In the garden with Michael Pell

As Sir Elton John began his farewell gig on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury recently, the Lewis Cottage team were busy clearing up after a very successful first open garden weekend. I must confess to watching Sir Elton on iPlayer when I went to bed, but before then there were tents to put away, chairs to stack and the remains of cake and quiche to fridge. It was, it has to be said, the most wonderfully fulfilling weekend; open garden weekends always are. There is of course the affirmation from your peers of a job well done, the raising of funds for much needed causes and a general delight in a shared love of gardening. I’ve lost count of how many years we’ve been opening the gates now, I think perhaps this is our 12th year, by no means a record in any way. In NGS terms we’re mere beginners. Even so, it surprises us year after year that the majority of visitors are newbies. Where they come from, I do not know, some near, some far, some on their way to their summer holiday. Wheresoever they hail, all are welcome. Small gardens, large gardens, some with no gardens at all – it is amazing the wide variety of visitors that we welcome, and I’m delighted to say that it’s not just the ‘olds’ that come out in force, many of our visitors are at the start of their horticultural journey and it’s a joy to share and pass on our experiences.
Because we choose to open throughout the summer, those that visit at the start and end of the season see such a change in the garden. This weekend it was all about foxgloves and sweet peas. Richard has a passion for the different perennial types of foxgloves (as well as the traditional biennial varieties). From traditional purple and white varieties, to the diminutive yellow grandiflora and lutea types, and the rusty ones, petite parviflora and tall laevigata and stewartii, copper flowers with a white lip. Not forgetting the delicate Greek foxglove Digitalis lanata, tall, elegant and just a little tender in the UK. Bees love them and planted en masse as we can here at Lewis, they all look perfectly splendid.
But not all is well in the garden. Our Crocosmias have suffered with the extreme changes in weather as have the most unusual plants, mature Euphorbias succumbed as have Penstemons and Hebe and yet Agapanthus and Salvia have sailed through unscathed. I think I agree with Toby Buckland in his conversation with Richard on Radio Devon that the reason these plants succumbed was that they were just coming into leaf when the wet, the cold and the frosts hit. Not that this is unusual, it was the timing of the cold, the wet, the frosts, coupled with the dry summer of ’22.
But let’s not dwell on what suffered this year, we should focus on what is doing well, and I mean primarily Roses. We have over 35 varieties in the garden, some are old varieties like Hebe’s lip and Complicata and Chapeau de Napoleon, others are more modern such as Generous gardener and Sweet Juliet. All this year are blooming better than ever and thank goodness have escaped the ravages of our nearby herd of Roe deer who last year took a decided fancy to every new rosebud that appeared, or so it seemed. Even old roses that have been in situ over 50 years are putting on a fabulous display and I don’t think it’s the last hurrah of a dying bush either. They were all hard pruned last Winter and are showing their thanks for having done so. To take the two bushes of Hebe’s lip as an example – you’d have a job to guess which had been in the ground fifty years and which one only five.
I won’t pretend that opening the garden isn’t a lot of hard work, it is. Fortunately, we are blessed with family and friends who willingly give up their weekends to come and help, in some cases travelling the length and breadth of the country. But the joy of seeing other people revel in your labours is a delight second to none and we shall look forward to welcoming visitors back at the end of July and August for our next open garden weekends. In the meantime, there is no need to sit idle in your garden. Here are some ideas for jobs to do before you visit us next time!
Jobs to do in the coming month
The vagaries of English weather can throw up a few surprises so make sure tall plants and climbers are well supported.
Water at dusk to maximise plant absorption and use mulch to retain moisture around plants.
We all love terracotta pots but they are prone to evaporation so make sure to wet the pot as well as the plant.
Regularly deadhead perennials and sweet peas especially, to encourage new blooms throughout the season.
Hardy geraniums and delphiniums can be cut back after blooming to encourage new growth and flowers.
If you have deciduous magnolias, now is the time to prune it, if needed.
Pepper plants will benefit from being potted up into increasingly larger pots.
Pinch out the side shoots of tomato plants and regularly feed with diluted tomato feed.
It’s runner bean season, pick them regularly and enjoy them young before they go stringy.
Thin out fruit on your fruit trees to produce good sized crops.
Prune out the fruited stems of blackcurrants.
Devon Gardens open for the NGS in the next few weeks


22nd/23rd July – 2 Middlewood, Cockwood, Exeter https://findagarden.ngs.org.uk/garden/44302/2-middlewood
29th/30th July – Lewis Cottage, Spreyton https://findagarden.ngs.org.uk/garden/25097/lewis-cottage
More information about Lewis Cottage can be found here https://lewiscottageplants.co.uk