Spooky Times in the Challis Garden
Saturday 31st October saw a large number of young witches and wizards descend on the Challis Garden.
In lovely weather, in a really safe space, they came along in their ‘finery’ to participate in pumpkin carving, spooky trails through the forest, face painting and crafts, and to enjoy Andy’s yummy homemade soup and lots of spooky refreshments.
The format for this occasion, remains the same year on year. No bells or whistles, just a thoroughly enjoyable and safe village event. We welcomed many parents and children here and a good time was had by all!
Thank you again to the Sawston ‘Let’s Run Girls’ group, who arrive very early, stopping off during their weekly run on this day each year, before the children descend, to hollow out the many pumpkins, ready for carving later.
Opening on Saturday in the House Museum is an impressive new exhibition, curated by Paul Whitmell and supported by a Lottery grant. It will shine a light on the lives of Sawston’s soldiers, lost in World War One. They included Mary Challis’s uncle, her mother’s brother – Harry Moulton. Come along and find out more. This exhibition will be open from 10.00am to 12 noon on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Rosie Phillips
November Garden Highlights:
The clocks have gone back, leaves are dropping off the trees and our last event of the year has passed, it’s truly autumnal now with foggy starts, dull days and short daylight hours. Nevertheless, it’s still an important period in the gardening calendar. We are busy gathering up leaves for making leaf mould for next year, carrying out seasonal pruning, clearing late weeds and mulching perennial beds, fruit trees and hedges. A final round or two of mowing, with the cutting blades raised, will be completed, hopefully, before the first frosts.
Autumn-flowering plants have benefitted greatly from the welcome October rains – asters, penstemons, dahlias and cosmos in particular. Pink nerines, mauve autumn crocus and pink and white cyclamens have added to the show. Autumn colours are slow to develop this year the trees and shrubs retain their leaves to withdraw nutrients before they fall off. There are a few exceptions, with certain plants showing bright yellow, red and rusty hues, notably ginkgo, Persian ironwood and Euonymus alata (‘burning bush’). Hopefully there will be more colour to enjoy this month.
Visitors will notice the empty bed opposite the summerhouse. This will be replanted with climate-resilient plants to demonstrate which ones can thrive in our changing climate. There are three components: Mediterranean, prairie and cottage garden plants. Our soil is good free-draining sandy loam overlying chalk, suitable for a dry garden; however, we wish to improve the drainage further for the Mediterranean section and will be adding sharp sand and gravel to encourage the plants to root more deeply. We will see whether this is a successful strategy over the next few years!
Mike Redshaw