DAVID AUSTIN ROSES, WIGHTWICH MANOR AND GARDEN, MOSELEY OLD HALL

June 23rd 2012
DAVID AUSTIN ROSES
Finding ourselves within a few miles of the David Austin Rose Center it was our first stop of the day. Another cloudy day but just as long as the rain holds off.

I have never seen so many different varieties of rose at the same time under one sky and almost everyone had a fragrance. I have chosen to combine all the photographs together as it does make for an easier posting. Our visit was brief; just enough time to walk around all the different gardens and enjoy the fragrance. I can imagine what it would be like to be in the garden on a warm summer's afternoon.

The gardens are laid out as separate rooms with walkways and pergolas and statuary to add interest. David Austin USA is to be found in Tyler Texas and all roses are grown here in the USA.

WIGHTWICH MANOR AND GARDENS.

Our next stop was Wightwich Manor and Gardens near Wolverhampton. Built by Theodore Mander in the late 1880s Mander was inspired by Oscar Wilde's lecture on the House Beautiful.

The house was commissioned in the old English style and built from brick and timber.

We enjoyed the guided tour of the house, with its pre raphaelite art and William Morris fabrics, before entering the Art and Crafts garden, by Thomas Mawson, which was added by Theodore's son Geoffrey.

I don't really want to say I was disappointed in these gardens but the fact is I had expected more. Maybe the soggy summer was to blame.

MOSELEY OLD HALL

Just a few miles away lies 'the house that saved a king.' The house to which Charles 11 fled following his defeat at the battle of Worcester in 1651. We thought ourselves very fortunate that one of the volunteers who was standing at reception, when we arrived, offered to give a us a private tour of the house.

With apologies for the poor quality of the indoor photos( the flash is broken on my camera) this is the bed that Charles 11 slept in.

 And the priest hole in which he hid when Cromwell's men came looking for him.

Of more interest to the gardener was a nice display of herbs and their culinary and medicinal uses.

And the views through the window to the knot garden.

We were almost at the end of the tour, sitting by the large Inglenook fireplace in the kitchen when a lady rushed in and breathlessly asked if we were in a grey Ford Focus car. "You have been broken into" I am busy thinking about what was in the car. Our carry ons were on the back seat as there wasn't any room in the trunk. David's back pack and my soft sided bag on the floor. We rush out to the car to find this.

Three of those items taken. In the back pack David's Ipad, camera and our UK phone, his address book, clothes for the wedding, wash bag set of plug adaptors. The police were called. They discover two other cars broken into and their 'sat navs' stolen. To cut a long story short. The police tape up the window, David spends an hour on the phone finding a place to fix the window. Thrifty car hire is closed after 12pm on Saturdays so the AAA take over. We are spending the night 100 miles away and arrange to meet the window repair man in Hereford at his place of business. He finally shows up at 7pm during which time David has dropped me off at The Green Whale Tump near Ross-on-Wye and gone back to get this window fixed. By a stroke of good fortune I have arranged for dinner at the B&B and they hold off until 8:30 when we open a bottle of wine, enjoy a wonderful home cooked meal and determine this incident will not spoil our holiday.

WARNING NEVER LEAVE A SINGLE SOLITARY THING ON DISPLAY IN YOUR CAR. Thieves will break in and steal anything they can sell. The car insurance does not cover theft of items on the rear seat of the car!

We never got to see the gardens of Moseley Hall which is planted with plants that grew in the 17 century. I doubt we will go back to see them.

Breakfast at the Green Whale Tump

After a good night's sleep and the usual great breakfast we packed up or bags, all of which now fit in the trunk and set of for the first venue of the day. 

ONE LAST FLOWER OF THE SEASON

A Monday morning gift. The echinopsis, Echinopsis subdenudata 'dominoes' has flowered again and it is to be for the last time this year.

It has flowered three times since I bought it in May. What a wonderful show it has given. This tiny bee was busy working away among the stamens. I wonder if he was one of the solitary bees to make a nest in the bee house.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY JULY 2012

A surprise rain early this week resulted in Texas' favorite weather related bloomers bursting forth. The Texas sage, Leucophyllum frutescens, will be putting on a show all over town for the next few days. I planted this one, located on the rocky hillside above the house, about 8 years ago. It has never received any supplemental watering but yet its spindly branches burst forth with blooms following a rain fall. This plant always looks better when allowed to grow with a minimum of pruning. Hedging always spoils the big show.

And of course the rain lily, Zephranthes citrina.

The Texas fish hook cactus started to produce flower buds about 6 weeks ago, then halted the bloom cycle. It was waiting for the rain. Today it bloomed.

The blanket flower, Gaillardia always around for Bloom day. Here paired with the ruby crystal grass, Melinis nerviglumis.

There are a number of flowers that are blooming out of season. This unknown day lily seems to have extended its flowering into July.

and this spring blooming columbine continues to flower. It's a topsy turvy year everywhere.

This is the coreopsis that came from the Seattle Fling. It survived the mild winter and just started blooming. It must still be on West coast time.

Hooker's Palafoxia, Palafoxia hookeriana, is a pretty native that self seeds.

Dahlberg daisy, Thymophylla tenuiloba, with its clusters of pretty yellow flowers.

Celosia spicata always manages to find a place to grow.

Gomphrena 'fireworks' along with the spider zinnia, Zinnia tenuiflora.

The echinaceas.

I did manage to pick up some more plants of the chocolate flower, Berlandiera lyrata, this year and they seem to have settled in well.

and the rest

and a riot of colors gathered together in a vase.

Happy Bloom Day Carol, our host at Maydreams and gardeners wherever you may be.

BACK TO ENGAND AND MORE GARDENS

It was not our plan to visit England again this year but when the invitation to our nephew's wedding arrived I knew I had to get busy. The late June wedding seemed like the perfect opportunity to enjoy another round of garden visits. Out came the map book, the National Trust book ( we renewed our membership of the Royal Oak Foundation) and my little book of The Gardener's Guide to Britain. It may be an old edition, 1995, but most of those gardens are still there and looking better than ever.

FRIDAY JUNE 22nd 


WOLLERTON OLD HALL

We wasted no time, following our overnight flight, picked up the car and heading south towards Market Drayton. It was Friday and Wollerton Old Hall has very limited opening times. Friday the garden opens at 12pm.

We passed through the garden gate into the Old Garden and follow the York stone pathway.

You can see by the puddles on the stones that rain recently visited this garden. Everything is looking lush and green in this garden whose main feature is the clipped Portuguese Bay laurels.

Instead of continuing down the path we made a right turn through a gap in the hedge. I was entranced by this small scarlet vine growing through the yew. Not the first time we have seen this same vine in a yew. It is the Flame creeper or flame nasturtium, Tropaeolum speciosum.

English gardens have a way of beckoning the visitor. Who can resist that glimpse through the brick archway. It leads into the side garden which runs along the back wall of the house.

A row of clipped box in wooden barrels line the gravel walkway. One wall has an espaliered magnolia, the other a well trained rose just coming into bloom.

We now turned back and found ourselves in the yew walk.

More topiary in the form of spires which lead the eye down the grass walkway. The beds on either side are planted with mainly silver and white. A break in the planting affords a glimpse through to the Rill garden. We will visit there later.

For now we move on further down the pathway and into the sundial garden.

Off to the right is the summer house.

The rustic doors are wide open and afford views of the garden on two sides.

But there is no time to rest on the comfortable basket chairs. We must thread our way through the billowing masses of catmint and into the new walled garden.

The Lanhydrock garden, named for the NT property in Cornwall is primarily known as the hot garden. This year the lack of color is evidence of the wet and sunless summer England has been experiencing.

Never-the-less delphiniums are at their peak.

In the Well garden more clipped yews in cruciform shape surround a water feature.

Against the wall the carved well head.

More places to sit on a hot summer's day, but not today.

And finally into the Rill garden.

" Possibly the most beautiful personal garden to have been created in the last 25 years." The words of Chris Beardshaw, international garden designer, write and TV presenter.
To learn more about its creator, Lesley Jenkins follow the link to Wollerton Old Hall at the top of the page.

I really could have stayed there all day but we had another stop planned before heading to our B&B.
Sunnycroft: the contents of this Edwardian house completely unchanged since pre-First World War. A visit not to see the garden but to enjoy this time capsule of an age gone by. It was then on to home for night, the Mill House in High Ercall and dinner out at the local pub. We were ready for a good night's sleep and a busy day the following day. In retrospect a lot busier than we had expected!