Welcome to Spring, and Farewell to Your Host (for a while)...

Above: The vintage car in which the bride arrived for her wedding last weekend.

As you can see, the typical spring storms are here. This weekend was particularly bad, as the large storm had come across the ditch from Australia. Luckily the weather we had here has not been as bad as in parts of NSW and SA, where there have been torrential floods with peoples houses flooded, roads closed and people's lives changed forever.

The bluebells are out. I am enjoying starting to see the colour combinations come together, such as the lilac from the bluebells with the silver trunks of the Silver Birch Sp. Jacquemonte...

The Silver Pears adjacent to the Birch are just starting to bud up. You can see the storm brewing in the background over the manor. Luckily the weather held out for the wedding, and a 50th wedding anniversary. Everybody had a wonderful time.

The vineyard is starting to come into leaf as well, with some of the Plane trees along the drive greening up with clumps of daffodils still blooming below them.

On to other news. It's out with the old and in with the new. Your host must focus on obligations across in Australia for the next few months, so Peter will be running Willowbrook with the help of our new Business Manager, Mr William Stoneham...

Above: Bill (left) before one of the degustation dinners.

Below: Me, saying, "au revoir"...

Spring is coming...

The first of the spring bulbs are coming out at Willowbrook...

Above and Below: Some 'Carlton' Daffodils starting to bring a golden glow to the drive...

Below: The Almonds are starting to blossom. It shouldn't be too long until the Cherries and Hazels follow suit...

Whilst the Silver Birch of the Bluebell Walk are still looking decidedly wintery, the Hyacinths below have pushed their way through. The Bluebells should only be a couple of weeks behind them...

  Below: A group of ducklings taking an early morning walk...

Above: Magnolia 'Cleopatra' starting to bud.

Below: Hyacinth 'Pink Surprise' 

Above and Below: Narcissus 'Erlicheer' in the Limewalk

We managed to get the pruning done in the orchard a couple of weeks ago before the rising of the sap. The plums have already started to blossom. By the end of September the orchard should be transformed from its sleepy skeletal appearance to a mass of blossoms on bushy green trees.

Bluebell Walk Progress...

One of my pleasing observations of the garden during my trip home last week was the progress of the bluebell walk over the past 5 years. Spring has sprung, the rain has come, the bulbs are out and all the deciduous trees are starting to sprout!

When we first planted up the walk 5 years ago it looked like this:

There were a couple of winters of transplanting the lines of trees, widening the walk, doubling the number of rows of birches, raising some mulched bulb beds and sowing hundreds of bulbs...

Above: Year 2

Below: Year 3



Below: Year 4, End of Winter

Below: Year 4, Summer

Below: Year 5, Early spring

Below: Year 5, Mid Spring (Last Week)

Lawn Manicure...

On my last visit it was time to give some of the lawns a little manicure. The areas around the trees, which we plan to plant with a Buxus hedge circle this spring before we open for business, had become a little overgrown with weeds. There was only one thing to do. I got out the string, tape measure, spray paint and spade and made some 150cm circles around each of the trees. I took away several trailer loads of soil, along with the weeds. Now they are starting to look like the manicured lawns at Kew gardens...

Below: A horse Chestnut Tree with the newly received treatment. 

We will plant a circle of Buxus around each of the Horse Chestnuts, and then plant lots of bulbs inside the circle. For the weeping silver pears by the bluebell walk (top photo) we will plant purple irises within the circles.

Willowbrook Christmas Update...

Well, last week I had a quick trip back to NZ, just for four days, to see how everything was going, and to catch up with friends and my Dad who was back in the country for Christmas. Everything was doing pretty well out at WBP...

Above and below: The entrance to the Bluebell Walk. It has come on quite quickly since it was planted 2.5 years ago.

Below: The grass knoll behind the lake where the Temple Folly is going.

Below: The plans for the Temple Folly

Below: The view down the south avenue of The Lime Walk from the upper balcony.

Below: Same view from the start of the avenue. Note where the statue of Bacchus is currently shall be the position for the Roman Rotunda.

Below: The plans for the Roman Rotunda

Below: The view from the Rotunda back to the Manor

Below: The view down the east avenue of the Lime Walk from the Rotunda to the Urn en Flambeau

Below: The view from the Rotunda down the north avenue towards the farm...

Below: A panorama from the farm gate at the end of the north avenue, with the new barn on the left and the large piles of mulch ready for use.

Below: View of The Nymphaeum from the upper balcony.

Below: The Vineyard, which has come on in at a great rate since it was created just over 12 month ago.

Below: My friend Gaynor at the entrance to The Vineyard from The Potager.

Below: Some of the berry beds in The Potager. The one in the centre is full of black currants.

Below: Blackberry Blossoms...

Below: Raspberries

Below: The Dovecote with the entrance to The Orchard from The Potager behind it.

Below: Willoughby decided he was too tired to shift when Daddy was trimming the hedge.

Below: The Orchard, with a view of The Manor rising in the distance.

Below: One of the Horse Chestnuts. They are the slowest growing of all the trees that we have planted, but they have still grown about 3 feet over 2 years.

A view over to Spencer's corner and The Nymphaeum...

Manor House Progress...

This week the block work was finished for the second floor, ready for the trusses to go on hopefully by Friday. Then the builders will be having two weeks off for Christmas, before getting back into it (which is really neat, as most builders would take a month off over this period). We are tracking on time and on budget so far. At this rate the roof should be on early February, with lock up not too far behind that. They are also planning on starting construction of the Carriage House and Chapel in the new year, then the huge job of the interior fit out will start.

Above: A view of the Manor from the West.

Below: A view of the Manor from the South.

Above: A view of the front portico forming, with the balcony above.

Below: A view inside The Manor from the front door.

Above: A view inside The Ballroom. It looks small inside until you have something to give it scale, such as in the photo below, where Peter is standing in one of the arched doorways...

Below: A view of Badger's Wood and The Serpentine Walk from the upper balcony.

And finally, a view of the sunset from the Master Bedroom...