Art exhibition adds splash of colour Helmsley Walled Garden

ARTISTS Connie Fairweather and Margaret Rivers are contributing to the colour of the Orchid House at Helmsley Walled Garden with a staging of their paintings inspired by nature.

The exhibition runs until Sunday and can be viewed by visitors to the garden every day from 10am to 5pm.
Connie and Margaret, both from Ripon, take their inspiration from the natural world.
Connie, who trained at York School of Art in the 1960s, focuses on the wealth of beauty to be found in nature and works in several different mediums to explore and develop her ideas.
Margaret is a self-taught artist who started producing pen and ink drawings of botanical specimens to go towards a native flora when she was living in Sierra Leone.
On her return to the UK, she took a range of short courses, including a course on botanical illustration at the University of Sheffield. Both have exhibited in various locations around the region, but this is their first time exhibiting at Helmsley Walled Garden.
Tricia Harris, marketing manager, said: “We are so pleased to be able to exhibit the work of Connie Fairweather and Margaret Rivers in the wonderful setting of the Orchid House, a restored Victorian glasshouse.
“Their work, exploring themes in nature complements the Garden and the beauty to be found inside its walls. “We hope visitors will enjoy the exhibition and perhaps take a picture home as a souvenir of their visit.”

Best Plants For Your Garden

Many times we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Before buying plants carefully examine your garden to see how much sun and shade it gets, whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or windswept. You'll then be equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation; shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas, sun-lovers for the warm spots, drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded, and swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.

But wait! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil's pH level, but it's much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Before planting out, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back, or the center if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.