It has been a busy time in the Challis Garden in recent weeks. On Sunday 14 June, the Garden opened as part of the Sawston Village group, along with seven other gardens, to raise funds for the National Garden Scheme, which supports many nationally important nursing and caring charities. It proved to be a very popular event on a fine early summer day, with over 300 visitors on the day. A decision was taken last year to bring the Open Garden event forward to mid-June from the usual opening time of the first Sunday in July. With hindsight, it was the right decision, given the severe impact of the heatwave in late June on growth and flowering. All the gardens looked very impressive on the day. Overall the Sawston group raised £3,200 for the NGS, a record for the village group by a very large margin. If this trend is seen across the country, the NGS will be able to donate close to £4 million to the charities it supports, a phenomenal achievement. The NGS celebrates its centenary in 2027, so we look forward to much more publicity nationwide and to hopefully raise even more funds! Thank you to everyone that supported the Open Gardens this year and, of course, to the volunteers and garden-owners who opened their gates for the event.
It is apparent that the Challis Garden is becoming more well-known, attracting visitors from further afield. We have entertained many visiting groups to date this year, besides the usual Sawston clubs and organisations that meet in the Garden for social events and annual meetings, along with primary school visits, yoga classes, tai chi and painting groups. It’s wonderful to see the garden so well used.
In this vein, we are delighted to announce that the Challis House and Garden is featured in the last July issue of Garden News, the most popular national weekly gardening magazine, and should come out on 28th July. We hope the early readers will have the opportunity to read the article. Such articles are planned well in advance. A photographer visited last July to take photographs, followed up by a telephone interview with a freelance gardening journalist a few weeks ago in early June. We haven’t seen a copy of the article but trust it will be accurate and complimentary. Can’t wait to see it!
The traditional Irish music event on 21 June was a great afternoon and very well attended. This group of very talented musicians from across Cambridgeshire meet every Thursday in the Panton Arms in Cambridge to play. We are very pleased they are happy to get together in Sawston to play for us. If you like their music, there will be another opportunity to hear them at the Challis Horticultural Show & Fete on Saturday 29 August. The group is led by Kathlene Loughnane, who lives in Sawston; we are very grateful to her for arranging these sessions.
Moving seamlessly on to the Horticultural Show…..we decided to hold the event a week earlier this year as it clashes with the start of the school. We hope to attract more children to participate in the Show. The schedule of classes has been redesigned by Joby Read and split into two schedules: Open Classes for adults and Children’s Classes; we hope you like the new look. There are a few changes to the classes this year:
– Class 36 – a classic Victoria sponge cake (replacing the decorated celebration cake)
– No photography classes, as these have not been popular for several years.
– A few small tweaks to the children’s classes, with helpful suggestions that we hope will stimulate interest and creative ideas.
The Schedules are available now to view/download from our website. Please note the deadline for entering the Show is midnight on Thursday 27th August. Late entries will not be accepted.
The Cambridge Flower Club will again be the major attraction, giving flower-arranging demonstrations for the first hour of the Show, starting at 2 pm, to be followed by traditional Irish music from 3 pm. We are very pleased that Dr Alan Gelson, who is well-known in the village, will present the trophies this year. Andy Jackson will hold the very popular – and entertaining – produce auction after the trophy presentation has finished. Do come along to support this event and enjoy a traditional village Show.
Please note that the ‘Sawston High Street Through Time’ exhibition in the Challis House will run until the end of August. If you haven’t seen the exhibition yet, or you want to view it again, it is open on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon. It is of interest to long-term Sawston residents and newcomers alike. If you are interested in particular properties, there is more detail regarding notable buildings and businesses or ask one of our archivists for more information.
The new exhibition in The Reeve Building about ‘Trees in the Challis Garden’ is also open on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon, and can be viewed on Thursday mornings, by request, but there won’t be a steward on duty. We are highlighting some of the more notable specimen trees in the garden, with interesting facts and artefacts. Try your hand at counting tree rings or follow the ‘tree trail’ around the garden. Do ask if you want more information about the Challis trees.
It has certainly been a challenging year for gardeners, with very dry conditions in Spring, late frosts and extreme heatwaves in June and July. Our garden volunteers have managed the situation well, nurturing our bedding plants, vegetable crops and house plants through to maturity. Some of the herbaceous perennials have thrived in the hot weather, notably penstemons, irises, dahlias, gaura, verbenas and achillea, ensuring a colourful succession of blooms through the summer months. Asters, salvias and Mirabilis jalapa will carry the displays through to autumn.
In view of the changing growing conditions due to milder winters and hotter, drier summers, we are in discussion with a Climate Change Gardening group, which promotes and publicises measures to be taken to mitigate the effects of climate change. We aim to implement practical measures to ensure resilience in our gardens and to help our native wildlife. The Challis Garden can be a role model for demonstrating such practices. We will keep you informed of our plans.
Apple trees have suffered in the heat, with a heavy fruit-drop in June, which will lead to a poor crop this year. Plums, gages and damsons, on the other hand, have performed well, with the earliest varieties, e.g. Damson Early Rivers, ready for picking by mid-July. Autumn raspberries also look promising.
The summer wildflower meadow in the centre of the main lawn peaked in July, dominated by knapweed and scabious. There are fewer ox-eye daisies this season. We may consider putting in extra plug plants to increase the floral diversity. The important yellow rattle, which suppresses annual grasses, is thriving; we collect seed to sow in grassy areas so that native wildflowers can flourish. The abundance and diversity of insect pollinators is gradually increasing as temperatures rise, with good numbers of bees, butterflies, hoverflies and pollen beetles. Take a close look at this area to see what’s about. Have a look too at the renovated bee border. If you see anything unusual, do let us know.
Finally, we will be renovating the gravel paths and will close the Garden from 10-14th August to carry out this work. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused.
Mike Redshaw