Cobaea scandens, cup and saucer vine - completely covers the front of the 17th century manor of Hidcote. As soon as I saw it, I made a mental note to buy myself some seeds next year. It is a plant that I have grown previously which flourishes well, and is native to Mexico, Central and South America.
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| The garden is located in the north Cotswolds near Chipping Campden. It is one of the best known and most influential Arts and Crafts gardens in Britain, with its linked 'rooms' of hedges, rare trees, shrubs and wonderful herbaceous borders. |
Join me in a leisurely wander around this colourful, attractive garden.
Spotted lurking around the edge of the pool, but don't worry it's only a Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) they are harmless to us. However, the same does not hold true for any frogs or newts unknowlingly swimming around in the pool.
Unfortunately it wasn't until we arrived back home that I realised my camera had been on the wrong setting during the whole of the visit!
Where shall we head off to next week? At the moment I haven't a clue, just taking one day at a time.
Oh I've done that with the camera, most annoying for me. Your photo came out alright though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a magic garden and it would be pleasing for me to walk through and around it - oh well, I can dream about an English Country Garden :)
Take care.
It seems as if I got away with my mistake Margaret.
DeleteFlowers are very beautiful. The large garden is preserved astonishingly well.
ReplyDeleteNice weekend to you.
The gardens have lacked having their normal number of working gardeners due to the virus, but it still looked lovely.
DeleteI could give you a tour of my window box if you like, Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteJust the scent will do Tom - thanks
DeleteI've really enjoyed a wander around the gardens at Hidcote. I wouldn't have known the setting on your camera wasn't the one you thought you had set beforehand. There are so many different plants to admire in those garden rooms. It's a place that inspires us lovers of gardening. It makes me what to have more variety in our own garden. Thank you Rosemary for sharing your time at Hidcote Manor.
ReplyDeleteI always see things there that I had wished that I had grown e.g. the Cobaea scandens vine.
DeleteThe gardens in the UK are always stunning to watch!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that there are some delightful gardens to visit.
DeleteYour photos are gorgeous, whatever the setting, and it was fun to look around the gardens of Hidcote. It must be famous, even I have heard of it from over here in Australia. The cup and saucer vine is very appealing, and a new one to me. It must be spectacular covering the front of the manor. A snake always looks fearful to me, even if harmless. I almost thought there were no snakes in the UK!
ReplyDeleteThere are just two snakes in the UK Patricia and a slow worm that looks like a snake, but is actually a lizard. Grass snakes are not very big and completely harmless but the other is an Adder which can bite and is venomous. However, I understand that no one has died from an Adder bite for over 20 years. I have never ever seen one, and I don't think that I have ever met anyone who has.
DeleteYou do have a talent with a camera, Rosemary, and you had an array of vibrant colours to work with. The Grass Snake was very special, quite common as I understand it, but seldom seen. I follow several British blogs but I don't recall any of them ever showing a Grass Snake.
ReplyDeleteI so pleased that you enjoyed seeing the Grass snake David - you are correct in saying that they are reasonable common but rarely seen. I have only see three in all my many years.
DeleteLove all that vibrant colour!
ReplyDeleteThere were some brightly coloured flowers.
DeleteHello Rosemary, This is one of the more colorful gardens to which you have introduced us. I loved the grass snake--it shows that these gardens, while artificial, are still ecosystems and play a part in the general ecology, whether supporting local snakes or attracting birds and butterflies.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim - there were lots of bees, butterflies, and dragonflies in the garden, but also in one of the wilder corners, badger sets, and mole hills too.
DeleteDear Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking us with you through the Hidcote Manor Gardens...mine kind of garden. I remember seeing Cobaea in seed catalogs but thought they might not thrive in my climate. But if you are going to give it a try so will I.
Since we use the same camera (thank you) I am wondering which setting you used and why you thought it was the wrong setting. Your photos are beautiful.
Dear Gina - I am sure that Cobaea would happily grow for you Gina if you started it off in your greenhouse. The one on the manor house appears to survives the winters as it is so big and vigorous. However, the front of the property is in a completely enclosed courtyard so extremely sheltered from any adverse weather conditions.
DeleteI got away with my camera mistake setting Gina - I mistakenly had it on SCN, but then I hadn't even selected one of the suitable modes either.
Glad you enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteYour photos made me feel as though I was wandering around the garden It looks stunning doesn't it
ReplyDeleteIt is always a delight to visit this lovely garden.
DeleteDearest Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteHow much we would have enjoyed a stroll through Hidcote Manor Garden! You went on a perfect day, with some overcast, which yields usually the best photos.
Don't worry too much about your setting, those photos turned out perfect here.
Love the 'on-duty' Grass Snake, great capture.
The garden up keep is done in a meticulous way!
Thanks for sharing with us.
Hugs,
Mariette
PS wonder how we re-adjust our first photo for making it show up, after August 24 when the legacy Blogger no longer will be...?
Dear Mariette - I am pleased that you enjoyed strolling through Hidcote Manor Gardens. It has been very difficult for them to maintain the gardens throughout lockdown as normally they have a large group of gardeners working there along with volunteers.
DeleteI have notified Blogger about the problem of the first photo not showing up!!! It was particularly perceptive of you to realise what was happening.
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DeleteOh, another beautiful tour! Thank you Rosemary. Although I too, as another Australian reader, would have run a mile at the sight of the snake. They have quite the different reputation in this neck of the woods!
ReplyDeleteThank you - glad you enjoyed seeing Hidcote. I was really quite delighted to see the little snake, it is quite a rare occurrence to catch sight of one over here.
DeleteRosemary, thank you for sharing your walk around that wonderful garden.I have heard of it but never visited (not sure why).
ReplyDeleteGlad that you enjoyed seeing Hidcote Susan.
DeleteCracking garden and I love the grass snake photo. Very rare to see them up here as summers are increasingly cold and overcast, as it is now for several weeks. I was going to school the last time I spotted one as close up as that in the wild so it shows how frequently I've spotted them up here outdoors, despite always keeping my eyes peeled for any reptile movement.
ReplyDeleteThanks - I am pleased that you enjoyed seeing the Grass snake which I was pleased to spot as well. I have only ever seen three during my whole lifetime as far as I can recall.
DeleteOh! A snake in the garden!!! Thank you for a beautiful garden tour...
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely saturday!
Titti
It is was a rare treat for me to spot one Titti.
DeleteI don't know how the photos could have been any better. I loved the tour and look forward to the next.
ReplyDeleteI have two weeping yaupon holly trees on each side of my front door. They are properly trimmed into a umbrella shape. So when I see these hedges trimmed so perfectly I always wonder if someone runs out each morning to clip off an offending leaf. One that might have had the audacity to grow out of those crisply cut lines over night. Anyway... I have trouble enough keeping up with the growth rate of my two trees, which is why I find hedges/bushes I see here so impressive. XXX
The topiary shown here is mostly Buxus sepmervirens, we have lots of it growing in our garden too. My husband always cuts ours in early June, and it tends to keep its shape until the following May. We also have a large ball shaped Yew which also lasts a whole year. I wasn't sure what your weeping yaupon holly trees look like, but I have looked on google, and they are certainly very attractive.
DeleteFor some reason I got away with the wrong camera setting, but it will teach me to be more careful in the future.
Unfortunately the Buxus sepmervirens and the yew do not grow in my part of the world. I spend a fortune having these trees trimed every coupe of weeks. At least I know why the beautifully trimed Buxus sepmervirens always look so perfect. ;-)
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DeleteDear Rosemary - Hidcote Manor Garden is fabulous. Like the cup and saucer vine covering the front, I’ve made morning glory curtains on the west side of my house to lower indoor temperature. The green curtain is effective both aesthetically and practically. A snake gives me chills just imagining it, even when it is harmless. I dared to look at it to find it blending to the colors of the edge of the pool. I don’t understand why setting was wrong as your photos look as nice as always.
ReplyDeleteYoko
Dear Yoko I would love to have morning glory curtains, and would really love to see yours. I planted some seeds too but was rather slow off the mark in sowing them, and they have yet to flower.
DeleteI didn't realise until I returned to the car that my camera was on a setting that I had not used before - for some reason I appear to have got away with the error.
When rainy season ended, I found morning glory curtain is in a miserable condition; many leaves are like laces eaten by pest and don’t look healthy all in all. Still they work as sunshade but no prospect of flowers so far, though those in pots show vibrant colors every day. I hope I can report it in the corner of my next post in September.
DeleteI so enjoyed wandering through this beautiful garden thanks to your skill with the camera, and despite the wrong setting. I love the combination of stone and plantings that we don't often see in our area. I have to admit shuddering and very quickly scrolling past the snake - I'm not at all fond of them, especially after living in the tropics.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine your reaction on seeing the snake having lived in the tropics, but Grass snakes really are nothing to fear at all.
DeleteEvery part of this garden is different and takes you by surprise when you turn a corner.
wrong setting? the pictures look great to me. What a fabulous place, unlike some gardens it seems generously full, crowded even, I love it.
ReplyDeleteYou are right it is blowsy and overflowing with almost every single named flower you can think of.
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