Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday post showed photos of our day out last week at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.
For the sake of poetic licence I hinted that that the impressive carpet of daisies was at risk of being mowed down by the geese. In the interest of fairness let me put the record straight. As you can see from the photo below the geese make little impact on the daisies.
The geese and their goslings in yesterday's photos were actually browsing on the grass between the daisies. Their efforts at keeping the grass short was maybe the reason that the daisies were flourishing,
The geese in the photo were greylag - our largest resident goose. There were also Canada geese, swans and ducks browsing the grass but the greylags were the only ones with young.
Often when I post that we are pulling rhubarb I will receive comments from readers saying their rhubarb is nowhere near ready and I always reply that it depends which variety is grown.
In the Clumber Park walled kitchen garden with over 130 varieties they boast the second largest collection in the world.
I wonder who has the largest.
It was comforting to see that we were not too far behind them with our vegetable planting although they did have broad beans flowering whereas ours are still in the greenhouse.
I really like the espaliers and fan trained fruit trees.
The main interest was provided by the tulip display.
Our tulips are not quite there yet.
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Very good pictures Sue. I like the cardoon next to the espalier.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a globe artichoke, Alain as they have finer cut leaves than cardoons - we have both in the plot.
DeleteThat geese looks exactly like one of the Croatian ducks. They are greyish giants. Gooses here are completely white.
ReplyDeleteFarmyard geese tend to be white, Leanan but we have a few types of geese.
DeleteGeese are generally larger birds with shorter slimmer beaks and longer necks. Geese feed on the land and not on the water and also they mate for life.
I didn't even realize that rhubarb had that many varieties - if they are the 2nd largest, I'm wondering how many the largest has.
ReplyDeleteI wondered that too, Margaret
DeleteI fancy your blue and white garden display a bit better Sue! But lovely to see the walled garden as I have only seen Heligan in mid summer (which I adored) so seeing an early spring walled garden here in your photos was very nice. Oh...and glad you received the geese I sent from Canada ;-))
ReplyDeleteThanks Bren but ours is on a much, much smaller scale.
DeleteWe'll send you some geese back if you run short,.
Gosh, just look at the feathers on that goose's neck! I shall have to google who has the largest collection of rhubarb now!!! Your border is certainly looking pretty.xxx
ReplyDeleteThose geese always look as though their necks have twisted round and round, Dina
DeleteYour garden is lovely and your post inspired me to look up rhubarb varieties. I had no idea that there were so many. I am really curious why. How different do they all taste? They all look very similar. I'm partial to unusual color variations in vegetables but have never thought to consider rhubarb. I wonder if I can find some oddly colored varieties. Did you see anything very unusual there?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't see anything that you would say was unusual and Mitg. We have one or two different varieties and some with redder stems produce a much pinkies cooked rhubarb. The different varieties tend to have a different cropping period too
DeleteThat's sea of daisies! the duck look so different with the one in my country! Rhubarbs have so many varieties? I didn't know this! Look at the tulips! I'm speechless!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a goose Malar if you go back there the last post, the bird amongst the daffodils is duck.
DeleteWhat a gorgeous walled garden. I always like to see espaliered fruit. Down at the allotments there are always rhubarb plants in every stage of growth. I'm waiting to see if mine perk up at all this year. I found a chunk of rhubarb root on my plot last year, no idea where it came from, but I duly planted it and it's doing really well. The older crowns are very weak though. I'm trying to hold off pulling from the new plant, but no doubt I shall be tempted to take a few stems, rhubarb is one of my favourite things.
ReplyDeleteDo you force rhubarb CJ as that weakens it as does over harvesting. You can divide a large clump and get rid of dead bits.
DeleteDelusions of grandeur, Sue!(about the borders, I mean). How many varieties of rhubarb have you got? At Sissinghurst on Sunday I saw a lot of rhubarb too - they were using it in their restaurant, and selling it in bundles to visitors.
ReplyDeleteDelusional would be a very apt description, Mark :-) I think we have four or maybe five varieties. We have inherited ones of unknown parentage too. We had more but some died.
DeleteSo many pretty flowers in bloom. And those espaliers--I would LOVE to have those, but don't need to add yet another maintenance item to an already LONG list of to-do's!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend
I'd love espalier so ready fan trained tiki, Sue but I have neither the patience nor skill to create such things,
DeleteWow yes that is a lot of rhubarb. This garden is on my list to visit, I love a good kitchen garden. I love the tulip display.
ReplyDeleteThe tulips were definitely the stars, Annie
DeleteMore delightful photos, and the first one is again worthy of becoming a greeting card.
ReplyDeleteThe number of daisies made an impressive sight, Deborah.
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ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of rhubarb! Think I'll just stick with whichever variety it is that was already on the allotment when I took it over.
ReplyDeleteIf that suits you, Patsy you do right
DeleteGreat pics sue. I've never been in the walled garden but really want to - had no idea they had a rhubarb collection like that. We're not NT members so just pay to park and then go for a walk but I def want to have a look around one time.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be more closely connected to them park, Lou but now the entrance is quite a way from the main area. It almost seems a different location.
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