"When you try to control everything...

..you enjoy nothing"

Anon

The garden has seen a lot of activity over the past two weekends.  On the first weekend in conjunction with the Friend's Summer Fayre the School Jurassic Garden was officially opened and handed over to the pupils who we hope will enjoy it and learn from it.  Dr Phil Sterling was asked to open the garden for us.  Phil was the perfect link between  Dorset County Council, the environment and the natural history which abounds in the garden. Phil's role within the County Council is Coast and Countryside Service Manager and he was well suited for the task. The head teacher Mrs Fiona Daykin  helped Phil with the ribbon cutting celebration.  Once the ribbon had been cut the children shot into the garden like coiled springs eager to see what was within!

Dr Phil Sterling and the Headteacher cutting the ribbon!

Aferwards Phil gave us a masterclass in micro-lepidoptera- his subject, showing us the underside of leaves and the many species of micro-moth eggs and small caterpillars which reside there.  He finished the afternoon with a glorious show of moths which he had trapped the night before from nearby.  These included hawkmoths and other brightly coloured specimens.

A Jurassic Garden scene

Elephant Hawk moths

A week later the garden was host again for the National Garden Scheme which raises money for charity.  The is was our fifth year of opening to the public and we were pleasantly surprised to receive a certificate from Mrs Di Reeds, the publicity and media officer of the Dorset  NGS for our efforts and money raised to date.

The garden volunteers accepting the NGS certificate from Di Reeds( second left)

Visitors enjoying the fine summer weather

Pausing  in the shade of the willow classroom

The grass garden backlit at the end of the afternoon

The moth trap was set the previous evening and visitors were delighted to see many colourful moths.  The best catch was this magnificent  Privet Hawk moth

Privet Hawk moth

Curious skull shape on the thorax

A stunning insect

Swallowtail moth

The Herald

With the pressure off the garden group has been tidying and making good ready for the summer

The runner beans are doing well

The celeriac plants have been trimmed to promote the root

French Beans almost ready for picking!

It is that time of year when we say goodbye to the senior pupils who move on to the next rung of the education ladder.  We wish them well and hope that they have enjoyed their time at Holy Trinity and enjoyed the learning from the garden during their stay.

Garden Open Day

This Saturday, 9th July, the Friends of the school are holding the annual Summer Fayre.  In conjunction with this the school garden will be open as well and we are taking the opportunity at this event to officially open the Jurassic Garden. This has been two years in the making but finally after many  hours of work and the kindness of local businesses we are now in a position to hand the garden over to the pupils, who originally requested it, so that it will become a study aid for them.

Dr Phil Sterling, the Coast and Countryside Service Manager at Dorset County Council, has agreed to open the garden for us.  Dr Sterling is much respected lepidopterist and entomologist and it is intended to exhibit at the event a sample of moths from the area.  The moth traps will be run the previous night and in the afternoon  we hope that large hawk moths and other colourful night time fliers will be on display.

The garden will be opened at 14.15.  We look forward to seeing you there

"The great advantage of speaking the truth...

is that you do not have to remember what you said"

An anonymous quote

The garden group are slowly getting on top of the rapid growth spurts in the plants following the gentle rain and the warmer nights.

The blog starts with the discovery of a new bee to the garden which was found last weekend by one keen eyed member.  It was the Wool Carder Bee (Anthinium manicatum)  It is one of the largest solitary bees and the male of the species is very aggressive in defending the territory.  All species are chased away and the male has persuasive spikes at the base of the abdomen to assist him!

Wool Carder Bee

Some friends of the garden who regularly help out at open days have kindly donated a table and six chairs.  This welcome gift will be re-invigorated with teak oil and then be able to be enjoyed by all.

our new table and chairs

In the Jurassic Garden the Chain Ferns are finding their feet and the stunning tetrapanax tree has made a lot of rapid growth over the past week.  This tree has the most bizarre downy leaves as they emerge

 

Jurassic Garden view

the huge tetrapanax leaves

A new leaf

New leaves emerging

The vegetable patch is doing well and the carrots and the turnips will need thinning out next weekend.

The Pak Choi grow very fast but the pigeons love them!

Flower Sprouts

Some of  small  echium plants last year set seed and they are themselves now flowering.  The bees were quick to find them

Echium

Pink Gaura

Corncockle

Clustered Campanulas

The blue bed

 In the greenhouse the papyrus plants have been thinned and transplanted into bigger pots.  We need a lot of warm weather now to make them grown into giant size plants!

Papyrus plants

Venus fly-trap plants doing well

 

Rogersia in flower

Clematis

Fruiting buds on the Amelanchier bush

Finally on a more sombre note the anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme has taken place.  In our barley bed the poppies have flowered.  Time to reflect and a reminder to us all of the horrors of war.

Poppies in the barley bed

The  garden will be open on July 9th in conjunction with the Friends Day at the school.  Do pop up and see what has been going on since last year.  The Jurassic Garden will also be officially opened.  We look forward to seeing you there.