July 31, 2014
Great Dixter
We decided to end our tour with the garden we saw first in 2012, Great Dixter. This time the season is solidly summer with the dahlias in crescendo.
July 30, 2014
July 29, 2014
July 28, 2014
Studley Royal - England
Studley Royal, this idyllic English garden was created in the first half of the 18th century in the scenic Yorkshire Skell river valley. The main approach to the house is a long allee of trees focused on the Ripon Cathedral almost 3 miles on the horizon. The formal part of the garden is isolated from the Palladian house that burned down in 1946 but a similar Palladian style stables remains on 800 acres parkland. The raised valley floor anchored a series of straight and curved canals controlled by numerous weirs. The center of the valley and garden is a series of Moon ponds, one full circle, one half circle and two crescent that may represent the waxing and waning of the Moon. The ponds are laid out in an asymmetrical form that echos the natural serpentine valley floor and is reminiscent of natural oxbow lakes. Clipped yew hedges separate the formal water & Parterre à l'Angloise from the planted native tree hillside. Steep and angular turf banks frame the valley floor. Here the light and wind play off the water surface and the tree canopy. Everywhere the sound of water.
July 27, 2014
July 24, 2014
Trentham Estate Gardens
The Trentham Estate in Staffordshire is a formal garden set along the River Stoke. Recently renovated from the designs of Piet Oudolf and Tom Stuart-Smith, this is a contemporary formal garden.
The Victorian Garden in the front with the Italian Garden and lake beyond.
July 21, 2014
July 18, 2014
July 17, 2014
July 16, 2014
July 15, 2014
July 14, 2014
Hidcote Manor Gardens
It was a cloudy day with intermittent rain. We had the place to ourselves.
Hidcote is a remarkable garden designed by Laurence Johnston. He was an American born in Paris in the late 19th century. His mother purchased this property for him in the hopes that he would become a farmer. He instead traveled the world and created this amazing 19 acre series of garden rooms. He never married, which had me asking the docents about his sexuality. I never got a definitive answer. Johnston was responsible for numerous plant introductions including Penstemon 'Hidcote Pink' which I planted last week in Glen Park.
Hidcote is a remarkable garden designed by Laurence Johnston. He was an American born in Paris in the late 19th century. His mother purchased this property for him in the hopes that he would become a farmer. He instead traveled the world and created this amazing 19 acre series of garden rooms. He never married, which had me asking the docents about his sexuality. I never got a definitive answer. Johnston was responsible for numerous plant introductions including Penstemon 'Hidcote Pink' which I planted last week in Glen Park.
July 13, 2014
July 12, 2014
Westbury Court Gardens
Started back in the late 1600's, Westbury Court is the oldest style garden we will visit in July. The Dutch influence was strong in this period of Royal and religious turmoil in England. After looking to France for all things cultural, the Protestant state of the Holland became the importer of cultural ideas. Long straight lines, canals, rows of trees, topiary and hedges are Dutch elements introduced to the English garden at the end of the seventeenth century.
"Westbury Court, Gloucestershire, has the last remaining Dutch-style water garden in Britain. Dating from the 18th century, it is very simple and serene. Evergreen hedges, topiary and perfectly straight canals of still water calm the soul. All the plants, even those in the vegetable garden, are 18th-century varieties to tie in the water garden. Small but perfectly formed." -- From Gardens Illustrated magazine
"Westbury Court, Gloucestershire, has the last remaining Dutch-style water garden in Britain. Dating from the 18th century, it is very simple and serene. Evergreen hedges, topiary and perfectly straight canals of still water calm the soul. All the plants, even those in the vegetable garden, are 18th-century varieties to tie in the water garden. Small but perfectly formed." -- From Gardens Illustrated magazine
July 11, 2014
July 09, 2014
Kilver Court Gardens
Kilver Court in Shipton Mallet, attached not to a great country house but to a designer outlet mall. A beautiful mall, not like something you see off the interstate in the US, but a cute collection of clothing stores, cafe, restaurant, nursery in a collection of stone buildings.
July 07, 2014
July 06, 2014
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