Thursday, July 4, 2013

Manor Farm, Hampreston - Part II

We continued to explore the big private garden of the Manor Farm (please click here to see my first post) and discovered an area that showcases the roses in formal boxwood edged beds located in the back of the property. The walls of the house here were covered in a humongous wisteria, which looked so pretty, but I am glad that I don't have to prune this plant to keep it in check!


Unfortunately the roses were not in bloom, yet. Just very few bushes had a flower or two. But the boxwood edged beds were so beautiful by themselves, that it really didn't matter to me.



The same garden area, but looking more to the left. In this photo you can see the formal, symmetrical layout of the rose garden even better.



There were also more herbaceous borders to discover surrounded by a lovely stone wall. Here I like the different color of foliage, especially how the light yellow hosta stands out.



On the photo above you can see the yellow hosta more closely. I think it is so pretty, that the light greenish-yellow leaves have a stripe of darker green around the edges.



This poppy will surely not be overlooked. The red color was so intense, absolutely spectacular!




You just have to love these old stone walls. This one is almost as colorful as a painting and enhances the lovely border in front of it so much. 



This and the following photos show some close-ups of the plants you could find in the border pictured above.



I really liked the delicateness of the flowers of the plants that were used here.



The cheerful yellow rose together with lilac alliums, a combination that is hard to beat!



Walking further to the left, the border is taking on more blue hues.



Close-up of some plants from the border shown in the photo above.




This is my favorite plant in the whole garden. It is flowering in a spectacular clear blue tone that was truly calling your attention. Mrs. Trehane, the owner of the garden, was so nice to tell me the name, but unfortunately I wasn't writing it down immediately and later I forgot. May I ask again, if anyone reading this blog knows what it is, please, please leave me a comment!




Looking back towards the house and the formal rose garden. This photo indicates how spacious this property is. I really like the spacious lawn areas. You could breath there and the senses had a place to rest and calm down. And, of course, in England the lawns are greener than anywhere else in the world!



Just have a closer look at this container. See how lovingly it is planted with so many different individual plants? For me, in this property and in others that we saw, the attention to detail that the British folks put into their gardens is just amazing and really touched my heart.



A particular lovely clematis adorning a wooden post belonging to a pergola that was shading a seating area where we sat down to take our Cream Tea.



On the way out of the garden we passed this stunning bed which was running around the back of the house. The contrast between the very dark green yew hedge and fresh light green of the boxwood hedge is already striking by itself. But the lovely border filled with alliums and many other plants made it perfect.



Wonderful plant pairing of alliums with a delicate bell-shaped flowering plant.



Photo from the end of this border.



The big leaved hostas together with the spheric shape of the alliums, just brilliant!



This photo was taken in the same area. But here differnt shades of green is the predominant color. Isn't that already enough to please the eye? You also see how accurate the hedges are pruned. Fascinating, how they are able to do this, isn't it?



One last shot but photographed from the other side. Here the wisteria was in full bloom and you can get a better idea of the size of the yew hedges, when you compare it to the height of the house.



You might have noticed these "mushroom sculptures" scattered throughout the garden. They are called staddle stones and originally they were used as bases for structures like hayricks, granaries etc. It is almost impossible for rodents to climb the circular head of the staddle stones and get to the hay or grain sacks which were stored on top of them. Besides that, air could freely circulate underneath the hay or grain and this helped to keep it dry. 

Nowadays staddle stones are used in this and many other gardens that we saw in this area for decorative purposes and seemed to have become coveted garden antiques. I think they are really cool!

We are at the end of my tour of the Manor Farm. I hope you enjoyed seeing this spectacular garden! If you are in the area make sure you check the yellow National Garden Scheme (NGS) brochure or their website (click here) and pay the garden a visit, if it is open. I am sure you will love it as much as I did!

Wishing you all a Happy Independence Day!

See you in the garden!

Christina