People often ask me what my favourite part of the garden is.
I’ve realised it’s not a part anyone else will be interested in – not even Charles. It’s whatever is new and still developing. It may be informed by as little as a new plant added; it may be a whole new part of the garden. Or lately it may be where we’ve done a lot of work changing part of the garden. All of these get me out of bed in the morning (eventually) to go and see what’s happening and check that slugs, snails or rabbits haven’t been at work.
The most interesting this summer has been the new Cornfield Garden, previously referred to here. This summer it has come on a bit, but really not enough to really please anyone but me:
Curiously I cannot get the railings to look as turquoise as they are. They just look washed out here. But see what we replaced the water feature with! Great find, we thought.
For Pat!
I’ve been looking at the garden daily and trying to see what needed adding to the half a dozen plants in each section that we started with. Each section has the same plants in (mostly) but randomly arranged. So there are probably twice that many or more now, and I don’t imagine that will be the end of it. I’ll be doing just the same all next summer too. And it will still look sparse. Unlike a Chelsea garden, a Veddw garden of perennials takes four or five years to begin to work. Like this one – now about five years old, which may look proper next year. Hard to photograph, I find. (and these are all parts of the garden which inevitably Charles doesn’t take pictures of)
The peculiar thing about this garden is that you have to peer between tall grasses to see it from the seat. I like this conceit but I imagine most people will just think it’s weird.
Star plant in this garden (and there’s a whole row of them!) Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’
We have a rose border – full of Rosa Felicia
It’s a hybrid musk and I love it – tough, scented and beautiful:
And it’s flowering again now…
But it is also full of bindweed. Which was so bad this year it threatened to smother the lot. So we have had a major campaign against it (I know – it will be years and years before we win…). We also used to have some buddleia behind the roses, and for fun and ground cover some buddleia mint. Both of them went this year, leaving much space to fill. What is already there, amongst the roses, are Japanese anemone. (It’s striking just how much of all this is for late summer. We get coach parties in May, June and July!)
So (for once this is a meaningful initial ‘so’) I decided plants needed adding. I’ve added solidago – to pick up that yellow in the centre of the anemone flower – and bronze fennel. (which I’m afraid I am rather adding everywhere because I love it so much and it seeds itself when I’m lucky and it gets through the mulch). And then – just a little extra touch – some crimson Japanese anemones. None of which is worth looking at yet. But I look at it all every day….
I have also added a small area of the wonderful new small hydrangeas in pinks and crimsons (and white: maybe a mistake) elsewhere, which is totally unphotographable. It’s a long way from water so has taken some real work keeping them alive this summer. I realised at some point that no-one else was going to be enjoying them. I took Charles to check. No. Not interesting.
Well, those are my favourite bits.
Hmmmmm. See what I mean?
What’s your best bit?
Like you, I am always most excited by what is in progress. Once a section of the garden is reasonably satisfying, I tend to ignore it, at least for a while. Which means that when I go back to it, months or a year or two later, I see all sorts of things that need changing.
The Cornfield Garden is starting to have a personality. I like the glimpse we get of the replacement to the old water feature. But I want to see it straight on, so do post another photo, please.
It is relentless! I’ll add another pic when I can…Xxx
We all make changes to our gardens (albeit not necessarily on your scale) and these take time to bed in. The new cornfield garden is coming on nicely even if you are not yet satisfied with it (will you ever be?). Not so sure of the hydrangeas as I see them as “dot” plants rather than as a group thing but, again, they need time. Anyhow, you now have YOUR garden all to yourself for a while (I see you’ve relented for August next year). Enjoy
I wonder where you might ‘dot’ some hydrangeas??? Thank you re Cornfield Garden – the plants need to fill out, choose what (and will if they survive whatever the climate decides to throw at us next!) And yes – giving access without creating exhaustion remains a problem…
I AM interested in all the new parts; but from a taking pics point of view I want to wait until they have filled out a bit. My favorite parts – the Reflecting Pool (provided the hedges have been cut and the walls look clean and I have weeded the paths), and the Ruin, which seldom makes me feel that I need to do anything.
Yes – the restfulness of sitting where nothing is demanding you do anything makes another star part!
the ruin in winter…the woods in late April…the meadow in May…the campanulas in July…the miscanthus fields in September…and the pool in your company all year
Oooooooo – the question was intended to be directed to your garden! But who’d be picky about such sweet flattery!!! Xxxxxx
I think Pat Webster is right. I, too, tend to ignore the reasonably satisfying bits of the garden for a while and return with a more critical eye later.
I was not a fan of the water feature you had before because you could hear the pump. But I did like the overall feel of that enclosure, so will be keen to see how it feels now you’ve changed it.
From your photos it seems neither conceit nor weird.
Hi Joe. It was possible to silence the pump if you stuck your hand in the water and fiddled with the connections to the pump. But the silence never lasted, as you know. So it’s also one unpleasant job less, now. Look forward to hearing what you think of it all when you see it. Xxx