With the press accusing the Met Office of causing disasterous holiday weather I must say here in Norfolk we’ve got off fairly lightly.  That’s not to say we haven’t had our moments, but in the spirit of  ‘making hay while the sun shines’, son William and I took our selves off the The Old Vicarage at East Ruston.  This is a wonderfully inspiring place for gardeners, formed as it is from a fairly unpromising plot on the Norfolk coast around an old empty Vicarage bought in the 1970s. The owners have transformed and added to the area, surrounding it with a belt of trees and creating a microclimate wherein a fabulous garden flourishes, with a plant sales area full of unusual treasures, and a tea room, and CAKE!  what more could you ask for a sunday afternoon?

I love the jungly feeling to the beginning of the walk…

From the cool of the trees we walked through the dry garden. The orange Californian Poppies look beautiful against the rocks and stones…

Then past the pond…

You can just see the amazing water snails under the lily pad.

I can never make up my mind if these are beautiful, or just a little bit spooky.

These too!

I wish I had  room to grow espalier style apples…

Then I was brought down to earth when I saw this, because it’s from Home Grown Revolution, and I have TWO and I was their first customer and I really have been rubbish in the vegetable garden this year!  Must try harder…

But then it was time for tea, Early Grey and lemon drizzle cake for me, coffee and something mapley and nutty for Will.  Oh dear, no photo, far too greedy, but we did leave a few crumbs, which were much appreciated.

We left via the plant shop with two Salvias, and a lot of inspiration.  That is the nice thing with gardens, there’s always next year!