UNUSUAL PLANT AND ART FAIR sunday 2nd sept 2012

We are nearly there and the countdown has begun : On Sunday 2^nd September 2012 (from 11am until 5pm ) a rare collection of exciting nurseries, artists and crafts people will be coming together in the Sussex Prairie garden bringing a great selection of unusual plants and beautiful pieces for you to buy.

A great chance to source some amazing plants and art works for you, your house, your garden and your larder.

We shall be featuring among others the following specialist nurseries :the wonderful Dutch nurseryman Coen Janssen ,Madrona, Edulis, Usual and Unusual Plants, Chris Ghyselen, persicaria breeder, from Belgium, Nymans , Rose Cottage Plants with their bulbs , The Plant Specialist, Daisy Roots, Dysons Nursery, Brighton Plants, Plantbase,Kevin Hughes Plants,Colin Reader with his wildflower meadow seeds and Pineview Plants .

Talented artists and crafts people will be joining us to showcase their work such as the following  : Fiveways artists, Chris Burchell Collins , Si Uwins, Circus Kinetica, Tom Smith ,Jill Tattersall, Barbara Collins, Terrapot,Jackie Sweet willow weaver , Janine Creaye,Sarah Smith and Ken Jaquiery,kate Osborne, Carol Wagstaff , Dave Unsted, Moore Designs , Coalshed pottery ,The Luddite with beautiful reconditioned garden tools and  Michael Ristic  among others.

And for the first time we shall be showcasing some super food suppliers to tempt your taste buds! Such as the wonderful handmade chocolates from Rowdy and Fancys, delicious provsions from Strata and Real Bread from The Real Patisserie!

           Set within the sumptuous naturalistic garden of Sussex Prairies, visitors to the Fair will also be treated to the impressive structural splendours of the architectural grasses in their romantic drifts and the layers of sensual textural planting abounding in this landscape. At this time of year of course, the late perennials and particularly the asters will be at their bold, romantic best!

If you would like more information about the fair, or to talk to Paul or Pauline please call us on 01273 495902 or email usEmail: morlandsfarm@btinternet.com website: www.sussexprairies.co.uk

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The secret’s out

a very small observation…on the keypads used in supermarkets,post offices and likeminded emporia. Firstly you slip in your debit and credit card into the reader  and the magic starts there. There is a beguiling array of numbers in front of you. Firstly the frisson of danger as the minutest of flickers of self doubt whizz through your brain .. will I remember my secret code ? then the self satisfying smugness returns .. yes of course I do.. and you happily tap in your four digit code into the box.. now notice how some of those keys are very worn ? so much so and always the same ones .. this is spooky because it surely cannot mean everyone has the same numbers ? or does it .. has there been a mega mind meld throughout society and everyone has mysteriously taken the same numbers ? hard to fathom out and how can it be proven?

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Hats off to them !

An amazing group of ladies came to visit the garden today. The extraordinary and entirely outrageous Worthing Blueberry Muffins chapter of the Red hatters tripped into the tea shop in a variety of hues but predominantly purple and red. The purple actually synced quite well with some of the predominant colours of the garden at the moment. But it was wonderful to see them inching through the plantings, in full sail like an armada, with their red hats like dancing pennants. Sometimes unseen (but audible like a flock of birds) and then a flash of red through the hazy grasses and swirls of colour.

They purport to be women of a certain age(over 50) who take it upon themselves to trip around the country visiting all sorts of places , not just gardens, but the underlying theme has to be one of enjoyment, and I rather suspect, delicious indulgence ,as they made short  shrift of the courgette and apple and apricot cakes on the terrace.

It is a world-wide organisation spanning many continents and seems to be a wonderfully flamboyant bit of fun.It is all about growing old disgracefully and  not at all about “wearing the bottoms of their trousers rolled” ! (sorry TS Elliot !)  These ladies I promised to mention by name , as they all take on personae as befits their character. So we have Princess Protea,Duchess Esme,Madame Gigi (intriguing),Lady Jules,Lady Chatterley (real surname happens to be Mellors so her name could be nothing but!)Baroness Bustickle (saucy!) Scarlet Poppy,and Goddess of the Glen .Some of the hats were positively bizarre but I loved the fun and fantasy of it all.

Apparently it all goes back to a poem by a lady called Jenny Joseph who apparently is distancing herself from the whole chabang.

Here is the first part of the poem which I hope that Jenny will not mind me reproducing…. google her and her poem and find the rest for yourself !

Warning

“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick flowers in other people’s gardens .”

Didn’t see them picking any flowers .. but you never know !

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