I am grateful to Carol for letting us know about Steve’s open garden (poster shown on the blog last week). In the front garden, unusual varieties of plants were for sale, including a Rice Paper plant.

The back garden is very well planned with its walkways, streams, and pond. The exotic plants make you think for a moment that you have been transported far from Abingdon. But typical Abingdon sponge cakes and cups of tea were being served by Steve’s mum. Proceeds and donations went to charities.

Steve started creating the garden when he bought the house in 2009. He was there to answer questions such as, ‘how do you protect the plants during the winter?’ One year the garden was featured on TV and he had visitors from all over the country. This year some return visitors came from the Isle of Wight and thought that the trees were taller and the effect even more tropical.

On the way back from Steve’s garden, we passed another interesting garden over the road: Springfield Drive.

Yesterday morning, the bells of St Helen’s church were ringing for a continuous period of about three hours – a full peal. People were about to prepare for the Kennington Memory Club event with cream teas and stalls in St Ethelwold’s Garden. A blackbird was singing.

This was the blackbird.

The view of St Helen’s church tower from where the bells rang out.

The Kennington Memory Club event through the wildflower bed.

The garden has been used several times in June for community events.

Even when there is no event there will be people sitting, reading, or chatting in the garden among all the flowers.

The peace pole stands proudly amidst a flower bed bursting with shades of pink. The volunteer gardeners have carried out Simon’s wish to give this bed a pink theme this year.

This morning, the volunteers were hard at work, their shears trimming and their hands planting. One volunteer was cutting the edges around Mark’s Wildflower Meadow.

A few days ago, the garden room and the hut at the end of the garden hosted art as part of Oxfordshire Art Weeks

The garden is currently full of blooms and out of these tower irises and foxgloves.

A bumblebee flies among the flowers, contributing to the process of pollination.

High up in the branches of a large tree, a blackbird pours out its song.