Parts of the garden are a riot; rich with the wayside plants of the Mediterranean and Balkans intermingled with the local and far flung. The Peacock Garden is dominated by bright yellow umbels of great fennel Ferula communis contrasting with the mauves of honesty Lunaria annua, greater meadow-rue Thalictrum aquilegifolium and, I think, dame’s rocket Hesperis matronalis. The supporting cast includes other umbellifers including angelica Angelica archangelica and cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris with a variety of yellow, pink and red poppies, honeyworts, alliums, foxgloves, wild gladioli and euphorbias. All appear to be struggling to escape the confines of the high yew hedges like an over-exuberant football crowd or particularly colourful level of Dante’s inferno (perhaps they are the same thing).
The long border, enhanced by the backdrop of the beautiful old manor house, is more constrained but is a never ending blend of colour and form in the familiar palette of purple, mauve, pink, yellow and white, including pink Weigela florida and brilliant white guelder rose Viburnum opulus; all the plants are in great condition and fill their allotted spaces. I’m guessing many visitors like us are jealous of the apparently, effortless perfection.
The adjacent orchard meadows are full of buttercups Ranunculus repens, meadow foxtail Alopecurus pratensis and sweet vernal grass Anthoxanthum odoratum with much yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor keeping the grasses in check. There is a remarkable but fading display of green-winged orchids Anacamptis morio orchids interspersed with common spotted-orchids Dactylorhiza fuchsii and, in the shade under the orchard trees, a few emerging twayblades Liparis loeselii; the presence of green-winged orchids suggest that this is a long maintained, traditional hay meadow, as opposed to a planted part of the garden. There is a similar plant composition here to the more extensive orchid swathes at Marden Meadows in Kent. The juxtaposition of high quality, semi-natural meadow habitats with a carefully tended garden is rare and easily overlooked because the two flow together so well.
The sunken garden is a shelter from the wind and an oasis of calm with horsetails, canna lilies and brilliant pink, water lily flowers filling the pond; the only disturbance is from the buzz of a myriad honey bees on the Cotoneaster horizontalis. The collections of pots on patios are pitch perfect where the warm colours are punctuated with a brilliant blue Silene.
The front lawns are wild and unmown but full of blue Camassia quamash; this seems a favourite as it appears in the orchards at Chartwell and Audley End. This is such a wonderful garden; the planting is ebullient and fizzes like nowhere else.
