Dixter Diary - Day 24

It's been a true honor to be able to learn at Great Dixter over the past 24 days.  Thanks again to Fergus for allowing me to participate and to Chanticleer (and Bill Thomas) for funding this experience as part of a scholarship.  The time has gone quickly and I certainly find myself attached to all of the special people at this excellent garden that continues to honor the legacy of Christopher Lloyd.  This will be my last posting from Great Dixter but I'll have three posts from London over the weekend to share the gardens that I see there!  I've already taken 4,475 photos on this trip!  Tomorrow I hop on a train to London and ultimately fly home to my much missed family and another garden very special to me; Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin, USA.

The day started with my morning tour and photos and then Fergus drove Thies, Susan, Maria and I to the RHS Garden at Wisley which is the garden I visited on my first day at Great Dixter as well!  The weather was excellent and we had many hours to enjoy this garden while Fergus had a meeting.  Rachel, Michael, Motoko and Jana all came to the gardens later via another vehicle.  Some of those highlights are included below.  The day ended with some work on sorting seeds for the meadows and I'll leave that in other capable hands.  Thanks to Fergus, Perry, Jude, Linda, Catherine, Victoria, Maria, Rachel, Lewis, Hayden, Graham, Simon, Michelle, Frank, Sam the Carpenter, Mike, Michael, Siew Lee, Nicki, Katherine, Kate, Imigen, Jean-Michele, Joe, Alice, Holly, Rich, Sam the Gardener, Ben, Hayden, Michael, Jonny, Motoko, Yuko, Susan, Thies, Aaron, Thomas, Cornelia, Jana and everyone else that I've forgotten to mention.  What a great group of people.

 the Sunk Garden was my favorite! (seen above)

RHS Garden - Wisley was looking excellent today

 Fergus walked by us out in the gardens during his meeting.  The fact that his meeting was extended allowed us more time in the garden too!

Above left are Motoko and Michael talking to Wisley staff about soils

 Thies next to Gunnera - Thies has been a great companion and has a bright future in horticulture

 more shots of Wisley today (very busy!)

 We were right out of the car upon our return and Fergus maximizes every minute and started sorting seeds and planning for sowing as soon as tomorrow

The sign above in the nursery has two meanings for me....I DID manage to hit my head over 10 times on various low beams (the first time was definitely a concussion)....but also Great Dixter certainly does become part of you and "gets in your head" whether as a visitor, volunteer, staff member or even a student for 24 days...I'm sure I'll be back some day!