The Rye Open Garden season has closed its doors on 2022. Set up by Col Everett and Jane Conlin, it has managed to raise just shy of £4,000 for the Rye Memorial Hospital and Rye Community Bus.
Twenty-two otherwise secret gardens were opened up for an hour every Monday. Some huge, some courtyard-sized. Some with established, beautiful trees and bushes to admire. Some with brand new garden design and plantings. Extraordinary views over the fields, rivers and homesteads from atop Rye Hill. Glorious glimpses of Rye’s skyline. Hidden glimpses through passageways and entrance doors within Rye Citadel. All the gardens have been wonderful to visit and all with something of interest to learn from and try to grow at home.
Most memorable of all is the friendships developed in the little hour of garden openings. For participants, we have learned to feel pride for the hard work of pruning and planting ready for our event. We have enjoyed the comments, ideas and warmth from our visitors. We have appreciated the generosity of neighbours and friends to help take money, serve coffee, renew plates of cake, announce raffle prizes and wash up afterwards. We have also learned how to prepare for the garden opening – including creative hiding of garden tools, pots and wheelbarrows usually cluttering our garden paths.
Col and Jane have promised us new gardens for 2023. Some new gardens and some old friends. Should anyone wish to offer up a garden to open, do get in touch with Col Everett on colkins@btinternet.com We so look forward to this being an annual garden event.
Image Credits: Abigail Cooper-Hansen .