This picture of Phil the joiner applying cedar boards to the base of the Apiary roof gives some idea of the scale  of the structure and the quality of the workmanship.

The second photo is of the lantern which will sit on the top of the roof and through which the bees will enter.

Meanwhile the base is being patiently painted  with Farrow and Ball, French Gray paint by Norman at the Damson Dene Hotel and the whole will be delivered to site on Tuesday.

“At Yewbarrow House, with a very impressive film crew from the BBC. They arrived at 8am, got straight down to work and we spent the next seven hours recording a few minutes of film.  They were great people to work with- patient (they needed to be), hard working, dedicated and good-natured throughout. A blazingly hot sunny day with lots of bees about, which they were very pleased to capture on film. Then they went with Nicola for more filming at Overton with the bee-keepers who put Nicola through her course.
The film is for a piece in the Hampton Court coverage during Show week- we are one of only two show gardens which they are show-casing.
The guys in the photos are Richard Holmes, the producer, Paul the cameraman and Adrian the sound engineer.  Paul empathised with our Victorian theme as he has a business selling reclaimed Victorian Terracotta plant pots, which are known as Long Toms- http://www.long-toms.co.uk/index.htm”

“Photos of the mosaic from
Maggy Howarth. It looks just magnificent.”

With Margaret Robinson, of Mammoth Onion, who is looking after the vegetables for our show garden.

These climbing beans and gourds will adorn the pergola.

The basic structure of the apiary is almost complete- just waiting for the panels to be fitted. But…. work hasn’t started yet on the shingle roof.  Here are two samples.  We will need 2,500 of these, all hand cut. There are fourteen courses, each of diminishing size.

  The question is, will this work get completed before Richard has his well deserved nervous breakdown?  The signs weren’t good today- he had three man off with flu.                                            

 Jonathan

At J A Jones,  the nurserymen, Southport, with Mike Vickers, who is organising our plants for the Show .  Nicola is pictured here with a bunch of sweet pea flowers from the obelisk display.  The colours are perfect. The sweet peas are now are the top of the obelisk and are flowering profusely.  We just need to keep dead-heading and they should be perfect.  The fig tree is just the right size- much better than the specimen at Chelsea.  The meadow, which a month ago was just nondescript turf , is now a metre high and resplendent, full of wild flowers.
But most impressive of all are the geraniums which, on this bright sunny day are simply covered with bees.   Let’s hope for a sunny day when the judging takes place- the bees will say it all.  
I’m full of admiration for Nicola in her choice of flowers for the beds and for Mike in the very professional way he is looking after them.  So far so good….

This is Helen Boothman, one of the Trustees of Bug Life- http://www.buglife.org.uk/.She is passionate about the bumblebee and loves the idea of our Beekeeper’s Garden- especially as the flowers are just as attractive to the bumblebee as they are to the honey bee. Helen is pictured on our Yellow Book open day on Sunday- we had 234 visitors most of whom had a cream tea and we have sent off a cheque for £1,549 to the NGS charities.  For those of you who missed Sunday, there are three more open days this year- the first Sunday of the month, July August and September.

Jonathan

Voting Day

This is the first time I’ve had a chance to write a blog entry and
this has probably only come about because my children’s school was
used as a polling station today and I was forced to work from home
instead of racing round like a headless chicken!
 
Actually it gave me a chance to keep an eye on our newly hatched
chicks…the mother accidentally squashed two of them so I’ve been
keeping a watchful eye and am pleased to say that she is faithfully
teaching them how to eat, drink and stay warm.

I go on site a week on Monday to start the build..I think I just want
to get on with it now after months of designing, planning, sourcing
and project managing I’m ready to start implementing and actually
bringing the garden to life.

I have every confidence in the team having previously worked with
Maggy and her beautiful pebble mosaics on a design for a new town
square and commissioning Chris to design a beautiful gazebo for a
private garden design.

Mike Vickers and Richard Stamp from J.A.Jones are my main contractors,
I know they will deliver the goods, having both had previous show
experience and being used to interpreting my garden and landscape
designs and planting plans.

This time will be no exception, Jonathan has found us an inspirational
sketch of the most beautiful Victorian apiary and we are pulling all
the stops out to really do it justice. His joiner, another Richard,
has risen to the task and so we have our team!

There will be some nail biting moment in the next few weeks,
particuarly when I visit the nursery to see which perennial flowers
have the potential to look stunning for the week of the show and then
thinking on my feet with the ones that get through.

I know the garden will take on a life of its own when the plants are
in, nothing can control nature and that’s what makes my job so
exciting. I might design a scheme but nature will have its own input
and create its own beauty.

Anyway, off to the nursery tomorrow to check on the sweetpeas and
mature trees…..hope they are all behaving.
 
Nicola