This year’s open garden had our best ever turnout. We had 380 visitors and raised almost £3,000 for the National Garden Scheme charities, which for a small London garden is tremendous figure.
People came from a far afield as Bath and Brighton. Many people come because they had seen the garden on BBC 2, Gardeners’ World, some came because they had seen the garden in BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, and others come because they had read about the garden wining BBC, 2019 Gardeners’ World Magazine Garden of the Year award. But a lot of people came because they had heard me talking about the garden on Robert Elms’s BBC Radio London show.
We lucked out the sun came out, the stage was set and the garden looked superb. As ever my wonderfully generous army of helpers worked diligently with keeping everyone fed, watered and dealing with the mishaps. As I’ve said many times before without these wonderful people there would be no open garden. I still maintain that is somehow doesn’t seem right that as they work I bask in the glory.
The feedback has been tremendously kind as people continued to say such nice things about the garden and the hospitality of my wonderful helpers . I was struck by the number of Jamaican how came to see, what BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, called my Slice of Jamaican Garden.