As my own garden is struggling with yet another heat wave and everything seems to look more and more dried out and yellow despite my ongoing efforts to keep things watered, I find myself longing for the lush gardens of England. It occurred to me, that I promised a third part of my series about the Rose Gardens at Mottisfont Abbey a long, long time ago.
So I thought treating myself by writing another post about this extraordinary rose garden and browsing through the literally hundreds of photos that I took there at our visit, now already two years ago. I would be very glad, if this post would bring some joy to you, my dear readers, as well.
We had just entered the second walled garden, when I spotted this incredible pretty gray-leaved humongous plant, which I was completely fascinated with. I assume, it is a cardoon.
Mottisfont Abbey contains three walled rose gardens. I wrote about the first walled garden in two previous posts already. You can find the links to them at the end of this one.
Unfortunately, many roses were not labeled in this part of the garden or the label was so grown in that you couldn't see it without stepping into the border, which, of course, I didn't do. That is a pity, because in the second walled garden, there were many Old Garden Roses, which are in general not so well known by a lot of people and some of the ones, which are growing in Mottisfont Abbey, are quite rare. As a matter of fact in this whole post I could only identify one rose for sure.
I loved the combination of this yellow rose, the white peony and the 'Lady's Mantle'.
The silver-gray leaves of the surrounding plants go particularly well with the white flowers of the peony.
This is another dazzling variety, which seem to glow from within.
So lovely!
The long vistas in the garden were quite impressive...
...and the huge borders simply absolutely stunning.
The plant combinations at Mottisfont Abbey Rose Gardens are so skillfully done. It is truly outstanding! Everywhere you look you find fascinating scenes to enjoy.
Another peony variety, that I found especially charming. I also like the combination with the delicate small white flowering plant very much. Does anyone of you know it?
The layering of the plants is so well done in this border. Mottisfont really made me fall in love with catmint (blue flowering plant in the middle of the foreground), which I grow now in my own garden. It is doing very well in Southern California, too.
A lovely rose, that I don't know the name of.
The climbing roses in this part of the garden were often of extraordinary beauty. Here they are spilling into the borders with abundance.
This white flowering clematis was also exquisite!
Many peony blooms were huge and...
...the plants were flowering generously.
Isn't this scene like coming directly out of a dream?
I had never seen an iris that dark blue/purple before. It looked almost black and had a fascinating satiny sheen.
Close-up of the iris from the photo above. The color was absolutely stunning!
In this photo you can see, that all the evergreens like yew columns, boxwood hedges, green shrubs give the garden a calm backdrop. They also used quite rustic climbing structures for the roses at Mottisfont, which fit perfectly with the style of this garden.
Another light pink rose beauty. I wonder what the blue flowering companion plant is in the foreground. Any ideas?
I loved this delicate white flowering companion plant. Can anyone of you, dear readers, identify it?
The light pink flowering climbing rose at the wall is 'Blairii No. 1' (middle to the right side of the image), a climbing Bourbon rose bred by Blair, (United Kingdom, 1830).
Here is a close-up of the blooms of 'Blairii No. 1'. I think, that this is an outstandingly beautiful rose and the flower form and cool light pink color has a very special charm. It is supposed to have a very strong fragrance as well, which was impossible to verify for me, because I couldn't get close enough to this rose to smell it.
With this beauty I would like to end this post, but want to let you know that I have so many more interesting and rare roses to show from Mottisfont, that I will continue to blog about this great garden hopefully in the near future.
If you are interested in reading the previous parts of this series about Mottisfont Abbey Rose Gardens, please click on the links below:
Mottisfont Abbey - a Rose Lover's Paradise I
Mottisfont Abbey - a Rose Lover's Paradise II
Thanks for stopping by!
See you in the garden!
Christina
So I thought treating myself by writing another post about this extraordinary rose garden and browsing through the literally hundreds of photos that I took there at our visit, now already two years ago. I would be very glad, if this post would bring some joy to you, my dear readers, as well.
We had just entered the second walled garden, when I spotted this incredible pretty gray-leaved humongous plant, which I was completely fascinated with. I assume, it is a cardoon.
Mottisfont Abbey contains three walled rose gardens. I wrote about the first walled garden in two previous posts already. You can find the links to them at the end of this one.
Unfortunately, many roses were not labeled in this part of the garden or the label was so grown in that you couldn't see it without stepping into the border, which, of course, I didn't do. That is a pity, because in the second walled garden, there were many Old Garden Roses, which are in general not so well known by a lot of people and some of the ones, which are growing in Mottisfont Abbey, are quite rare. As a matter of fact in this whole post I could only identify one rose for sure.
I loved the combination of this yellow rose, the white peony and the 'Lady's Mantle'.
At the time when we were visiting many peonies were in bloom and I was blown away by their beauty.
The silver-gray leaves of the surrounding plants go particularly well with the white flowers of the peony.
This is another dazzling variety, which seem to glow from within.
So lovely!
The long vistas in the garden were quite impressive...
...and the huge borders simply absolutely stunning.
The plant combinations at Mottisfont Abbey Rose Gardens are so skillfully done. It is truly outstanding! Everywhere you look you find fascinating scenes to enjoy.
Another peony variety, that I found especially charming. I also like the combination with the delicate small white flowering plant very much. Does anyone of you know it?
A lovely rose, that I don't know the name of.
The climbing roses in this part of the garden were often of extraordinary beauty. Here they are spilling into the borders with abundance.
This white flowering clematis was also exquisite!
Many peony blooms were huge and...
This was one of my favorite borders planted along the brick walls. I think the color and plant combinations of mainly roses, foxgloves and irises are just perfect.
Isn't this scene like coming directly out of a dream?
I had never seen an iris that dark blue/purple before. It looked almost black and had a fascinating satiny sheen.
Close-up of the iris from the photo above. The color was absolutely stunning!
Bearded irises and peonies did particularly well at Mottisfont. I wonder, if they treat them in a special way. This light blue bearded iris variety in the foreground was also a total eye-catcher.
In this photo you can see, that all the evergreens like yew columns, boxwood hedges, green shrubs give the garden a calm backdrop. They also used quite rustic climbing structures for the roses at Mottisfont, which fit perfectly with the style of this garden.
Another light pink rose beauty. I wonder what the blue flowering companion plant is in the foreground. Any ideas?
With this beauty I would like to end this post, but want to let you know that I have so many more interesting and rare roses to show from Mottisfont, that I will continue to blog about this great garden hopefully in the near future.
Mottisfont Abbey - a Rose Lover's Paradise I
Mottisfont Abbey - a Rose Lover's Paradise II
Thanks for stopping by!
See you in the garden!
Christina
