An English Country Garden

The Courts Garden, Wiltshire is an Arts and Crafts style garden which was greatly influenced by the garden at Hidcote. The Courts Garden took 20 years to create at the beginning of the C20th

The C18th house is built from locally quarried Bath stone

Hedges divide the garden into separate rooms with wonderful drifts of colour in the mixed herbaceous borders

Erysimum 'Artist's Paintbox'

Asphodelus albus

Conservatory - here we sat whilst enjoying a rather decadent ice-cream made from crushed blackcurrants and clotted cream 

surrounding the formal garden is a three acre Arboretum full of naturalised bulbs early in the spring, and wild flowers at this time of year

In the Arboretum  - Davidia involucrata, the Handkerchief Tree

Silene fimbriata Alba

Apple Tree archway

down to the orchard

whilst this leads to the water garden

Gunnera manicata

During the Industrial Revolution a wool mill stood on this site. The pond area was originally the dye pool for the mill

Primula japonica 'Miller's Crimson' - striking candelabra primula 

A water rill runs through the garden down to the pond

Rest awhile in the little 'temple'

The Crofts Garden belongs to the National Trust - the house is privately tenanted

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Our Garden

Not sure what is happening to the blight on our Buxus Semperviren - i.e. the small Box hedges and topiary balls - the plants are busy greening up in and around the dead patches - just watching, waiting, and hoping!

Cercis siliquastrum - Judas Tree - when this tree was first planted and getting established a rutting male deer came into our garden and rubbed his antlers against the trunk of the tree. It was a disaster for the tree which we had to cut down as it began to die. The following spring new growth appeared at the base, and we are now very grateful that we still have this magnificent tree which is currently blooming for all it is worth

 Nectaroscordum siculum

Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens'

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Heading off for a few days to visit grandson at University in Nottingham. 
The photos on this post are my first attempts with new camera

Mughals' Gardens in Srinagar & Tulips

Four Mughal Emperor gardens situated on the lower slopes of the Himalayan foothills, Kashmir

Shalimar was built by Emperor Jahangir for his wife Nur Jahan in 1619 - it is considered a high point in Mughal horticulture

A garden of waterways, fountains and marble pavilions with a Himalayan snow capped backdrop 

Nishat is a terraced garden built in 1633 by ruler Asif Khan with descending water courses running down to Dal Lake. The garden originally had 12 water terraces representing 12 zodiacal signs in keeping with the concepts of a Persian garden. Due to road building around Dal Lake the garden has now lost 3 of its original water terraces.

This garden with its wonderful water cascades enjoys  the Zabarwan Mountains as a backdrop

and views down to Dal Lake

Two million tulips adorn the Kashmiri landscape at an altitude of 5600 feet for two weeks each April - Asia's largest tulip festival

Chashma Shahi is the smallest of the Mughal gardens and was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan for his eldest son, Dara Sikoh. If you have read my other posts you may recall that Shah Jahan was the Emperor who built the Taj Mahal, and was detained by one of his sons in the Red Fort at Agra

This garden is higher up in the Zabarwan Mountains

via

This little pavilion sits over a spring which supplies all of the water to the garden and is the source of its name - Chashma Shahi translates as Royal Spring

Pari Mahal meaning 'Fairies Abode' is the highest mountain garden with terraces and magnificent views. It was commissioned by the Emperor's eldest son Dara Sikoh in 1650, the owner of the previous garden. He followed the Qadiri order of Sufi Islam and had this garden made for his tutor who used it as an observatory for teaching astronomy.

Being so high up on the slopes of the Zabarwan Mountains my little camera could not cope with the views across Dal Lake to the snowcapped Himalayas - I definitely need a new camera

I took few photographs in this garden as I was waylaid by this lovely lady and her family.  We spent time talking, and ended up photographing each other.

It is in this garden that I finally discovered the story surrounding Emperor Shah Jahan's detention by his son at the Red Fort in Agra.

The Emperor's eldest son, Dara Sikoh, was an intellectual who patronised the fine arts, music and dancing. He was seen as a heretic in the eyes of his younger orthodox brother Aurangzeb who detained his father, the Emperor Shah Jahan, in the Red Fort. Aurangzeb had his brother Dara murdered leaving the way clear for him to ascend the throne following his father's death.  It is now widely acknowledged that Aurangzeb was responsible for the eventual downfall of the Mughal Empire.

It is time to shut the door on India, not completely, I'm leaving it ajar in case I return one day! I do regret that I did not purchase myself one of the exquisite handwoven Kashmir shawls. Given another opportunity, a shawl will definitely return home with me! 

I have just been reading The Kashmir Shawl which features Dal Lake, Srinagar, and a houseboat similar to the one we stayed on - it is a good read  

Since writing this post I have treated myself to a new camera