Early morning amble

Some mornings it can be jolly worthwhile to get out there and have an amble about, see the place, and cast a beady eye on the seasons as they progress! At this time of year this endeavour can be something of a challenge, it being so frightfully cold, and one is forgiven for not even thinking of crossing the threshold until the fire has been lit and we’ve breakfasted thoroughly on devilled kidneys and kedgeree. However, you must be strong, and set your face against such agreeableness! Hasten to the back door with a spring in your step (and perhaps a hot toddy in your belly) and set forth to enjoy the truly glorious light that is cast when the new day is just beginning!

All is peaceful on the Rock Bank

The old Smokebush that sprawls on the Rock Bank ha-ha. The autumn colours of this plant are incredible

Wisteria floribunda ‘Macrobotrys’ drooping its autumn glory over the toolsheds

Mahonia lomariifolia looking triumphant in a corner of the Old Garden. Major Johnston introduced this plant from China in 1931

Shadows being cast in the Lilac Circle

View down into the Fuchsia Garden. The hardy fuchsias in particular benefited from the unseasonably mild autumn, and have gone on flowering well past their bed time

The cheeky chickens from Hidcote Manor Farm have joined us, also taking their usual morning stroll about the place

The pig pen is marked by a certain stillness these days. The pigs are here, but not in their pen (if you follow my meaning..)

Lime Avenue, which ends with a statue of the Roman god Hercules

 

Happy New Year chumrades; I’d like to wish you all the very best for 2012! This is to be my last year at Hidcote (groan!) and so my last year sailing aboard the Careership! If you are contemplating a visit to the garden this year then please feel free to get in touch, my email address is bertiebainbo at gmail dot com (I’ve translated this into written form to thwart the spam pirates sailing these murky waters).

Unreal Autumn

Autumn is a time for stumbling upon unusual sights in the garden. Bizarre growths begin to suddenly droop from certain plants, in the most conspicuous manner! Has somebody spiked the morning tea with something a bit stronger, or has an art student run amok overnight as part of some modern installation nonsense? The truth is perhaps that plants are weird! Or at least, some of them bear fruit and drop their leaves in the most weirdly wonderful ways! I rather enjoy these fantasy undercurrents at this time of year, there’s more than a hint of Alice in Wonderland about the place. Of course that incorrigible old cad Jack Frost has already begun sweeping many of these sights away, so here are some of the more intriguing delights spotted at Hidcote recently.



The candy-pink seed pod flourish of Euonymus europaeus. If you have a hankering after autumn interest, look no further! I’m quite sure those orange seeds were sold in the sweetshop when I was a lad



Symphoricarpos albus, or the Snowberry. I suspect these are nothing more than foam balls, arranged in this manner by the squirrels to mess with our minds!



Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion'. Profusely bizarre.



Not plastic beads, but the drooping fruit of Berberis ‘Barbarossa’. Major Johnston was rather a fan of Berberis, and this is probably the best specimen he planted. These red berries cover the entire shrub and last for months, causing considerable excitement amongst visitors

 

The ribbon-like autumn display of Cornus florida rubra



In the correct light, the seed pods of Honesty (Lunaria annua) look more like glass lenses

The autumn colour of Parrotia persica is stunningly bizarre. A whole raft of colours get rolled out, but here I think are the lipstick marks of a kiss by Mother Nature herself!

Some unfortunate ladybirds apparently unaware Parrotia persica is deciduous

This is actually the flower of Fascicularia bicolour! At this point the Mad Hatter turns to you and says, “Would you like a little more tea?”

My poor blog has been languishing lately; the old girl is suffering terribly from neglect. It would be pleasing to describe how I’ve been spending my days loafing in front of a large log fire, dividing my time between mulled wine and mince pies… but the reality is far less cheering. The past few weeks have involved college, college work and even college-themed dreams! The end is near, and it is now less about the joy of learning and more to do with getting the blasted thing finished in time! Our last block is in February (iceberg ahead!) followed then by the graduation ceremony in July. A less than helpful way to arrange the timetable perhaps, but ‘ours is not to reason why’. I now have a backlog of topics to wade through, so if it appears some of the images over the next few posts were taken weeks ago, it’s probably because they were!