August has arrived in a blaze of sunshine. The last week has been one hot day after another. It is nice to finally get some really warm weather after a fairly variable year. The grass has remained green until now,  but the heat is beginning to dry it out to the familiar yellow of late summer.

The gardens are active and busy, weddings and events coming thick and fast. Although the seasons have seemed to come early this year, we still have a pleasing range of colour throughout the gardens. In fact, the most colourful area of the gardens right now is probably the Cuttings Garden with its wide range of annuals from which gorgeous bouquets are made each week and put on sale up by the office. The neighbouring orchard trees and those down the hill are thick with fruit; apples and pears, figs and quinces, are all ripening and weighing down the branches of the trees.

Another fruit in abundance this year is the deep blue grapes of Mahonia. The bushes have been thick with berries for several weeks and, although I had read that they are bitter-tasting, I ate some recently and found them not nearly so bad as I had expected. According to traditional use, they are good for intestinal health when eaten or have some anti-fungal properties if applied externally. They are indeed sour-tasting but I would not say they were especially bitter; they do, however, contain many quite large seeds. Perhaps we should try germinating some in the polyhouses.

The Bridal Beds have responded well to the re-planting we did in the spring and everything is filling out and flowering in abundance. The Mediterranean Garden beds have looked particularly well this summer with great shows of Rosemary and Brachyglottis and Euphorbias and Hemerocallis. We introduced two large Dracaena early in the summer, and they have both settled in well and made a good structural contribution to the plantings. And now the Fuchsia Garden is coming into its prime, flowers of pink and red and white and magenta covering all the bushes in vivid colour.

The Hostas and Hydrangeas in the stream-bed of the Takata garden look especially lovely, their pastel colours blending with the abundant greenery. But it is also at this time that we need to cut things back a little, allowing visitors to pass along all the paths without getting snagged by overhanging branches. This coming weekend we must be at our best for the Arts and Music Festival and volunteers, students and garden staff will be mowing and trimming and pruning to have everything looking its best. It will be a busy week and we are hoping for the best possible weather to show off the gardens to all the visitors.

Please do come, bring friends and family, and enjoy the arts, the crafts and the music in the gardens.