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
The photos on this post are my first attempts with new camera
Both gardens are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI was particularly pleased to see your images of this garden. We visited it a few years ago when we were on our bikes. It was beautiful but I was not happy with the phtotos I took of it. Yours are infinitely nicer and really bring it back to me.
ReplyDeleteI am getting impatient up here in cold Scotland! You seem to be weeks ahead of us. Magical about your Judas tree and my fingers are crossed for your box Rosemary. I do miss English gardens....
ReplyDeleteYou made some very nice photo's of the plants and the flowers in both gardens.
ReplyDeleteA lovely post, what a beautiful garden to visit and your own is also looking very colourful xxx
ReplyDeleteYour new camera, wonderful photos....lovely gardens and i hope your Buxus rids itself of the Blight...enjoy your time away..
ReplyDeleteEverything is looking so beautiful in these gardens at this time of the year. Looking forward to hearing more about the situation with your box hedges. Enjoy your time in Nottingham.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I love that archway.
ReplyDeleteDear Rosemary, I was hoping that you would show us your beautiful garden. And most beautiful it is. Everything seems to be thriving and even some of the earlier disappointments seem to be correcting themselves. I know that with your care all will be well again.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your opinion of your new camera?
I definitely have to pay a visit to Crofts Garden when we are in England, it looks wonderful. But......your own garden looks great too, beautiful pictures of beautiful plants.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the time with your grandson in Nottingham.
Simply gorgeous! And of course, taking my cue from your post title, I whistled that folk song all the way through it.
ReplyDeleteGosh, Rosemary, seeing your photos all I want to do is hopping on the next plane and flying over to England! Courts Garden is an incredible beautiful garden with an amazing design and many very lovely plants.
ReplyDeleteYour garden seems to be at it May peak as well, so beautiful! I think you are doing very well with your new camera!
Christina
This garden is truly Magical!!!
ReplyDeleteHello Rosemary, The house at Hidcote looks quite handsome, and the gardens are quite fitting, being mostly green with a number of unusual flowers. The one thing I this garden would be better without is the topiary.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like your new camera is a success, and your own interesting blossoms easily rival those at Hidcote. I hope you bring back some nice photos from Nottingham.
--Jim
Hi Rosemary, I'm so glad for you the buxus are recovering. Nature just keeps amazing us doesn't it. Your garden looks beautiful and full of bloom and colour at the end of May. Love your collage again!
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful garden you visited! Love the Erysimum 'Artist's Paintbox'. I had wondered in one of the pictures above the detail of the plant what the name of it was and then there it was, a few pictures later. The Silene alba is amazing as well. Thanks so much for letting us all enjoy this beautiful garden with you.
Have a lovely weekend!
Marian
It is a long time since I visited the Courts Garden you have some lovely photos of it.
ReplyDeleteThe new camera is doing you proud! The apple arch with its old brick path is superb. And the handkerchief tree, I wonder how many more years I will have to wait for mine to bloom :(
ReplyDeleteHave a good trip.
That is wonderful news about your boxwood! Fingers crossed. Thanks for this lovely garden tour, Rosemary. You were there at just the right time - lots of blooms and colors. I've never seen a handkerchief tree - off to google more. Cheers
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful garden, and gosh, that erysimum, I have never seen a plant with so many different coloured flowers, it is beautiful isn't it!! Wonderful to see what is growing in your garden as well! Although I have never seen a handkerchief tree in person, I have seen two on blogs today, what is the chance of that hey! xx
ReplyDeleteI rather like this garden - a good mix of formal and relaxed and such a lovely selection of flowers.
ReplyDeleteDear Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteYour own garden appears worthy of the National Trust. All you need now is your own little temple.
I just love the english gardens, you really have a way !
ReplyDeleteI. Don't think I have ever seen a handkerchief tree or such an assortment of beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteMany sighs drifted from my lips looking through your photos of the Courts Garden. It's easy to see why it took so many years to create such a beautiful collection of flowers, shrubs, trees, walkways...and the list goes on. Erysimum 'Artist's Paintbox' is new to me and quite spectacular. Your own garden is bursting in colour and variety as well. Here comes June!
ReplyDeleteTwo beautiful Spring gardens in one day - lovely! Your new camera is producing gorgeous pictures Rosemary. I am wondering about the name of the flowers which look like purple pom poms - they are in both gardens. I saw them in my daughter's neighborhood, but she didn't know the name of them either. And I am pleased to hear your box hedges may yet recover. Well done, you must have found the cure...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I have scoured your photos for a new unnamed plant I found at a car boot sale. Grey/green slim leaves arranged in a circle around the stem and a purple flower spike, not quite out yet. I wonder what it's called?
ReplyDeleteThese two gardens are wonderful and I love the exuberant flowers.
ReplyDeleteI really love these gardens. Your photos are so wonderful. And so much beautiful flowers.. ooh, this is gorgeous post.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Just arrived back home so thank you all for your very kind comments - I am pleased that you enjoyed seeing the lovely Courts Garden filled with wonderful flowers and trees.
ReplyDeleteTo answer one or two questions:-
Gina - yes, I am very happy with the new camera
Patricia - the purple pom pom flowers are Alliums - members of the onion family - you can get them in an assortment of sizes from medium size flowers to big globe ones. They also come in a variety of shades from pink to mauve, burgundy to deep purple.
Nilly I cannot imagine a plant with grey/green slim leaves!!! - if you show a photo of it on your blog I might be able to help.
I hope to have time to visit your blogs soon.
As I write our water tank is in the process of being replaced by the plumber - it sprung a leak whilst we were away, but luckily no damage caused.
I'm late but I would like to add my joy too,looking at those stunning pictures. I have never been there, Hidcote Gardens are already in my wish list. I think I have seen this place on other blogs but these photos here are surely the epitome of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry I perhaps did not make it clear enough - you are not the only one Olympia who thought that this garden was Hidcote. It is actually The Courts Garden at the southern end of the Cotswolds, Hidcote is at the northern end. The Courts Garden was influenced by the Arts and Crafts style at Hidcote. I also show a link to Hidcote.
DeleteWhat a nice stroll around the garden with so many blooms of May! I’m glad to find my favorite Japanese primrose but such crimson color is new to me. The handkerchief tree in flower is so lovely.
ReplyDeleteYoko
Dear Yoko - that candelabra primula comes in many colour ways - palest pink through to deep salmon pink, white, palest lemon through to orange.
DeleteHi Rosemary, I really enjoyed seeing this garden. It reminded me of a book I just saw in the library this morning that I want to go back for next time, about the summer-cottage lifestyle of the upper classes in Britain after World War I. It looks like an interesting book. I had too many already to borrow it today. I really enjoyed your post on Stoneywell cottage too. I don't know if I'll ever have a chance to see these places in real life, so I appreciate that you're always sharing interesting sites here. Hope you have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteHello Jennifer - delighted that you enjoyed looking around The Courts Garden and Stoneywell cottage - they were both lovely visits - happy days to you.
DeleteThe Courts Garden is very fine indeed, Rosemary, but it seems to me that in its way your garden is just as fine and your range of flowers is lovely. I'm so glad the box blight isn't running totally wild.
ReplyDeleteWe cant really understand what is going on with the Box - all the books say that when you have blight the Box is finished, but we have new green stems and leaves sprouting up through the blight. It is a mystery, we shall just bide our time and see what happens.
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