Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Garden at Ringmer Park, England - II

Continuing my garden tour through The Garden at Ringmer Park (click here if you want to see Part I), this is what came into sight after passing the rose tunnel leaving the White Garden: Another separated garden room with a beautiful sundial as a focal point framed by neatly trimmed hedges.



It is not too good to see on this photo, but the beds are mounted quite high with organic material, so the soil is super friable. They paid a lot of attention improving the soil in the flower beds in this garden. As you may notice in this part of the garden there was hardly anything blooming, yet. Still, I enjoyed it very much; lush green growth is something that we really can't brag about in San Diego inland and it is so soothing to the eye and soul.

 

This was the first aquilegia or also called columbine that we saw on our trip. We found many, many more as they were in their prime, but I never got tired of their dainty beauty. Besides, there seems to be an innumerable amount of varieties out there, which differ quite a bit in color and flower form.


 

These sharp toothed leaves looked quite fascinating to me. Nature was just bursting into spring growth at the time when we visited England.



Close-up of the very tasteful sundial that you have already seen in the opening photo to this post.



This urn blew me away with its beauty. Notice how detailed it is made.



Top of the urn.



There were actually two of these urns facing each other. They were hidden quite a bit by the hedges and looked almost casually placed, which I think adds to the charm of this scene.



In this photo you can see better how high the flower beds are mounded. I am thinking to start to do the same in my own garden, since I feel that the mounding makes a flat garden like mine more interesting looking and my flower beds certainly can use some improvement of the soil. Also notice the artful pruning of the hedges in the background, again.



Another plant which I loved and don't know the name of. I feel the nodding flower heads and buds are so charming.



One of the few roses that were already blooming in this garden. I think it is a rugosa rose, but unfortunately I don't know the variety.

 
 
We have seen this intensely blue flowering shrub quite a bit during our stay in England, but never one of this size. Again, I would love to know what this shrub is called. 



If you liked the front of the house, which I showed in my previous post, you will certainly like the back. The proportions of this manor are very well balanced and all the climbing plants give it so much character and charm. At least I am totally in love with its architecture. 



Imagine sitting on the terrace of the house shown on the photo before and looking in the opposite direction. This is the famous view of the South Downs. It was truly spectacular. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture it very well, so my photos don't do it justice.



Close-up of the meadow that you see in the background of the previous photo. I really appreciated how they let the formal lawn change over into a natural meadow. Here you can see some of the narcissus still blooming.



The garden also contained a formal rose garden. Even though usually I don't like roses just planted by themselves, in this setting I do. The design simply works. I think the sheer size of the garden itself and the scale of the formal rose garden just makes a difference in how I perceive this planting style.



The formal rose garden seen from the other direction. Very classic with a statue placed in the middle as a focal point. It just looks right. Even though no rose is blooming, I find this rose garden very appealing. You can only imagine how gorgeous this will look when the roses are in full bloom.



One more shot of the house, this time taken from another angle. I really do love this house! How great it must feel to be able to live in it and enjoy the gardens. 



Another fairytale scene, don't you think?

The garden is so big that I have more photos to show to you, but this will be done in another post. Stay tuned!

See you in the garden!

Christina



27 comments:

  1. Thank you again for sharing this garden visit with us.

    I love those urns and the blue flowering tree. Beautiful.

    Looking forward to the next installment.

    FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would kill to get one of those urns!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the orangey-red flower is a Geum, Christina. The blue one is a Ceanothus, also called "Californian Lilac", native to the eastern United States, so it should grow for you if you want it(there are smaller varieties if you don't have room for a monster like that one. They're evergreen and very easy to grow. I'm enjoying this tour with you! Your photo with the two urns is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry, of course I meant the Ceanothus is native to the western United States, not the eastern. I just moved you way across the country!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful house and gardens!! Love it! The blue shrub is ceanothus, just gorgeous isn't it? There are many varieties available in San Diego. Jeannine

    ReplyDelete
  6. Such an ethereal looking place! The plant with sharp toothed edge is more likely to be Ligularia przewalskii, a lovely foliage plant with yellow flowers in the summer :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. FlowerLady, the urns are truly lovely, aren't they? I was also very impressed by the deep blue color of the flowers of the shrub. Next post is coming up soon...

    Phillip Oliver, I know the urns are irresistable, but your are really willing to go far ;-)!

    Lyn, thanks so much for identifying two plants out of my post! Well, I thought the ceanothus looked familiar... I am glad that you are enjoying my posts about this garden.

    Jeannine, the house and the gardens are a very happy marriage in this case, aren't they? Both are enhancing each other so nicely. Thanks also for confirming that blue flowering shurb is a ceanothus. I still don't get over it why I didn't recognize it myself.

    Mark and Gaz, also many thanks to you for letting me know the identity of the plant with the toothed edged leaves. I love to learn the names of new-to-me plants!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jeg kom bare lige forbi.
    Tak for rundturen. Hvor er det smukt.
    Gode billeder.
    Ha´en dejlig dag.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The garden is looking lovely, Christina, I've visited it several times and it's one of the finest open gardens in this area.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Landbohaven, thanks for your comment. I am glad that you like my photos!

    Martin, reading your comment I seem to have chosen the right garden to visit :-)!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, what a beautiful scene that greeted you on the other side of the tunnel. LOVE those two urns! And like you, I usually like roses planted with companions, but that rose garden is quite magnificent. I didn't know Ceanothus. Glad Lyn identified it. It is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Holley, the garden surely didn't let us down on the other side of the rose tunnel! The urns are so spectacular, I myself still can't take my eyes of them :-)! It is great when other bloggers help you out with identifying a plant, isn't it?

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's beautiful to see and I think it must be a fairytale to live in a house with such a fantastic garden. The orange flower is Geum. Have a great time Christina.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have been away from the blog-world due to ill health and an operation. I have been really missing it and have been thinking about all these blogs, including yours. I am now hopefully back. That house is indeed lovely. Who stays there? I thought it was the hotel and that's where you might have been staying. It seems like you had a lovely time there. Great :-).

    ReplyDelete
  15. Such a beautiful house ... al those lovely corners in the garden ... Just wonderful !

    ReplyDelete
  16. Marijke, yes, I only can imagine how nice it would be to live in that house with this amazing garden! Thanks for identifying the orange flowering plant as Geum.

    KL, sorry to read about your health problems. Hope you are doing much better already and great to have you back in blog land :-)! Believe it or not, the house is a privately owned manor. If it would have been a hotel, I guess we wouldn't be able to afford staying there ;-)!

    Dani, you summed it up quite nicely. The house and the gardens were just that: Wonderful!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  17. England brings out in me the "so many gardens, so little time" confusion. The NGS is one of the things I miss most about England. I'm sure you are having a wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Susan, I was suffering badly from the "so many gardens, so little time" confusion in England, too. The NGS is simply great! Besides bringing in money for a good cause, it is such a great opportunity to see private gardens and just have fun.

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  19. I can only imagine how gorgeous that will be when it's all in bloom! The second flower is a geum. I'll be in England in March but don't think much will be in bloom.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Casa Mariposa, the garden was definitively not at its peak in terms of blooming time, but I loved it already the way it was. Thanks for letting me know the second nameless plant is a geum. Oh, how lucky you are to go to England. In March I would assume you will see a lot of the spring bulbs and very early spring flowers. Even if nothing is blooming I am sure you will love it :-)!
    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wonderful! I love English gardens :) A plant you don't know name it is a geum

    ReplyDelete
  22. I enjoyed all of the fairy tale scenes, Christina. Also, the sundial, urn and purple rugosa rose are stunning. Thanks for sharing. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Doranma, I am glad that we share the love for English Gardens! Everyone seems to know that the plants name is geum, except me :-)! Thanks for telling me!

    Beth, thanks for your nice comment! This garden was really rich in fairytale scenes, wasn't it? Also all the pieces that they placed in the garden like the urns and the sundial were exquisite. I find that quality really pays off!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  24. akisfromthepast, welcome to my blog and thanks for the comment!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  25. What lovely gardens!! Wish my lawn edging looked like that! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  26. charlie b., welcome to my blog! Yeah, the lawn edging is another thing that the Brits are great at. I bought a lawn edger after we visited England last year but somehow it is not doing the work by itself ;-)!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete