Today is our wedding anniversary and last night we stayed over at The Bell in Ticehurst, East Sussex.
The Bell is quite an unusual pub with rooms, which also organises literary events and a mini music festival. We stayed in one of four lodges set in a charming, slightly overgrown garden which was designed by Chelsea gold medal winner Jo Thompson.
So for this week’s Six, joining in with our benevolent host The Propagator, I have chosen six garden-related things from The Bell.
1. For the love of blooming madness…
…at least that is how Google translates this quote from above our bed. Perhaps French gardener Fred can shed some light on this?*
*Fred informs me that this translates as ‘For the love of blooming’ but not a standard blooming, a breathtaking, amazing one.
2. Ox-eye daisies…
…have somewhat taken over the garden this summer. I don’t remember there being so many when we visited last year.
3. Circular seating area
This cleverly designed area around a central fire pit is equally suited to busy events or a spot of quiet contemplation which is what I enjoyed there this morning.
4. Low maintenance perennial planting
As well as the pervasive daisies, the planting also includes Verbena bonariensis, purple hardy geraniums, swishy grasses, huge clumps of rosemary and giant cardoons which all seem quite happy in these sunny, dry conditions.
5. Bottle bank walls
Cages of stacked bottles make an ingenious and thrifty addition to the dry stone walling, well-suited to a pub garden.
6. Private terrace
Each of the lodges has its own private terrace complete with outside fireplace. The perfect garden escape.
To see what other Sixers are up to this sunny Saturday don’t forget to visit The Propagator’s blog and scroll through the comments.
Carrots and Calendula 
What a clever idea for that stacked wall……..using bottles from the pub…….I could use some colored ones for my Bottle Tree! I wonder if I should go around to the wineries………Loved this post and especially the french verse!
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Thank you – yes I would love to steal the bottle idea too!
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Happy Anniversary! What a wonderful lodge to celebrate the occassion.
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Thank you!
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I love Jo Thompson’s gardens, and didn’t know she had designed a garden near(ish) here. It has some lovely features. I love the bottles and the private terrace.
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It is a lovely garden, well suited to its purpose.
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Happy wedding anniversary ! How many years? This place looks beautiful and the garden is also, for sure … The French words mean: “For the love of blooming” but not a standard blooming but a breathtaking one , an amazing one . (That’s what the word “folie” means here in this sentence and probably not equivalent to “madness” as one might think)
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Thank you for the translation Fred! It was our 11th anniversary.
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What a lovely place to stay in.
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This looks like a wonderful place to stay. I love the low maintenance perennial planting- exactly what I’m trying to do here. Happy Anniversary.
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Thank you – low maintenance is always good!
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What a gorgeous garden and lovely place to celebrate your anniversary – congratulations! Love those bottles, I’m wondering about a feature Rioja wall here . . .:-)
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Happy belated anniversary! What a gorgeous place. I love the fire pit with the circular seating. Do you call the retaining wall cages “gable walls” too? We have a lot of them locally. Usually filled with coffee rock but sometimes recycled concrete.
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I hadn’t heard that term no – but that’s not saying much as I’m no expert on hard landscaping!
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Expert nah me neither. It’s more fun to be experimental 😊
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In the fourth picture down, what is that tuft of foliage on top of the pyramidal roof to the right? Is it merely a windmill palm in the background? There are similar tufts of foliage seemingly protruding from roofs in the sixth picture down.
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I think they are palms deliberately planted in the roofs as a visual joke.
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That is . . . weird.
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A circular seating area! There’s not room on mine for a firepit. Maybe a candle could be lit, if there’s room on the table between the g&ts.
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Yes I realised after posting this that it is a bit like yours!
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