Cae Hir Plant Fair.

I got up this morning to find that summer had arrived. The sky was blue, the air was warm and out in the bay the marker buoys had been put out from here to Ynyslas. Inside the buoys there is a speed limit of 8 knots (9mph) though plenty of boats and jet-skis take no notice. (I've just looked it up and jet-skis can go at 40-70mph.) It stayed warm all day and the temperature inland was a comfortable 20C/68F. 

It was perfect weather for my trip to Cae Hir, in fact it has been perfect weather for any of the Bank Holiday events occurring all over the country which makes a lovely change from the usual wet Bank Holiday weather we often get. 

It took about an hour and half to drive there though that did include a stop at a petrol station to buy some menthol sweets as my throat was getting very sore. It's an easy drive there, only four roads and once off the good but busy coast road I was on almost empty roads with far reaching views.

The overflow carpark in the village school playground was already filling up when I got there but everything was well organised. On entering the gardens I was welcomed by a younger member of the family, a lad of about seven years who greeted me most politely (not in that false formulaic way used by some people in hospitality). 

There were about nine different nurseries there selling everything from houseplants to veg and of course a multitude of garden plants. Of my very specific wish list of plants I was able to get some red aubretia and various rockery plants and the best find was rue (Ruta Graveolens)  my namesake plant that is probably found in every Lithuanian garden. Then I went 'off list' and gave into temptation hoping that I had some suitable places for the plants I couldn't resist buying. These included a white currant bush which I was informed is even sweeter than a redcurrant and two more hardy geraniums to add to my collection. On my way home I called at the usual round of shops and bought yet more plants. Then when I went to Home Bargains on the hunt for white storage boxes they just happened to have purple aubretia at £2 each. 

Once I'd taken all my plants back to the car (this is at Cae Hir) I returned to the gardens for a walk around. (The lack of other people in my photos is due to carefully cropping my photos or waiting until people were hidden behind trees or bushes. A bright pink jacket is not what I want in my photos.) Of course that was after I stopped for a cup of coffee and a slice of home made rhubarb and custard cake. The seating area was pretty full so I ended up sitting at a table with another lady and having a pleasant conversation with her.

And then on to the gardens. As ever the acers were impressive.

Hardy geraniums and sedums often featured as ground cover plants. I do like seeing things planted in large swathes though of course you need lots of space to do that. 

I was very tempted to buy some of these tall Camassia but common sense prevailed and instead I bought two pots of a much shorter variety.

Parts of the garden had a formal manicured feel while other parts were much wilder. There was one bed that had wild garlic and bluebells as the ground cover under a pink azalea and it looked fantastic. (My photo didn't do it justice.)

Back home I began planting out all those lovely plants. I haven't decided where some of them are going to go yet. For the moment the shingle garden looks quite odd with tiny plants dotted here and there. But it's either that or end up with everything being overcrowded. By next year I should have a better idea where to plant the silver leaved plants like artemisia that I'm growing from cuttings.

As I drove home I noticed heavy black clouds building up but we only got the edge of them here at the coast with a few drops of rain falling briefly.