It was a total delight walking around the gardens at Charlecote this week, everything has grown so quickly and what a display there is. A real treat for the eyes. Matt and his team of staff and volunteers have worked miracles. I take my hat off to them. They really have outdone themselves and the weather has been perfect for the gardens too, lots of rain but also lots of warm sunshine, a combination of that and the very talented gardeners at Charlecote makes for a perfect match.
As I walked around the gardens I didn't know where to start, so many vibrant colours before me, I felt like a child in a candy shop, so much to see and and I wanted to record it all on camera. I try to record the changing gardens through the year but it is easy to miss something as they do constantly change. There is always something new to see popping up amongst the richly coloured borders.
Below is the 'Yellow Daylily' ( hemerocallis Lilioasphodelus ) which can be spotted in the borders around the Croquet Lawn, Tea Garden and also in the Long Border which runs down the side of the Woodland Garden. These beautiful flowers only last a day, hence their name but as they wither, they are replaced by a new flower.
I wasn't the only one admiring the beautiful borders. This young girl in the picture below was mesmerised by the large red poppies with black spots (Papaver Commutatum) 'Ladybird poppies'.
It is easy to see how these flowers got their name. Introduced into the English Garden in 1876 from Russia. I love poppies, they are always a welcome sight each year.
In many places around all the gardens are the roses which look absolutely stunning right now and smell just as good. I have to say they are the best I have seen them and they are growing everywhere.
Below and above is the 'Rhapsody in Blue' (Frantasia Rose). This is a beautiful rose, I love everything about it, the colours, petals and the fragrance. It is a truly stunning rose which flowers through Summer and in Autumn and comes in shades of purple through to slate blue.
More roses to be found round the Croquet Lawn.
Roses cascading over the fence of the private garden close to the River Dene.
Aren't they beautiful
Next to these roses I also found some Elderflower which I myself make wine from but in the Victorian Kitchens at Charlecote, Judy one of the costumed volunteers had collected some to make Elderflower Cordial which was very popular in the Victorian times.
The 'Munstead Wood Rose' a perfect English rose. One of my favourites in the Tea Garden with it's deep velvet crimson petals. If you haven't smelt them, do, they smell like Autumn berries.
The next rose climbs the walls of the Gatehouse. It is called 'Gloire de Dijon' also known as the 'Old Glory Rose'
This one I also found on the Gatehouse. I am not sure if it is a different rose or the same type at an earlier stage.
The 'Rambling Rector' roses can be found in the Woodland Gardens.
Rambling Rector is a good name for this plant as it is rambling through this part of the garden and what a display it is!
There are so many varieties of roses to see as you walk around Charlecote and not just in the gardens, I spotted some wild roses in the hedgerows of West Park.too.
Just a few more of the roses found around Charlecote Gardens, many of which can be found along the Long Border,
Also in the Long Border you can find these lovely peach poppies. They have large heads and single layered delicate petals which are short lived but well worth growing. They are an Oriental poppy called 'Karine' (Papaver orientale Karine)
Each flower has four petals. They really stand out as you walk along the path towards the Summer House.
Just some of the plants and flowers you will see along this border.
So many different beautiful roses grow along here too..
I really like this next plant. Astrantia also known as 'Hattie's Pincushion' It always reminds me of mini bunches of flowers especially when the flowers first start to open.
Look at all the colours in the picture below, so different from the Croquet lawn borders but just as pretty.
Allium look great in any garden and always add that something special to early Summer borders.
The beautiful floral gardens are a treat for insects too!
I spotted three different varieties of Irises. I am not sure of their proper names but they were lilac, blue and white.
Do you know the Iris takes it's name from the Greek word for Rainbow?
These I found in the Tea Garden.
'Nigella' also known as 'Love-in-the-mist' looks pretty in flower and after.
This beautiful flower below I spotted in the wooden wheelbarrows just outside the Victorian Kitchen. I believe they sell them in the new Avenue Garden shop. They are Candelabra Primulas.
Last but not least is the Parterre which has had a few more volunteers working on it recently. Year 5 from Park Hill School in Kenilworth kindly volunteered for a day to help Charlecote's staff and volunteer gardeners to clear the Parterre and prepare it for the Summer bedding plants which have already started to go in this week.
If you see Matt around the garden, feel free to ask him about the plants and flowers he grows here at Charlecote. He has a head full of knowledge about them and one I pick from time to time myself.
Plants that could be saved were put into flower pots.
The day went really well and I think it was a wonderful idea for children to do something like this and it wasn't all work for them either. They got to learn about plants, bees and even went on a tractor ride around the park where they learnt about the estate and the animals and wildlife that live there.
Seeing honey bees up close with Graham - Garden, Bee and all round volunteer.
Watching the Jacob sheep being fed.
The Fallow deer and much more.
Joy, Charlecote's Area Ranger explains the difference in the age of the deer and their antlers.
It is impossible to cover everything in the gardens at Charlecote in one blog as there is far too much going on so if you would like to see or know more, you will have to make a visit and see for yourself :)
A BIG Thanks to Matt and his team of mostly volunteers for making all the gardens at Charlecote so beautiful and such a pleasure to walk around and for making my job so much easier x
If you are interested in volunteering at Charlecote follow this link below.
A little video of the gardens to finish this blog.
Copyright
Jana Eastwood
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