Opening my garden for the National Garden Scheme

Wow, what a weekend! The sun shone on both days and we welcomed 220 visitors and raised just over £1700 for the National Garden Scheme.

It has been a challenging gardening year in Dorset, with such a hot summer of 2022 and a cold, wet winter/spring so far this year. However, the garden managed to bloom with Siberian irises, granny’s bonnets (aquilegias) and the fronds of ferns slowly uncurling!

The visitor feedback was so positive, recognising the hard work that David (my assistant gardener and husband) and I had put in! We had a special visitor too, a gentleman who had been evacuated in the second world war, when he was 5 years old who had lived in our cottage and played in the garden.

This year of opening was extra special as it was supported by Dorset Queen’s Nurses (QNs). There was a team of helpers, Kirsten Bland, Rachel Murray, Kathy Sheret, Hattie Taylor and Alison Tallant, serving teas and the cakes they had baked. It was wonderful to welcome 10 QNs at Falconers over the weekend, who had baked and popped in for a visit, including Vicky Melville, our SW Region QN Chair.

A huge thank you to them all and to friends who supported the event too. We have been asked about 2024, watch this space for a possible summer opening at Falconers!

Hazel Dent, QN

Cover photo: From Left to Right Back: Hazel Dent, Kirsten Bland, Rachel Murray. From Left to Right Front: Hattie Taylor, Karen Rees, Alison Tallant

If you would like to open your garden for the National Open Garden Scheme, please click here for more information.