English Country Garden July 09
This weekend I went with my garden club to visit another local garden – The Tynings, Stoulton, Worcestershire. The garden is a plantsmans delight so much so that on the way home I realised I hadn’t taken any photos of the general garden as I had been so transfixed by the various plants. I loved this Lily , Lillium Red Dutch, it made a really nice change to the normal pink and white you see at the moment. The garden was absolutely full of Lilies and there was hardly any lily bettle damage. The lilies in my garden are in such a bad state that I have decided to bin them. The owner told us that he only had one lily plant really affected this year which was better than last year.
As I have said the garden was full of unusual plants. We were particularly struck with this Helianthus salicifolius. It can grow up to 10ft in one year and has small orange flowers on the top. The owner said he only really grew it for the foilage as the flowers were a disappointment. I think this would look really good in a jungle setting.
The collection of trees and shrubs was also impressive. I particularly admired this Indian Bean tree and a Forest Pansy. The owners’ real pride and joy is a Wollemi Pine.
Another key plant in the garden at this time of year are the Dahlia and there is certainly a very impressive collection. The Dahlia Blaisdon Red particularly caught my eye as the red was just so intense.
The one thing I would do differently would be not to have the plant list. The owners had drawn up a comprehensive guide to the garden, including a plan with numbered beds and lists of the plants in order going from east to west. I found myself completely distracted by this list (containing over 1000 plants). Firstly I have no perception of where east and west are relative to where I am standing and the list only worked if you could recognise one plant and work down the list from that. Many of the plants were labelled and I had a much more enjoyable experience asking the owner about certain plants and learning all sorts of information that I would never gain from a plant book. I can understand when you are opening your garden and are expecting a lot of people that you get swamped with these sorts of questions but the 1:1 approach is so much nicer.
I would really recommend the Tynings to anyone visiting Worcestershire. Their next opening is on the evening of the 1st August and I am sure that if the evening is a warm one the scent will be quite intoxicating.
That helianthus foliage is fantastic! I’m gonna go buy one right now. Seriously.
Yep – I may have to agree with Ben on that, umm on second thoughts – it probably wouldn’t like the wind here.
Fab post – fab garden
K
Oooo…1000 plants! Sounds like paradise. I think the Helianthus stuck those flowers on top as an afterthought.
Interesting post. i love the indian bean trees far too big for my small garden but I do have a small Forest Pansy which I love.
I am most envious – don’t seem to have fitted in much garden visiting this year. A plant list can be useful but as you say it can also be distracting. Where there any plants for sale and if so did you bring any new additions to the garden home with you ?
Those lilies are so pretty, I wish I could get that many blooming at once.
What a delight! I agree, those Lilies are incredibly beautiful. Thanks for sharing this garden tour. I enjoy seeing the different wonders of the world.
You’re right about Helianthus salicifolius looking good in a jungle style garden. Tim Miles at Cotswold Wildlife Park uses it in just this way and it looks stunning.
Karen – the Helianthus was staked in the garden we visited and this was a sheltered garden.
Anna – yes there were plants for sale but I was strong and resisted, though to be honest there wasnt anything that appealed.