Prairie Sunday; the reprise

Way back when, well it was August actually, I visited the Sussex Prairies garden. I was blown away & waxed lyrical about the experience here. I was determined to make a return visit when the grasses were more dominant & did so last weekend.

Unlike the sunshine & blue skies of August it was a rather damp morning which turned to rain. It did not really spoil my enjoyment of the garden but the photos were a bit disappointing as a result. I hope you can appreciate the planting from these.

I love the way the grasses are combined with other perennials reflecting the colours but adding texture & movement.

Although many perennial flowers have faded or are in shades of dusky pinks & purple there is the occasional zinging yellow shouting it’s presence. 

Or a few clashing reds & pinks.

 

 

 

 

The different colours & textures of the grasses are quite exciting.

 

 

 

And I love being able to get in amongst the plants………….

 

 

 

………… a bit more difficult this time where the plants were bowed under the weight of the recent heavy rains

 

 

 

 

 

This block of planting runs the length of the garden & is very simple backbone to the other beds.

 

 

 

I have drivelled on at some length here. Do  I still love the planting? Yes. I did try to look at things a little more critically than last time when I metaphorically wallowed  in the huge drifts of colour & textures. Although we would see nothing like this in nature it does look quite naturalistic. We get views of the countryside surrounding the gardens, perhaps not as much as I would like but the site is surrounded by mature trees. What I particularly love is being able to get in amongst the planting.

I had a chat with Pauline McBride (both the McBrides are very accessible & approachable) & was asking about cutting all the plants back thinking it would take such a long time. They burn it! Now obviously this garden does have a period of looking, well, black & crispy, but then it is not open to the public at that time!

The garden is being visited in Gardeners World on Friday 15 October.

PS. The nearby recommended pub was packed out & so we weren’t able to fulfil our expectations of an excellent lunch. That was a bit of a bugger!