For our second post about the Savill Gardens we shall discover the colours, shapes and textures of the Winter Garden. Although planted with winter interest in mind when we explored in the autumn it was full of interest.
The third and final visit to the Savill Gardens will feature a selection of images from around the gentle walk we took through these stunning gardens. We had looked forward to visiting these gardens for years and when we finally did we were not disappointed in any way.
At last we have got around to visiting the Savill Garden. It was worth waiting for! The new visitor reception is an amazing building, a single storey space under a long, sinuous roof shaped like the tail of a Whale.
The Savill Garden is situated on the edge of Great Windsor Park and is just a small part of the Royal Landscape. We followed the recommended path around the garden so that we could see the effects of Autumn throughout.
In most areas of the garden, Savill had the typical look and feel of a stately home garden, both in plants grown, choice of design features and border arrangements, but hints of newer thinking were showing through, such as the use of grasses and new perennial plantings.
A true highlight of our visit to the Savill Gardens was the surprise at coming across this modern water feature. It looked good and it sounded good.
Although we visited the gardens at Savill in the Autumn one of the most colourful areas was the Winter Garden, already showing many interesting features. So the next post will be about the winter Garden in Autumn.
This is the penultimate garden wander for the year and what a colourful one it is. The weather has turned cold with daytime temperatures failing to reach double figures and night time temperatures only just above freezing. Some days though do please the camera, with deep blue skies in between storms.
This rich red oriental poppy never fails to impress even this late in the year.
Several of the plants that feature in the November garden seem to sport odd shaped flowers. The Strawberry Tree, Arbutus unedo has flowers that hang like pearly cream bells. Cyclamen hederifolium have curious fly away petals while Shystostylus flowers hang on gently curving stems.
Roses seem to be blooming away giving us brightness for most of the year. Many that started blooming in late May are still flowering now and they are producing buds in readiness to flower right through to the end of the year.
At the moment I pass the wonderfully colourful corner of the Shed Bed, where grasses have coloured up intermingled with the dries flower heads of Eryngium and Agastache. It has to be my favourite November patch in the garden.
Having passed my favourite corner I pass our trees as I go down to to the bottom of the garden to feed the chicks. Their bark textures and colours change every day. This birch’s chocolate coloured bark is peeling back to reveal snow white smooth bark below, like a white shirt beneath jacket collars.
It seems to be a special year for cotoneaster berries, with every variety covered thickly in readiness for arrival of the winter migrant thrushes.
There is something very special about the freshness of the flowers of the Fatsia, with their creamy, greeny whitish colours. They always look to me as if they should smell of vanilla and be edible!
There are difficult decisions to be made in the November garden. Which seed heads to cut down and which to leave for their looks and wildlife value is perhaps the most difficult. How could you possible cut this clematis down when it looks this good? We tend now to leave perennials standing unless or until they fall and become soggy. Once they do this they endanger the lives of the plants they may be smothering. To me the idea of “putting the garden to bed for winter” just doesn’t add up. A garden is for 12 months, all of them
Wrapping the greenhouse in its winter jacket of bubble-wrap is the least favourite of all of our gardening tasks. This Novenber we started on a cold day knowing that as we added the thermal layer to the greenhouse we would heat up as well. But the sun came out and we got too hot. We started off wearing fleece jackets over jumpers but by the time we had finished we had shed both these layers and were down to tee-shirts.
First we collected the rolls of wrap from their summer quarters – the woodshed, and piled them up outside
Next we attempted to begin hanging it inside the greenhouse over specially positioned strings and wires. The bubblewrap then attacked Jude, the Undergardener.
Eventually Jude managed to overcome the wrap and get on with the job in hand, lining the sides and then hanging it over strings tied across the roof. Soon the temperature increased.
I hope these plants appreciate it!
Let’s us finish our November wander with a couple of richly coloured beautifully lit views across borders, and a quick look across our borrowed landscape.
This is the last of my “Go South” posts and as promised it features a garden. Well after all those coastal posts in this series it was only a matter of time before we visited a garden. And boy what a garden it was!
Nymans was created by one of the great supporters of the English plant collectors and it shows in the variety of plants and in the difficulty in identifying some of them.
Nymans is a garden to delight any plantsman who will leave with a list of must-haves. It will also make any good gardener desire his very own areboretum just to plant the rare and special trees spotted at Nymans.
I am not a great fan of coniferous evergreens but these three display diversity in their foliage colour and in their structure and shape.
In the shade of deciduous trees the shapes of their trunks are revealed.
Walking around this varied and surprising garden is like walking through the pages of a good book on garden design. Here you can find every principle of design shown in all its glory. Any gardener, whatever the size of their garden could adapt ideas to be found on a walk about at Nymans.
Framing a view …..
Using a structure to invite you onwards ….
Planting in trios ………………..
Drawing the eye …………
Using structures as an invitation and to support plants to provide shade from the sun ……………
Much of the house belonging to the gardens at Nymans is now in ruins, but they somehow suit the garden. They provide a good foil for planting.
The ruins provided some oportunities to photograph little details and patterns.
But the gardens of Nymans aren’t all about big views and big trees. Richly coloured traditionally proportioned double herbaceous borders excite the eye of the visitor.
There was so much to see at Nymans that another post will appear soon.
As allotment gardeners we enjoy late summer and early autumn as the busiest harvesting time, but lots more food is coming into readiness in our ornamental gardens and parks. Nuts, seeds and berries provide feasts for wildlife and feasts for our eyes.
Sweet Chestnut awaiting the attention of squirrels in Pittville Park in Cheltenham.
Onopordum seed heads against a blue sky in our garden.
Drooping Dieramas.
Black umbellifer seeds.
Crataegus berries and autumn foliage.
A host of Arum Lilies.
Jude “The Undergardener” mystified by an unknown chestnut.
The chestnut had spiky golf balls as nut capsules.
Mad clashing colours on Euonymous europaeus.
Crocosmia Lucifer graceful stems with its ginger coloured seeds.
Let us now have a wander around our garden and spot red berries, and photograph them before the Mistle Thrushes, Redwings and Fieldfares gorge on them.
But unlike Henry Ford we do grow our berries in more than one colour!
White Dogwood.
Two-tone Hypericum.
Musky purple grapes.
This unusual cream berried Cotoneaster always confuses garden visitors. (C. rothchildsiana)
Close to Welshpool, just a half hour from home across the Welsh border, are our favourite nursery and garden centre, The Dingle and The Derwen, part of the same family. They sell unusual trees and shrubs and many good-value perennials all locally grown. But hidden away in the Dingle nursery, through a little wooden gate is a wonderful sloping garden. The garden is mostly a wonderful collection of unusual trees and shrubs on a gentle slope down to a lake, so a visit in the autumn is an assault on the senses.
The nursery which is now over 40 years old, grows thousands of plants on its 150 acres of Welsh countryside. We rarely come away without a gem – and they give free coffee away too!
The garden itself extends to just four acres, but those four acres feel much larger than expected with a complex network of paths which give occasional views which are wide and stunning. This is good garden design.
As the paths take us around corners they feature interesting, colourful shrubs and trees to delight the eye before enticing us to find out what is around the next corner.
Being on a slope, the garden’s many seats are most warmly welcomed by aching legs.
Some of the seating provides cover which proved useful a few times as showers burst from the dark sky just visible through gaps in the trees.
Coloured, textured foliage and bark keep the interest of the plant lover in us going strong and enticing us around each corner.
As in any good garden little cameos stop us in our tracks and catch the eye.
The lake at the lowest point of the garden, provides a restful place – restful to the eye and restful to the legs.
Strong contrasts in foliage colour show up in the brighter weather as we work our way back up the paths to the gate.
As in any garden specialising in trees and shrubs the stars of the autumn are the Acers.
Back up the top of the garden we pass through the little wooden gate and are tempted for a perusal of the colourful nursery beds.
The tenth post in this series of wanders around our garden already! Just two to go! What shall I do for a monthly garden post instead next year? Any ideas for me?
October started off with days of endless heavy rain but after a fortnight it changed to steady drizzle. A bit of sun would be welcome right now.
The first frosts have visited us forcing us to bring the Aeoniums, Echeverias and our other tender plants under cover. We shall have to keep them safe in the “bubble wrapped” greenhouse, by giving them virtually no water and removing any dry or damaged foliage and when the temperatures drops below -15 C give them additional snug coverings of fleece and bubble-wrap. Another sign of autumn is the log delivery which was tipped off the back of a truck onto our drive mid-month. We sorted them and stacked them around the front door. The wonderfully evocative woody aroma of oak and birch trees mixes with the sweet scents of the woodland floor. The scents of the season.
We visited the gardens at our favourite nursery yesterday, The Dingle at Welshpool, a superb autumn garden on a sloping hillside leading down to lakes. (Look out for my post in the next week or so) As usual we returned with a few acquisitions – a tiny orange Kniphofia, Cornus canadensis and Clerondendron bungeii.
We have planted the Kniphofia with a trio of bronze-leaved grasses and near to our darkest blue Agapanthus. As the “poker” is flowering now, its head of tubular orange flowers glows alongside the Agapanthus’ developing seed heads of blue and pewter.
Sometimes autumn hues aren’t just provided by deciduous trees changing the colours of their leaves but by foliage on perennials, grasses and shrubs. Euphorbias are a fine example, as are grasses which have the added bonus of seed heads. Look out for the pic of our Pentstemon Huskers Red which always surprises with its deep red autumn explosions.
But amongst all this red hot foliage we mustn’t lose sight of the flowers that continue to add colour to the garden. There are now fewer so each one is a precious jewel.
I shall finish off with a few pics of autumn coloured leaves, just what you expect in October! And then take a look at one border and take a walk down just one of our many grass paths.
Back to the Hampton Court Garden – not the one in London but the one in north Herefordshire.
The structure designed into the gardens here entices us to move on, to follow paths, to enter gateways, to sit and rest and to look at views.
Within the design plants sit comfortable and happy in their surroundings.
This wonderful garden is also about fun, that essential element that acts as the vehicle for children to become involved with gardens and gardening.
Not just children though – adults need fun in the garden too, especially Jude, the Undergardener.
Sculpture is an important feature of Hampton Court and is enjoyed by all ages. This piece features stained glass within a wooden obelisk,
Within the orchard this sculpture of a hare in its rusty finish attracts everyone for its beauty and charm.
We shall leave Hampton Court in the orchard a collection of heritage fruit trees and meadows, and with a wander around the potager.
And a piece of unintentional outdoor sculpture.
We eventually got to walk along the expanse of shingle at Dungeness. When we tried for the second time the wind had abated but as the evening was approaching the temperature was dropping.
We still appreciated its mystery and magic. Most people who visit Dungeness are fascinated and captured by its unique atmosphere but find it hard to describe or explain. It is not beautiful but it has an attraction.
Old huts once used by fishermen remain scattered thinly along the banks of shingle, as do their sad unused boats.
Silvery blue foliage of sea-kale softens the flinty shingle flatness.
Many fishermen’s homes are still in use but now instead of nets and pots around their doors, cars are parked. The homesteaders no longer tackle the dangers of the seas in search of fish and shellfish but instead tackle morning and evening commuter traffic. Some interesting fishing artifacts however have been salvaged and now grace the homes as decorative features or are integrated with plants and shingle in the sea-shore gardens.
One of the highlights of all our visits to Dungeness, and in fact the main reason for our first visit when we fell for its charms, is to visit the atmospheric and unique garden of the late film director and writer, Derek Jarman. We drove up in anticipation again this year, parked a little way away out of respect for the current owners and I walked across with my trusty Nikon only to be disappointed. It now seems less cared for and lacking in atmosphere but nevertheless loaded with memories. The first time we saw the garden when Jarman was still living there, we just could not believe that any garden could evoke such deep emotions and emerge you in its own unique character. Jarman was a one-off when it came to garden design. The garden was a perfect reflection of its environment, the sea, the shingle, its fishing history and its plant life. This was the only garden capable of sending a shiver up the spine!
Sometimes the strange beauty of Dungeness lies in its emptiness and simplicity.
Just a hour’s drive away, following the A49 south into north Herefordshire, is the “other” Hampton Court. It is much smaller and less well-known than its London namesake, but we love it. It is a garden of many moods from a formal Dutch style canal garden, a potager, herbaceous borders, sweeping expanses of lawn with towering Cypress trees, a riverside walk to a dingle with grotto and pool. Who could ask for more?
We went down for a visit in September taking friends Tony and Jean with us and their granddaughter, Lucy. They are our daughter’s in-laws and niece. Jean has loved gardens for ages, Tony is excited about recently discovering them and Lucy, just 2 years old, simply loves being outside and looking at everything around her.
Naturally we arranged to meet up with them in the coffee shop situated in the beautiful orangery. The lawns outside were decorated with sculptures for all tastes.
One unusual piece of sculpture was “The Tree of Wishes” upon which children hung their wishes written on cards. They made inspirational reading, some sad, some happy and some that just made us think. “I wish my Mum was Happy”. “I want to play for Man United when I grow up.” “I wish I had a sister.”
Throughout the garden interesting bespoke buildings delight and surprise.
And again the detail is worthy of a pic or two.
The best garden buildings of course are those with enticing seats.
A Vegetarian | Nature Lifestyle Blog
.....and nurturing my soul
Journeys In St. Louis Gardening and Beyond
Consult the genius of the place
A blog full of humorous and poignant observations.
Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
...an emerging social science
'The most important and informative publication on wildlife of our times' - The Independent. This blog is a member of The UK & Ireland Natural History Bloggers group: www.uknhb.blogspot.com
Inspire - Cultivate - Grow Native Plants - Restore Landscapes
To create and protect a semi-natural wild space for the people of Farnham to enjoy and experience an array of British wildlife in our town
The www.gardeningwithchildren.co.uk Blog
birding through the seasons, why birds matter and how to conserve them
with a camera in hand
Transform your outdoor space
My allotment, cooking and other interests
my gardening life through the year
Trying to live a creative life
trying to live as lightly as possible on our beautiful planet
Nature lovers from Leicester living the good life.
Finding the beautiful in the everyday
Michelle's Allotment
thoughts from and about my garden
Big plans for a small garden
A Walled Country Garden in South East Scotland
Life at the fruity chicken
Off grid living. Self sufficient. "PERMAGANICS RULE".
Nottingham's Grade 2* Listed Allotments and Community Orchard
a journey in suburban vegetable gardening
The madness of growing your own
A novel approach to vegetable gardening
Sustainable living in the Irish countryside.
Master Gardener, amateur photographer, quilter, NH native, and sometimes SC snowbird
Recent work and work in progress and anything else that interests me
a chaotic cottage gardener
a weekly blog that creates a personal philosophy through photographs and words
Stories from a sassy and classy Southern farmbelle.
Simple Organic Gardening & Seasonal Living
turning dirt into dinner
today the world is created anew
Notes from a Devon garden
Life Through The Lens
A photography blog showcasing the best photography pictures and videos on the internet
Just another WordPress.com site
personal observations from the natural world as the search continues for a new approach to conservation.
The Wonders of Life through my Eyes, my Heart, my Soul
greenbenchramblings 