Mountfield

OPEN GARDENS: The gardens at Mountfield Court will be open again under the St Michael's Hospice Open Gardens Scheme on Tuesday May 9th from 10.30 am to 4.00 pm. There are so many new faces in the village that many may not know that they offer three acres filled with an extraordinary collection of azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias. It also boasts a notable collection of trees with the star being the Davidia involucrata or Handkerchief tree. There are the amazing views in all directions and, of course, the bluebells will still be at their peak. You should also get Saturday May 27th into your diaries now when the garden and walled garden will be open from 10.00 to 12.00 in the morning. More details nearer the time.

THROUGH TREES & TIME: Peter writes: At the time of going to press, three of the four scheduled walks were sold out with the new date (today 28th) heading that way. On the first walk, last weekend, I led a dozen walkers through the woods and they were looking astonishing with the bluebells positively glowing in the dullish light we had for the first half of the walk. The other remarkable feature was that the wild garlic has continued its invasive rampage through the woods. This started about five years ago. Before that we used to collect our garlic from one of three main patches; those patches are now measurable in acres. In the picture in last week’s paper, it looked as though I was smoking something illegal whereas I was actually demonstrating a medieval pocket light. Honest.

GREEN FINGERS: Sedlescombe & District Garden Society will be holding their Annual Plant Sale on Saturday 6th May 2017 in the Village Hall. There will be a good selection of shrubs, bedding plants, vegetables and herbs available at reasonable prices, plus hanging baskets, planters and more. And, as already announced, Mountfield Horticultural Society’s Coffee Morning and Plant Sale will be held over the Whitsun weekend on Sunday 28th May 10.30-12.30 at 4, Eatenden Lane.

FINALLY: We heard our first cuckoo of the year last week so can summer be far behind? We can always be contacted on 880614 (if no reply, just leave us your details on the answerphone) or via [email protected]. We always welcome contributions and feedback.

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