A pleasant piece of Tudor England at Parham House

The gently rolling hills that precede one's arrival at Parham House almost invite the idea that King Henry VIII might have galloped across this land chasing after deer.Interetingly enough it does have a deer park. Furthermore King Heny VIII removed it from the possession of the Monastery of Westminster and gave it to Robert Palmer in 1540. The House seems to stand in  glorious isolation in the landscape,

A walk up the western path leads to the significantly sized walled garden. The plethora of lavishly planted perennial borders , not to mention the Lavender cross, Wendy house, and ornately designed vegetable beds are delightful..there's almost an air of the Edwardian era. 

West of the walled garden  is a maze ,apparently based ''on the beautiful 16th century embroidery on the Great Bed in the house.'' Built in 1991 it was part of the celebrations for the year of the maze. Beyond the maze one just catches a glimpse of a water lily rich lake,although sadly it seems slightly dislocated from the body of the house and gardens.

There is a fantastic collection of charming gardens in both Sussex and its eastern neighbour Kent. If a privately guided tour around these garden gems might appeal please drop me a line adam.hodge@oxfordbotanica.com

The Prairie packs a punch !

The recent trend of Prairie gardens is all a bit too strongly tied in to the heavy duty use of grasses, a planting style that passes me by. Nevertheless I was curious to see what a Prairie garden in Sussex was all about as the owners Pauline & Paul McBride had twice taken the trouble to invite me to visit it. Furthermore it had been gathering rave reviews. I was curious !

On first impressions it looks like a field on a flat land surrounded by Oaks of good age, the body of which is a great swirl of blocks of perennials..no mature trees to speak of, no shrubs, conifers, bulbs...just perennials and grasses. Oh my gosh, was this my cup of tea ? Dominating the taller plantings was the ubiquitous Eupatorium, a plant that sports about the dreariest tone of purple you could wish to encounter, along with silvery purple plumes of Miscanthus in thick blocks.

Contrary to my foreboding what became a very satisfying first observation were the generous dimensions of the main drives, no chlostrauphobicly narrrow paths here, instead rather wide and expansive walks. Lovely..Space!  Carving a sharp line through the whole garden is a broad avenue, longitudinally split with a narrow bed of an ornamental waist-high Grass edged in what looked like Alliums. The only sadness here was that neither end had an interesting point of focus, agricultural buildings one end and an inconsequential pile of old compost the other. No doubt this might get addressed in due course. [see 2nd comment] Perhaps a high cone of ground surrounded by a moat for viewing the swirling design might be considered.

The most delightful, in fact thoroughly exciting aspects of the garden are the huge swathes of brightly coloured perennials. A huge block of Orange Coneflower [Rudbeckia fulgida Goldstrum] was blasting a sunny floodlight of gold in one's face, quite irresistible to stand and admire, both from afar and at close quarters. Lavender purple Perovskias with fulsome skirts of pink Saponaria also charmed the eye not to mention the exotic drifts of Echinacea twinned with pink Astilbes or Phlox, and  hot coppercoloured Heleniums as neighbours to  red Persicaria. One could go on ...and on !

Enjoy the pictures, enjoy the lavishness of flowers, enjoy the riot of colour ! This place is a flower fest !

There is a feast of lovely gardens in Sussex and Kent that would make an exciting tour for anyone wanting a privately guided trip around this part of the UK. Please contact me if it sounds tantalizing..a stunning journey awaits you .

adam.hodge@oxfordbotanica.com

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My puzzle about a popular 'Plume'

One of the raves these days in the context of must see gardens is a place called Le Jardin Plume ,a garden in Normandy and winner of 'The Garden of the Year 2008' awarded by the Garden Museum and Gardens Illustrated. It has a plethora of distinguished revues so was a destination I had to visit.

Through a small gate in a country hedge in the middle of a vast flat plain you make your way to some lovely barns beside a small 'pepiniere' full of perennials grown by the owners. Beyond that unfolds the garden ,the preface a strikingly profiled hedge . It almost acts as a precursor to a study in different forms of low hedging with a nod of styling to Sissinghurst. Moving to the front of the 'maison' a lovely tranquil view of the flat fields of Normandy is the focus of where to walk next. But not so hastily..the  fiery coloured beds awash with yellows reds and oranges compels one to linger. Here are hedges that remind me of the white garden at Sissinghurst.

Moving from the hot coloured beds to a field of square ..spaces, a grid of squares with wide mown paths leading to the far end of the garden is quite a change of styles. From now the planting is more a study in the use of blocks of grasses decorated with the mute toned perennials so popular in these oh so trendy 'Prairie' gardens.

Prior to searching out the depths of this grided layout and the distant landscape the frontispiece is a square pond, flush with the ground level and grass to the water's edge. Two easy chairs  are placed nearby, an integral part of the peace the water reflects. 

As the title to this blog now refers, why the Puzzle ?  My problem is that I dont 'get' the big deal of huge splodges of grass. Blocks of grass akin to a  designer wheat field has as much appeal as magnolia paint. It  is, for my money, uncommmonly dull and only has an appeal if one is utterly sick and tired of clipped evergreen hedges or shrubs. The Praire look is...not for me.

 As I and my tour guest departed we asked each other what were the best bits..for me it was the tranquility of the piece of water, which could almost have been longer and more dominant in the overall space, running the whole length of the garden.  For her I think it was the mixed flowers, impressionistic like in one of the side gardens,and yes, in its own quite ramshackle styling it was charming. The last pic gives an indication.

It is definitely worth visiting ,the owners are very friendly, many people really respond to the style and it has some intriuging plant combinations. I am more than happy to take you there and other lovely gardens nearby as part of a private garden tour.

Ancient & Modern [part 2]

The garden at Chateau du Champ de Bataille has a strong central axis, restored since the purchase of the property in 1993. As discussed in Part 1, it is an awesome sight , principally because of the sense of space and a very long sightline, all framed by varying heights of hornbeam hedging and avenues of Lime trees, as well as the fact it is all impeccably maintained. 

The designer and Head Gardener Patrick Pottier exercised much more creative license in the surrounding spaces, giving them such titles as Squares of Diane & Apollo, The Temple of Leda's Treasure,an Italian Garden and The Theatre of Verdure.

Quite frankly, as I walked around, without the wisdom of these titles or  awareness of the designer's intentions I was getting tired by the visual intensity and sometime business of the designs. It was all a strident contrast to the more spacious and calm spirit exuding from the central axis. One cannot dispute the skill and cleverness of the place and some lovely, in fact stunning plantings, but was happy to walk through to the final garden, the Alley of the Sphinx's and escape from all the design and decorative element.

These  pictures have hopefully given you an idea how the spaces look.  Don't let me put you off .visiting the place ..it is a must. If you'd like I'll show you the place and a few other amazing gems in the area as part of a private garden tour !

Ancient and modern...on a grand scale [Part 1]

Venturing through the gates into the first courtyard one had an 'Oh Wow' moment. This place had presence..serious presence.  Going through to the Reception area .the tea room as my tour guest and I were advised, the sense of arriving in a most exquisitely styled interior distracted us from the process of paying the entrance charge. Out into the second courtyard and one was definitely entering a grand and stunning garden.

The first impression we rounded a wing of the Chateau to see the full vista was one of awe. Another dose of Oh Wow !  This was another Vaux le Vicomte not yet on the radar of the gardenvisting tourist world. No one else was there except a handful of gardening staff. We had it all to ourselves !

The garden is basically an intriguing juxtapostion between a traditional grand French formal garden attributed to Andre Le Notre [of Versailles and Vaux le Vicomte fame] and some very up-to-date gardens around the central axis, designed by Head Gardener Patrick Pottier. This blog, through pictures, will touch on the central formal axis. Words don't really do it justice ..jsut enjoy the views ! [ Apologies for the slightly dull lighting ..the rains fell intermittantly as we walked the gardens. ]

The second part to this blog is published in August.

If a trip to visit this and other stunning gardens in Normandy is of interest, get on your email and let me know adam.hodge@oxfordbotanica.com.   I can take you on an unforgetable tour ...  Great gardens, food, wine the works !

For the love of a daughter.Part 1

We screeched to a halt ..reversed back a few metres and there on the right a small sign indicating the entrance to jardin d'Angelique. Collecting ones things together in the little car park the impression of the garden as seen over the low fence was a bit worrying..it all looked a bit ..bitsy ! Oh my gosh..a naffly planted garden. At the end of the drive a large open area of lawn to your left fronts the lovely country petit chateau and Madam emerges  to welcome us and collect our dues.

The garden is in two parts; a formal classic French styled garden ..edged in box with punctuations of clipped conical Yews. behind the maison. In front a large informally organised garden at the end of the aforementioned lawn behind a hedge.[Part 2]  The formal area is a delighful study in the serene use of pale pinks and white. The garden was planted in memory of their daughter Angelique.who had passed away some years ago, but the garden had evolved into a sublimely peaceful charming space with a restful atmosphere.......to be continued



Hydrangea heaven

Sometimes one is a tad hesitant visitng a garden focusing on one plant variety..in this case a garden of Hydrangea's near Dieppe . The weather was good for the plants but less conducive for wandering around a wet woodland, Nevertheless Hydrangeas are quite an exciting variety.

 Being one who loves a good hit of clear fresh colour in a garden, there was plenty to enjoy. One particular group [ H paniculata ] sport big lozenge shaped flower heads, principally white but sometimes with some pink and often maturing to a dull crimson. A slighty shorter variety [H arborescens] has big pom pom shaped white flowers which when planted together gives a stunning white splash from floor to about 2-3m height.

From the bottom end of the property where these white hydrangeas were grouped one moved through to a woodland area, the canopy overhead lending an agreeable light sunlight filter , afforded by the leaves of Paulownia trees. Throughout this zone are wandering pathways flanked with huge groups of the more classic Hydrangeas, the tones of blues, purples, whites and reds merging together in a restful colour pallet. The light shading apparently means thast the flowers last almost three months, a site better than three weeks under full sun.

The garden is the outcome of Corinne Mallet's fascination for Hydrangeas accompanied by her husband Robert Mallet . One can safely say she is probably one of the world experts on Hydrangeas with a couple of well illustrated books published by Ulmer.

If you would like a tour of this and some other stunning Normandy gardens contact me at adam.hodge@oxfordbotanica.com  A three to four day trip will be an experience to relish !