September brought a few visitors to the Bath House and Physic Garden, albeit mostly virtually. In previous years we have welcomed over a hundred visitors to our Heritage Open Day in September, with guided tours of the buildings and garden. This year, instead of a live event, we added a new slideshow to our Virtual Open Day page, with photos of the site before and during its restoration. At least this form of event can welcome visitors from further afield, and for an extended period. Also, the garden remains available for real visits at all times, if you are in the vicinity.
Growth in the garden is starting to slow down – except for the grass, which grew lush and long with plenty of recent rain. It required the help of many hands, to catch up with all the mowing, strimming and raking. There is still colour in the borders, especially the bright yellow stars of Rudbeckia. This plant originates from North America, where it was used to treat earache and snakebite.
Our Myrtle plants have been doing well, next to the seat at the lower end of the garden. Grown from cuttings, they have now reached the top of the wall, and have been covered with flowers. Find out more about Myrtle here. Another species used in Native American medicine, Black Cohosh, is also looking good at this time of year, with spikes of delicate white flowers above the dark leaves.
Work on the utility building continues apace and the process of installing oak cladding has begun. The team have been pleased with the quality of the cladding which blends well into the setting of the building and will weather naturally to an attractive finish.
Railings for the new curved flight of steps from the Bath House down to the garden have now been installed. The galvanised metal will be primed and then painted black as will the small railing fitted for the steep steps at the bottom of the garden. The Bath House, steps, utility building and the creation of a new rockery and planted area each side of the steps will create a real visual treat at the top of the garden.
We are tidying up some of the spare stone slabs, and will be creating an edging to the fruit border, as well as using them in the new rockery. There is therefore plenty to keep us busy in the cooler months to come.
