APRIL’S meeting of the Malvern Horticultural Society had a truly local flavour as Daphne Everett came to talk about her garden, named Bannut, just a few miles away at Bringsty.
Daphne and her husband bought it in 1984 as an ideal site from which to develop their wholesale heather business.
Her excellent photographs unfold the story of how the nursery was built and how business thrived to the point where they were producing 250,000 heather plants annually.
But it was not all about heathers.
They kept about an acre around the property to develop into their personal garden and Daphne’s photographs show how their ideas came to fruition.
Their retirement from the wholesale business was staged over a couple of years before they closed it completely, but that merely led to a new chapter in the garden’s evolution.
Land previously given over to the heather industry was transformed into garden rooms, and Daphne described how they were created, the features they included and how they have continued to evolve.
It did not stop there, as they then decided to open it to the public, and that meant providing teas and cakes for visitors. From Daphne’s enthusiastic descriptions and photographs, it was clear that not only have they developed a garden full of interest and variety, but that visitors can be assured of delicious refreshments from the award-winning tea room.
The MHS has booked an evening visit to the garden in June.
Daphne’s talk has certainly inspired an urge to go and see it at first hand.
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