...

...the plant sales area was ready...

...plants labeled...

...prices are displayed on the board...

...including those in this greenhouse...

...the catering team on standby...

...the Saturday team...

...the Sunday team with an interloper (come in for a warm).

Tea or coffee...

...with a selection of cakes or cream teas...

...orders taken...

...and delivered.

Plant sale area open for business...

...selling plants to all ages...

...one of our happy helpers.

In conversation with some of the garden visitors...

...well some one has too!!!

My latest garden feature.

A big thank you to all our helpers and supporters from the Black Pear Gardening Club: http://www.blackpeargc.org.uk/index.html friends, son-in-law, children and grand children, without whom, The Hanley Swan NGS Gardens (there are three in the group) would not have been able to raise £2222 to donate to the NGS.