A walk in the gardens July 2006




There are lots of things to see in the garden again this month. Firstly a tea tent has sprung up in the walled garden – serving tea coffee and juice with home-baking! With the heat we have had this month this has been a welcome sight for visitors after they have toiled up the drive! The peacocks and chaffinches have been taking a lively interest in the tent too!

Apart from the tea tent there is plenty more to see in the walled garden. The herbaceous borders are in full bloom with Hemerocallis, Astrantias and Shasta daisies amongst others. The borders are backed by a trellis with climbing roses which have been flowering for some time. An old cold frame in the north walled garden has was converted into a rose bed some time ago and there is a great show of colour in it now.
In the conservatory a plant worth seeing at the moment is Rhodochiton atrosanguineum.

Calceolaria integrifolia provides splashes of bright yellow in the borders of the north walled garden and in one of the centre beds near the greenhouses a lone Rhododendron calostrotum Rock’s form is flowering.
Also in the walled garden are hydrangeas – both lacecaps and hortensia types, Brodiaea, Philadelphus, Leptospermum Red Damask, lilies, Hoheria lyallii and many more.

Though the walled garden has most flowering in it at the moment a pleasant walk can be had through the rest of the garden with hydrangeas everywhere, herbaceous plants at the pond garden and one or two gems to be found here and there. The contrast between the young foliage of the various rhododendrons is interesting too.
One of the “gems” I found was this Datura sanguinea.