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



23 comments:

  1. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! The staddle stones are just too wonderful! The entire garden draws you in with its curving lines and beautiful beds! Thank you for sharing all of this beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So serene and romantic ... Love the red poppy :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, look at all that sunshine on a beautiful garden! Your timing seemed perfect! Happy Independence Day and have a lovely time!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a wonderful place and the gardens are just a riot of colour, including all the different shades of green. Those staddle stones by the opening look huge! x

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely garden. I loved those staddle stones!! I can't even imagine how many hours goes into keeping a garden looking like that. It's all wonderful.

    Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you, Christina, for taking us along on your garden tours. I get so much pleasure from seeing your photos of those serene looking gardens. The blue flower sort of reminds me of lobelia. I really like the bright blue color. Looking forward to more photos from your trip!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nicole, thank you very much for your enthusiastic comment! Makes me want to blog more :-)!

    Dani, now that you say it, I recognize that all the English gardens that we saw had a very romantic feel to them. Maybe that is one reason why I love them so much.

    Mark and Gaz, well, that day the sun was actually shining! Many more photos to come with grey skies as a background ;-). But it didn't bother us at all!

    Rustic Vintage Country, I don't remember theses staddle stones by the sides of the opening in the brick wall to be very huge, but they certainly look like they are on the photo. Strange!

    Lorraine, I also wonder over and over again how people in England manage to maintain these gorgeous private gardens. Don't they have to work? Are they all mufti-millionaeres, who can pay gardeners without end to keep up their properties, are they just so much more efficient in their cultivating techniques, are they working in their own garden every evening and weekend from morning to dawn? I simply don't get it!

    Dorothy, it is truly a pleasure for me to blog about our garden travels in England and share all the lovely things that we saw with everyone who wants to see them. I am pretty certain that the blue flower is not a lobelia, but you are right it looks similar. I intend to get more posts up from our trip, even though we are back home now and in the usual time crunch :-(.

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  8. This lovely garden is so well maintained. I love the planting against and over the old stone wall, too. And I love to see Wisteria spreading across a wall, but I also think of the hard work that it must mean when it comes to pruning!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wendy, I completely admire that this garden was so meticulously maintained. It simply looks so great when a garden is taken care off on that level!
    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  10. Erin, that is awesome that you have been able to spent a year in England and visit the amazing gardens there! Good luck with creating your own English garden in the midwest. Thanks for letting me know about the name of the blue flowering plant. I will check it out on the internet.
    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a gorgeous old place. I really like the boxwoods that frame the garden, gives it a formal look. The wisteria is incredible as well as the allium borders.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rosemary, I also have come to appreciate the boxwood framed formal beds very much! Would love to do something similar in my own garden, but I am afraid that keeping the hedges neatly pruned is too much work for me!
    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  13. You are lucky to be visiting these beautiful English gardens again, Christina! I can't say I like the formality of the rose garden but the borders are lovely and the "mushrooms" are very interesting. I would love to have so much space to garden, wouldn't you?

    P.S. It is amazing to see wisteria in bloom in July :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Masha, thanks for your comment! Yes, I know that we have been very lucky to go to England this year, again! I am so thankful for the opportunity.
    I am actually not so sure if I would like to have that much space to garden, at least not here in our hot dry San Diego climate. I have a hard time to keep up with the garden right now and not to fall too much behind with the watering and the deadheading even in my small yard!
    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  15. tres jolie le jardin !!

    bonne journee !!


    xxx Maria xxx

    ReplyDelete
  16. Maria, thanks for your comment!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  17. The bell flowers are called Nectaroscordum bulgaricum and are very easy to grow coming up year after year. We have lots of box hedging and balls in the garden, and it only requires one hair cut per year so is not too much maintenance.
    If you are interested I have a post showing staddle stones here:-
    http://wherefivevalleysmeet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/english-thatched-country-cottages.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. A beautiful garden and home. I love the stone walls also and I agree the yellow rose and the allium color combo is lovely. I have a few alliums but now I am tempted to plant a few more. I love the colors and ball shapes! Nice post! Jeannine

    ReplyDelete
  19. Rosemary, thank you so much for telling me the name of the bell flowering plant! Now I just have to find out if I am able to grow them here in CA. Thanks as well for sending the link to your post about staddle stones. I will definitively read it when I have a moment of time!

    Jeannine, what, you are able to grow alliums here in our climate? I thought that they need much cooler temperatures especially in the winter than we have to offer. I have to pick your brain about this when we meet next time!

    Christina


    Ch

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a beautiful garden. I think the owners must be spending either humongous time or fortune to maintain this garden.

    ReplyDelete
  21. KL, I think it is probably both ;-)!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  22. Einfach traumhaft....das Bild mit der Wisteria ist fantastisch....ich liebe solche Blogs....Lieben Gruß Erwin

    ReplyDelete
  23. Erwin, thanks for your nice comment! I loved that Wisteria as well, but I am glad it is not me who has to tame it :-)!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete