New Shipmates at Downton

We like it when the gardens feel alive with nature - nesting birds, scampering mice, hundreds of tiny frogs - and we particularly to to have chickens about us while we work. This week we collected five darling little lavender pekin bantam hens from the excellent Five Turnings Farm, near Clun, and have been enjoying watching them settle shyly into their new and slightly alarming surroundings. These barn bred creatures seemed surprised to meet long grass for the first time, and peered at it for a while from beneath an upturned wheelbarrow. Having now been in their new home for a week, they are venturing more confidently out, and making a thorough examination if the ground nearest to their little shed, patch by patch. We choose the small sized bantam hens for the gardens, because their short little legs do very little damage to the flower beds.

Elsewhere in the gardens, there still seems to be lots to do in order to get everything ready for the summer, which is almost upon us! All hands are on deck, weeding and planting and potting on and mowing… Our excellent team of pickers are coming to the fore now, as the garden at Stokesay surges up and brings forth large quantities of flowers and foliages for our florists. The garden at Downton is on much higher ground, which means that everything happens just a little later there, staggering our crops. This week we are especially enjoying the banksia roses, tumbling down from the walls at Stokesay in frothy primrose-coloured billows, and the rich glorious scent of honeysuckle as it comes into bloom.