THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TRIP, DAY 1-3

Our flight from Lisbon brought us in over the white cliffs of south England and a patchwork of green fields. We landed at Heathrow, picked up a car and drove to spend the first night with friends in North London.

For most of our visit we would be staying in B and Bs, chosen for their proximity to the National Trust properties we were to visit. The first, Little Tidebrook Farm, which I had booked for 3 nights was in the hamlet of Wadhurst. I always book farms, if at all possible.

Arriving in the late afternoon we took a walk in the surrounding countryside before heading to the local pub for dinner.

NYMANS

The next morning we visited Nymans in West Sussex. The 600 acre Nyman estate was purchased by Ludwig Messel in 1890. From first glimpse one might think the house was built during the Tudor period. In fact it was built during the 1920s.

In 1947 the house caught fire and although some of the rooms were restored, much of the building is a ruin. The estate was given to the National Trust in 1953.

The right hand side of the house is just a shell.

Beautiful clipped topiary and long views seen in so many English Estate gardens.

One of the finest herbaceous borders in the country.

The wisteria walk.

Fields of Oxeye daisies overlook the surrounding Sussex countryside.

A perfect stand of lupins.

Stunning dogwood trees.

The pinetum.

One could easily spend a whole day here, but we had to move on. Two more gardens to visit today.

WAKEHURST PLACE

Wakehurst place is known as the country estate of the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew. It is also the home of the Millenium Seed bank. The seed bank is a plant conservation project which currently holds 10% of the world's plant specimens. The seeds are cleaned, dried and stored in the underground vaults. It is a world wide project with partners in many countries, including our own Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where Flo Oxley heads up the project.

The center is part research, part conservation and part indoor garden.

Visitors can follow the pathway that the seeds take once they arrive at the center. The laboratories, where the scientists work, are open for viewing, although as this was a Saturday no one was working.

Unfortunately we arrived with only 15 minutes to look around as the building was closing for a private function. Still, our visit gave us enough of an appreciation of all the work that is going on here to save the world's plants. Apart from storing seeds for the future, research is being done on how best to preserve the seeds. Not all seeds take well to being kept in the freezer vaults. One example is the seed of the cycad . Extensive study on this plant is a result of the extreme pressure being put on the species by illegal harvesting of native populations and the resulting extinction of some species. Recent research has discovered that the seed remains viable if frozen in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -196 C.

The great plant hunts of long ago are on again as scientists travel to the four corners of the globe to collect seed. Some of the seeds are saved and some propagated to plant in the great botanical gardens for others to enjoy.

We hiked the cool shady woodland trails to the Himalayan Glade, the Southern Hemisphere Garden, the Winter Garden, and finally into the walled garden by the house.

This garden was created in 1973, inside the old walled garden, as a tribute to Sir Henry Price who was the last owner of Wakefield.

Our last stop of the day was Sheffield Park and Garden. Now I have to admit that I love the English cottage garden look, the garden rooms with their clipped yew hedges and walls, best of all. There are no garden rooms here and yet I have only one word for Sheffield Park. Magnificent.

SHEFFIELD PARK AND GARDEN

The gardens at Sheffield were laid out by 'Capability' Brown to showcase the house, which had been remodeled in 1791, in the then, popular gothic style. Later Repton added his touch by landscaping the areas closer to the house..

I never cease to be amazed by the vision these landscapers had.

The rhododendrons and Japanese maples framed against a backdrop of green.

Later additions to the garden, in the 19th and 20th centuries, included an arboretum and plantings of rhododendrons, azaleas and many exotic plantings.

We may have missed seeing the spring show of daffodils and bluebells but the maples and rhododendrons made up for that.

Huge swathes of gunnera along the water's edge.

At the end of a long day we picked up Indian take away to take back to our B&B. Tomorrow we visit Batemans, Scotney Castle and Sissinghurst

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY JUNE 2011

No doubt we will have another 100 degree day today, so I look forward to seeing how gardens are faring in cooler parts of the world. Thanks to Carol at Maydreams for bringing us all together.

It seems appropriate to showcase the blooms which match the temperature first. Dicliptera suberecta isn't fazed by the triple digit temperatures.


Nor is the Flame acanthus, Anisacanthus wrightii, which has similar tubular flowers attractive to hummingbirds.

This Gaillardia grandiflora 'fanfare' re seeded in a burgundy form this year.


Along with the simple burgundy flowered blanket flower.

I have never seen a yellow form before. One of nature's endless surprises.

Last year a white form of Echinacea appeared. This year there are more than ever.

Blue plumbago.

Some spring time lingerers, larkspur.

Chocolate daisy may not be the tidiest plant in the garden but it is a sure fire early morning performer and during the morning hours fills the air with that delicious chocolate fragrance.

Among white achillea and purple statice a new addition to the garden. Gomphrena 'fireworks', on tall slender stems, wafts in the breeze.

Coreopsis tinctoria.

Narrow leaf zinnia, Zinnia linearis.

Rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala.

I still can't believe that this perfectly mounding purple skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii, is still alive after 5 years. It grows larger every year. Obviously very happy in the sunken garden.

In the herb garden, clouds of pretty pink flowers dancing on slender stems. This is dittany of Crete, Oregano dictamus. What happened to my plans to move some to hang over the low wall in the vegetable garden. Next year, maybe!

So from scorching hot Texas, Happy Bloom Day.

A VERY SPECIAL GARDEN

While I nurse my own garden back to health, after so many weeks away, I want to share with fellow gardeners one of the gardens David and I visited on our recent trip to England. Earlier on in the spring we joined the Royal Oak Foundation. In association with the National Trust our membership would gain us entry into any of the hundreds of houses and gardens, belonging to the National Trust. Scattered throughout England, visiting these properties was to be the main purpose of our visit.

However, before leaving home I also arranged to visit one private garden in the Cotswolds. Stone House Garden is in the pretty village of Wyck Rissington. Behind high stone walls Katie Lukas has designed and planted one of the most delightful gardens I have ever visited.

Come with me through the garden gate.

You might expect this view of the house to be from the street but it is actually the side view of the house. The lawn is surrounded by deep perennial beds overflowing with color and form.

In one corner of the garden clipped topiaries lead the way to the summer house, a must in every English garden.



Which way to go first! We took the pathway along the stone wall. It led into the tennis court garden.



Another summer house, festooned with climbing roses, had a second life as a storage room for garden equipment.

We passed through into the pool garden.
The high stone walls divide the garden into a series of rooms. They are also used to create raised planting beds. This incredibly fragrant rose is Gertrude Jekyll. I wonder if I could find it over here. Her cerise pink color and fragrance are reminiscent of my Zephirine drouin.



Along side the pool garden a gravel pathway broken by diamond shaped stone separators.

Creative use of stones and broken tile.

An archway leads to the open fields and meadows.

Aubretia and campanulas everywhere.

A surprise view through a window in the tall hedge reveals a water feature.

Raised vegetable beds

In the meadow garden someone has crafted a dog from chicken wire.

More beautiful stonework.

In contrast to the Cotswold stone a brick paved garden with miniature topiary bushes. Geraniums were in flower all over England and here they flank the pathway.



View from the lawn down into the pool garden.

The stone wall arches are exquisite.

A corner of the pool can be glimpsed through the archway.

I was sorry not to meet the creator of this wonderful garden. Unfortunately Katie Lukas was away from the house when we visited on the Monday morning. As this was a private visit we had the whole garden to ourselves, save for the Lukas' little dog, and it was easy to pretend that it was our own garden!

Level changes add interest, the stone steps leading us back up to the pathway which leads back round to the front of the house.

As we left we glanced back at the house to the roses flanking the stone mullioned windows. Simply gorgeous.

Driving through the picturesque village we stopped to photograph this stone structure. I am told it is a Victorian drinking fountain, no longer functional.

And this pretty Cotswold cottage. The English seem to have the knack of pruning their roses flat against the wall. Something I have never mastered.

TUNING MY EYE TO THE TEXAS LANDSCAPE.

Coming home to Texas after spending three weeks in England's green and pleasant land can be quite a shock. It takes time for the eye to adjust, particularly when the temperatures have been unseasonably warm. Five weeks ago I left my garden to fend for itself. The only visitors were wildlife. A wren managed to rear a family in the potting shed. The only place they could have come in and out was an inch gap under the sliding doors. I would never have known but for all the bird poop on the floor. They had been perching on the drying rack. I found the nest in a plant pot on the shelf. The goldfinches seem annoyed at my presence as they forage the seed heads on blanket flowers, basil and coreopsis, all gone to seed in my absence.

But blankets flowers continue to bloom as though it was still spring. At least there was some color still left to brighten the garden.

I was wondering why all my potted plants had died. I thought to begin with that it must have been the intense heat and drought but the when I set the drip system on manual and it didn't come on I knew there must be a problem. The GFI in the potting shed had tripped. Judging by the condition of many of the plants it must have been off for some time. I am now in the process of removing spent annuals, and cutting back plants in the hope that an infusion of water will bring them back to life. After three mornings of pruning and watering I am feeling a lot better and I see the garden starting to look its old self again. I think my eye is finally tuned to Texas. It is still going to take me a couple of weeks to get it back in shape. The price I have to pay for visiting 28 of England's finest gardens.