Aston Pottery – A Blaze of Colour

I find August a tricky time of year in the garden. The lushness and promise of previous months’ plants have faded. Some of my earlier performers are looking tired or have finished all together. The hydrangeas and catalpa trees are in their prime, and my hot corner of plants still looks fine. But the rest of the garden is running out of steam. So, for some inspiration, I went to see a garden known for its splendour at this time of year. It’s the garden of Aston Pottery.

I’ve never visited this garden before, despite living only about 20 minutes from Aston Pottery. That’s because to get to it I pass a garden centre, and I’ve always been sidetracked by the lure of the garden centre. I’m sure you can relate to that dear reader!

Anyway, one further look at my tired sunny border yesterday prompted me to remedy the situation and I paid a long overdue visit to Aston Pottery.

Aston Pottery – Overall Impression

My overall impression was ‘Wow.’ I almost felt I needed sunglasses. The six garden borders are rammed with colour. Indeed there was so much colour for my eyes to take in that I struggled to process it; it was certainly difficult to photograph as my camera literally couldn’t work out what to focus on! Everything looked like a colourful blur, a bit like an impressionist painting. I wonder if that’s the effect the creative couple behind Aston Pottery, Stephen and Jane Baughan were going for.

The garden’s key borders are:

• The Dahlia Border
• The Annual Border
• The Hot Bank
• The Pleached Hornbeam Walk
• The Great Perennial Border
• The Tropical Border

On Arrival

I’m not going to talk in detail about each of these as to be honest, I got very sidetracked by certain parts of the garden and lost my bearings horribly. So didn’t take all of it in properly.

Indeed, if I was to offer a criticism of this garden, it would be this… it’s a wonder of colour, and has some incredibly clever planting. But without the architectural landmarks, focal points, ponds, statues, cooler corners and so forth of a traditional garden, such as The Coach House at Ampney Crucis it can all be a bit of a gorgeous haze to an idiot like me – certainly in August.

For instance, I didn’t properly take in the Dahlia Border which has over 132 different varieties of dahlia! How did I miss it? I have photos of dahlias, but I think they were in the Hot Bank.

Anyway, I digress. Let me instead share the bits I did view properly. First up has to be the gorgeous blue line of Agapanthus backed by grasses which line the perimeter of the Dahlia Border. Walking on from this I reached the Annual Border.

Annual Border

Some 80 metres long and 7 metres deep the Annual Border at Aston Pottery is a sight to behold. It’s rammed with 6,000 plants which Stephen and his 3 volunteer helpers start growing from mid April. Just thinking about the work involved in that makes me feel tired. The 120 different types of plants which make up the tappestry of colour include Helianthus, Tithonias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Antirrhinum, Asters, Cleomes.

The border is backed by a sea of 25 different varieties of Sunflowers. We’re so used to seeing Sunflowers as a novelty plant, grown with children, or popped into the odd sunny spot as a bit of fun.

But to use them so wholeheartedly incorporated into a planting scheme like this is really clever. If I ever have the opportunity to develop a further, large sunny bed, (perhaps when I manage to get rid of our old cricket net or sheds) I’ll definitely bear this use of Sunflowers in mind.

Aston Pottery’s Hot Bank

Impossible I know, but the Annual Border seemed almost an appetiser for the riot of colour which tumbled down towards me on the Hot Bank. The bank makes fantastic use of its sunny aspect to feature 50 varieties of plant many from the Americas. As with the rest of the Aston Pottery gardens, there’s a strong emphasis on repeat planting and planting in large blocks/swathes. This stops the garden ever looking ‘bitty’

I particularly loved the use for vertical interest of Lobelia Tupa  in the picture below, which comes from Chile and can reach 2.5 metres tall.

There were plants I recognise such as Kniphofia, Penstemon and Echinacea. All looking in tip top condition I hasten to add. But there were many plants I didn’t know. That’s because I’m reliably told the Bank features Carra Lilies and Dahlias from Guatemala, Salvias from Mexico, Alstroemeria from Peru.

What I did recognise (and appreciate) among all this exotica was the way the brown/burgundy tones of some of the planting picked up the Copper Beech hedge which flanks the area. Again, clever clever planting.

Pleached Hornbeam Jubilee Walk

This is perhaps my favourite bit of the Aston Pottery garden. I think it’s because it provided a bit of a rest for the eyes. There are still stunning colours and colour combinations in this avenue of planting. But when I visited there was more green, not least from Sedums yet to flower and tall Veronicas (Adoration possibly) which had done their stuff and were in decline.

The 72 Hornbeams which surround the Walk also add some shade in this area. It made me realise that I like a bit of shade. I need it in order to appreciate the sunny parts of a garden.

The Walk features over 2,000 plants (oh the work!!) cleverly chosen to provide a constant avenue of colour from April right through to November. It may have some cool greens but again there’s some unashamedly hot planting in this Walk. Pink Echinacea along side a shocking pink Phlox is typical of the bold style.

A seating area is at the top-end of the Walk, and behind this runs the Hot Bank – what a backdrop!

Approaching the Aston Pottery Cafe

Although I admire the scale of the beds and planting ideas enormously, I perhaps felt most at home wandering among the pots of White Agapanthus ‘Queen Mother’ cleverly coupled with Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy which line the walk towards the Aston Pottery cafe. Now, I hold my hands up here. I always feel at home when within 25 feet of a cup of tea and a slice of cake. But seriously I love this planting and am definitely going to find a way to emulate it.

I have a jungly corner forming on my patio, with a banana, grasses, ferns etc and think three/five spires of this variety of Eucomis rising in amongst my current planting would look fantastic.

Great Perennial Border

The walk past these pots also leads to Aston Pottery’s Great Perennial Border which, as its name suggests, is full of perennial plants. What a relief it must be to Stephen and his gardening team to have something as relatively low maintenance as perennials after all those annuals and dahlias!

Who am I kidding. At 6 metres deep and 42 metres long, the perennial border must create a lot of work. Deadheading the border which features 50 different varieties of plants must be a task in itself. But whoever is doing it is doing it brilliantly as the border looks in fantastic form. Asters, Rudbeckia, Phlox, Heleniums, Penstemon, Monarda, Agastache…all gorgeous, and a ridiculously thriving Salvia Hot Lips.

So that’s my quick potter through the Aston Pottery garden. Though this really isn’t a garden to potter about. With all its colour it’s more of a riotous romp.

Lessons Learned From Aston Pottery

Visiting a garden can be a wonderful source of ideas. And Aston Pottery certainly has given me lots to think about. So what are my key takeaways?

• First up has to be colour – I’ve written about great colour combinations including how to use the colour wheel in a past blog. While I still think the colour wheel is incredibly useful, I feel the garden at Aston has a bolder approach. I’m not suddenly going to switch wholesale to the Aston Pottery colour palette, as I still prefer the more muted tones. But some ‘full on’ colourful large containers, emulating Aston might be a great addition, especially to the sunny front of my cottage – or next to our side gate.
• Block planting – Aston’s bold approach to colour is enabled because Stephen has still followed that fundamental rule of having large blocks of each plant and repeating patterns. This provides cohesion and stops everything becoming fussy.
• Dahlias – I’m not a big dahlia fan. I only have one in my garden. But there’s no denying that if I want added zing in August, dahlias could be part of the answer. In pots if not in borders.
• Annuals – similarly I don’t plant many annuals. They’re too much of a faff. But those that I do have are providing a lot of my colour at the moment, maybe I need more.
• Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy will definitely be making an appearance on my patio.
• Such a variety of plants is brilliant for insects – the place was awash with butterflies and hoverflies
• Zoning the garden helps with your plant choices

Zones

Aston Pottery has clearly a garden divided up into zones. The three clearest zones in my mind (The Bleached Hornbeam Walk, the Hot Bank and the walk towards the cafe) for me work best. That’s because I think they have the clearest visual identity.

I think the act of dividing up your garden into zones (just in your head) is really useful. Naming different parts of your garden, whether it’s large or small, makes it much easiers to stick to a vision.

For instance, I have a bit of my garden called the ‘hot corner.’ Mentally calling it this makes it impossible for me to put any mauve, pale pink plants there. It’s all reds, yellows, oranges. Similarly I’ve a jungle corner on my patio and (in my head) a mediterranean walk-way near our back door. I make the latter sound grand. It’s just a collection of about five blue pots, with lime leafed planting, interspersed with red pelargoniums. But the name gives me focus. For instance, if I’m eyeing up pelargoniums on the sale at a garden centre, I’m only going to buy red. (I love perlagoniums, and have blogged about looking after them here)

Anyway, I digress. As you can see Aston Pottery Garden has given me plenty to think about. Indeed now I’ve found it I will certainly be visiting again, not least to actually look at the Dahlia Border. More seriously, later in the season I’d like to see how the many gorgeous grasses emerge in Autumn. I imagine the Anenomies, Aconitum, Asters, Sedum will be in bloom and the Dahlias will still be going strong.. I’ve also been told that Aston Pottery is well worth a view in Spring. Given their skill with pots, and the number they have, I’m guessing there’s an incredible show of Spring bulbs.

Pay Aston Pottery – and me a visit!

So that’s it. If you’re near Aston Pottery in Oxfordshire, I’d recommend a visit. The gardens are gorgeous, the food is fantastic, and you could come away with some lovely pottery and masses of garden inspiration.

If you are visiting, and have the time, I’m only 20 minutes down the road. So do visit me in Langford too. We can compare notes over a cuppa. Just let me know and I’ll pop the kettle on!

Happy gardening x