Friday 26 June 2015

Waterperry Gardens, Oxforshire



" I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul."
Pablo Neruda 




Happy Gardening in 2019.





Gardening is in my blood. 
I have so much to share and give. 


I need to express and share my passion 
and love of this wonderfully 
grounding world of soil and plants. 



Let's start walking around some 
beautifully created gardens.













This is a huge privately owned 
Garden in Oxforshire

It is open all year and is a very 
peaceful haven in the middle of 
the countryside. 


It really is in the middle of no-where
so you do need a car to get there. 

Or it really would take a long time 
to hitch a ride! 





I wanted to take you on a gardening journey 
around the country. Gardens that are set in 
amazing grounds which you may never get 
the chance to see otherwise.


My purpose is to show you ideas and suggestions, 
which with a bit of artistic application you can use 
in your own 'garden space'.  




Unusual double Cosmos


It is very peaceful and 
restful walking slowly 
around beautifully
landscaped Gardens 
like Waterperry.

 

It is a sensual and visual
experience which is so 
calming to the mind and 
it is a great thing to be 
able to escape from the 
mad outside world for a 
while.


 





I do encourage you to try to visit 
Waterperry Gardens.


Summer is a great time 
as there is so much colour to see.







I love this rather 
unusual
California Poppy 
looking so colourful 
and a real delight. 


It was a lovely warm 
summer day making 
this look even better.  




This take me back to my
parents Garden in Edinburgh.

But they were a lot more yellow 
as they usuaully are. 





It was my first trip here for a long time. 
I had been to Waterperry Gardens 
previously on Gardening Courses
and knew I had to return.


It was  good to come back again to find this real
tranquility in an amazing setting. So please follow
me through my blog and hopefully you will enjoy
the journey too.



All  so cheery



There is a plant area at the entrance to the Gardens 
where you will find a great selection of Plants to buy.
The roses were fabulous and a great selection of colour. 





I spoke to a Lady who is working there as a 
Volunteer Gardener. 


She wanted to buy some unusual begonias 
and we had a chat about flowers.



She felt her display at home was not 
shown off to the best 
advantage so I gave her some tips 
and suggestions.






I just love this pot and 
the beautiful dinner plate 
size Clematis behind 
it. 
I love huge pots as 
features especially 
when they have 
aged sitting amongst
the white Cosmos. 






I feel that all Gardens
whatever size deserve 
a feature pot of some
kind. It makes a real 
statement.






Isn't this a perfect colour?





"If you are a dreamer come in
If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar. 
A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean buyer
If you're a pretender come sit by my fire
For we has some flax golden tales to spin
Come in!
Come in!"
Shel Silverstein


This fabulous Theatre in the middle of the Grounds



I am guessing this is used for summer time plays 
and what a great setting it is. 

It has been here for some time but looks so new. 
Love the clean stone work.



I can picture Romeo and Juliette here 
on a lovely Summer Evening





A view through secret walkway




This is very typical of Waterperry Gardens.

Lots of vistas and pathways 

you can take and emerse yourself in nature. 


This Garden has been divided up into different areas.  


There are long borders full of fabulous colour 
at the peak of summer. 

There are so many beautiful plants and you can walk 
across the perfectly mown grass. 


 
Fabulously scented bushy Lavender




I love the walled Gardens and the benefit
the plants get from the extra protection. 


Lovely summer purples



Everything here is growing so well partly 
as it has lots of stone walls to retain the heat



Isn't this fabulous for a Plant display?



I spoke to a lady who was visting from The U.S.
 and she had lived in the area for years but never 
know of Waterperry. 

She loved its fabulous setting. 





One of the long borders 



I love this effect in a huge Garden. 
Border packed with planting.

The blues and the whites together. 
We all can get inspiration from this.





I would recommend a trip to these Gardens 
to see for yourselves what you can do 
with someone's else's Gardening ideas.






Fabulous pink rose buds








This year there are the most amazing 
vartiety of roses all looking so good. 


 
We all love roses but I particularly
 love them 
when they are still in
a tight bud and ready to unravel 
their pretty petals. 




Don't you love this colour combination?
Wide borders and long walkways make 
this place a spectacle. 


Clever planting schemes and using 
the best colour combinations 
makes it work.
 




Such cool coloured poppies




We all love poppies whatever shade 
they are but these are 
rather dainty and unusual. 

Loved by all insects. 
We need to preserve out native wild flowers.  



Have you managed to get some ideas 
from this blog to try 
for yourself? 

Please do let me know. 


 

Monday 22 June 2015

Roman Culture - Verulamium



I sit in the green peaceful park 
over-looking the lake and get inspiration......



This is Heron Island
 in St Albans.





It is a huge lake and full of 
wild life and full of herons. 

Quite an amazing sight.





















I am taking you on one of my 
favourite walks here.


This is the beginning of the Roman 
wall which still stands today. It is 
now part of English Heritage.


Clearly this is the base of the wall 
which was huge. It looks beautiful
in the afternoon sunlight.







This is the beginning of
 Verulamium Park, 
on the edge of the 
city of St Albans.





End of long walk
way on way into St Albans





 
          Part of The Roman Wall today

 

 













I love Roman and cultural
sites. It is part of my early
upbringing.




We see the amazing remains
of a massively high wall that
used to surround the city of
St Albans. A great Roman
town steeped in history.























Do you think they had
herb Gardens back in 
the day? Rosemary? 
Sage? Bay?


I am sure they had plenty. 























I love to walk here and find it truly
awe inspiring.  


The Romans were so skillful.
 





It is great to be able to walk past it, think
how long it took to build and what
their life was like. 





Further into the park there is a Mosaic
floor from a house built here. 
It is fabulous to see. 

If you are in the area 
it is well worth taking a look.





 
These trees stand so elegantly towering 
above us humans. So beautiful.




Close up of layers of stone




Part of St Germains block








Love the papery look of this Cistus
What flowers were around then?







A close up of how
the wall is layered







Roman Pine Cone
This still contains some
pine nuts from my
childhood.


St Germains Block




There are only a few parts of the wall
and the Roman remains
left in the park.


See all the strata of the wall
and the middle red brick which
holds it together.




This is also part
of St Germains Block


















This really gives you a good
idea of how deep an high the
wall once was.



These remains are quite an
amazing site, here in the
middle of this huge
beautiful city park.








Can you picture the flowers
 they grew in Roman Britain?




These remains attract a lot of visitors 
and especially in the summer months.



Wednesday 17 June 2015

Hatfield House, The East Garden P.2



Private Gardens at Hatfield House, 
Hertfordshire.



Just a little intro here. 
Hatfield House
 is a huge privately owned Garden. 
It is set in a fabulous 
setting and has many different gardens 
within it




Please follow with me my journey 
of this garden space. 






Bees are part of our 
natural world. 
We must care for them.


This is as close
as I could get!




My second visit to The East Garden

The more you visit it the more you see.




It is so cleverly designed. The views around
 each corner have an element of surprise.


Let me give you a little insight into this 
amazing Garden. 


A piece of Eden.


Beauty is a bee
in the stamen of a rose











It feels like summer is at long last with us! 
So it must be June. 


I have seen lots of bees
around which is great news
considering they are in decline. 





They just love open petaled 
flowers to get
inside to collect the pollen. 



Such ingenious insects.
So do remember this when 
choosing plants for bees.




 

Rolling landscape
over the maze



 


Green is so calming 
and peaceful on the eye.

The maze here is a really cool feature. 

It seems that it is not
accessible to the public but 
looks so intriging.



Love the red of the beech in the middle
 of hedge don't you?




This hedge surrounds a wild life field
full of margiretes.

It is huge and beautifully clipped.




Beauty is the art
of clipped hedging 






Don't you just love the workmanship 
of this hedging?


So artfully created. This walkway makes 
a real statement for
a Stately Home.




Here you walk from 'room' to 'room'. 
You are taken on a journey of discovery. 


Everything is 
in its right place and wherever you 
stand 
or look it is all in proportion.




This is part of a central
Rose Garden in the 'East Garden'



Topiary is so fabulous in the right setting. 
The dark green of the Yew against
the blue sky. 




It is a real skill and a work of art. 
It takes hours to perfect.


It works perfectly in this setting.
Think of the hours of dedication to perfect it.



I feel this works really well here
 in this setting as it is not over the top 
but it is tastefully fitting.



I spoke to one of the Gardeners 
who recently started working here and he
said he felt it such a fabulous place to work in.


Splendid Gateway
 at end of Garden



I love the way you walk through 
wide grassy walkways and have no idea
what you will come upon next.




I love secret doorways
 don't you?





Grand architecture fits 
perfectly in this setting.



I love old swimming pools
and the green water.





All this in one Garden. 

It is pretty amazing and 
well it is something a bit unique.