The rain? Good heavens no, you must have misheard me.
The heat! I was complaining about the heat! Somewhat stifling, I must say.
Excuse me a moment while I fish out my sun hat and pour a large gin & tonic!
In the meantime, here are some recent images of dear old Hidcote in all of its
summer glory. It is such a joy to be free from the burden of college
assignments, and to be able to enjoy the garden to the full in these final days.
The rain ends, the sun comes out, and the butterflies return; can it get much
better than this?
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| Early morning in the Old
Garden, where the old Lebanon cedar
provides a shifting shade |
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| The roses have had a torrid time of it this year, poor
things, battered from pillar to post. Actaea simplex though has revelled in the
moist conditions, and has been looking utterly marvellous! |
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| Rosa ‘Juno’ is one such specimen to have pulled
through the earlier heavy downpours, and is flowering now up the Rose Walk |
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| The Rose Walk, soon to be the ‘Long Borders’ as they
were named by Major Johnston |
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| Detail of the planting in these borders, with Eryngium
giganteum, Anthemis tinctoria ‘Sauce Hollandaise’ and Eremurus stenophyllus |
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| The spikes of Linaria purpurea (the lighter form is
the hybrid ‘Canon J. Went’) screening the sumptuous trumpets of Lilium regale |
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| Mixed pot display on the Red Border steps, with Cuphea
cyanea and the light-green foliage of Fuchsia boliviana |
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| Late-afternoon rays light up Ligularia przewalskii in
the Pine Circle, with the glorious annual Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ down in
front |
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| More Ligularia in the Stream Garden,
with L. ‘Skyrocket’ combining wonderfully with Astilbe arendsii ‘Gloria Purpurea’ |
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| In the Old
Garden, Molopospermum
peloponnesiacum has been a most curious point of interest for almost two months
now. Light, ferny foliage combines with these glorious angelica-like seed heads |
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| Also in the Old
Garden, this huge
specimen of Philadelphus flowers later and more profusely than any other Mock
Orange in the garden. The variety is currently unknown, and it was quite probably
planted by Major Johnston |
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| A beautiful Speckled Wood enjoying the shelter of the
Long Walk hedges |
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| Mrs Winthrop’s Garden, with the old favourite
Hypericum ‘Hidcote’ shimmering in the corner |
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| In the Orchard, the long grass and wildflowers provide
an excellent habitat for wildlife! Here is Leucanthemum vulgare and the Field
Scabious, Knautia arvensis |
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| Although this might look like a dreadful pest, it is
in fact a ladybird larva! Do not squish, simply move to an aphid infested stem
and enjoy the spectacle of them munching away on those dreadful sap-suckers! |
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