The Somerset Gardens at Hestercombe

While Eric and I were visiting family and friends in England in September, we were lucky enough to be able to visit the Somerset Gardens at Hestercombe, outside of Taunton.

Hestercombe features three gardens spanning three centuries of garden design: Coplestone Warre Bampfylde's Georgian landscape garden, the Victorian terrace and shrubbery and the stunning Edwardian garden design by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll which I am going to show you in my blog post today. 

The gardens had fallen into disrepair but today, after a mammoth, ongoing restoration project, the gardens have been returned to their former glory.  The gardens were reopened to the public in 1997, for the first time in 125 years.

In my gardening endeavours in Houston, I have often read about Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Edwin Lutyens.  To finally see one of their acclaimed gardens in person was a magical experience.

The formal gardens, known as the Grand Plat, are laid out below the house with grass pathways edged in stone, leading to a central fountain. 

Even in the soft misty light of a late September day, the gardens had plenty of color, with marigolds, gladioli, sedum, and more in bloom.

Here's another view of the formal gardens.

 

On either side of the garden is a water feature, such as this fountain in a beautiful stone niche. The vines were just getting their fall colours which made it seem even more peaceful and magical.

The stonework in the gardens was spectacular, from walkways, to columns, to walls.  It's very easy to imagine young ladies in Edwardian dress strolling the gardens, their delicate skin shaded from the sun by dainty parasols, being entertained by their beau, under the watchful eye of a chaperone.

Narrow water channels leads down either side of the garden to small lily ponds. 

 Along the bottom of the garden is a spectacular vine-covered pergola.  Again, I could picture young Edwardian ladies being escorted by their young men.

I was pleased to see many familiar plants in the garden, like this Sedum, and even some I have in my own garden such as Gaura and Cleome, below. 

This final walled garden featured many plants with silver leaves.  After the soft greens and colours of the rest of the garden, it was quite striking to see this garden.  It included Lambs Ears, Dusty Miller, Lavender and a lot of plants I didn't recognize. Some height was added in the form of large terracotta urns filled with blooms.
 

The Somerset Gardens at Hestercombe have a lot more to offer than what I have shown you here.  

In addition to the formal gardens, there are 50 acres of Georgian landscape gardens with streams, waterfalls and lakes, as well as unique little garden houses, or "follies" such as this one, known as the Mausoleum.

 
Hestercombe is definitely on my list of places to visit again when we can.  I'm glad they went to the trouble and expense of restoring it.


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The End of Summer

Well it may be Labor Day weekend, and officially that signals the end of summer, but don't tell the garden that!

This really is my favorite time of year in the garden. We're beginning to get increasing number of butterflies visiting and, of course, the hummingbirds are out in full force, emptying the feeders and building up their energy reserves for the migration ahead.

I know I've shown you this view before -- forgive me, but I just love sitting on the patio and looking across the island bed and waterfall. 

As always, you can click on each photo for a larger image.

The sound of the waterfall lends a gentle ambiance to the garden that makes it the perfect place to sit and relax (provided I'm in the shade!!)

The Profusion zinnias in this bed were all transplanted seedlings that had self-seeded in the other island bed.   It certainly lives up to its name - "Profusion".

Butterflies just love it, including this Buckeye - the first I have managed to photograph this year.

This Swallowtail was enjoying the zinnia too.  You can't see too clearly in this photo, but the photo below, you can see it had quite a significant rip in its left wing.

 
The butterfly didn't seem to notice anything amiss and fluttered from bloom to bloom quite happily.

At first glance, I assumed this was a Monarch nectaring on the Tropical Milkweed, but looking closer at the photo I realized it's a Queen. (Still regal, though :-)

 
While the zinnias are still blooming full strength, the daylilies seem to be winding down now, after blooming profusely through the heat of the summer.  This one is still going though. I don't think I've shown photos of it before. Of course, I have no idea what it's called as usual!

And finally, a couple of photos of our wonderful feathered friends, the hummingbirds.  We've seen six or seven in the garden at one time this week.  This female thinks the Crepe Myrtle makes a good lookout post.

 

We've got five feeders scattered around the garden, two hanging above the patio and three out in the beds.

The red dome over the feeder attracts hummingbirds and also helps keep them cool at the same time. It's all red color attracts nearby hummingbirds and the 12" diameter baffle blocks out sunlight which keeps the feeder underneath cooler. It's made by Songbird Essentials.  I have two of them, but would like to get one of each feeder eventually.  Perhaps next year...

What's happening in your garden this Labor Day weekend?


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

A New Island Bed with a Plus

At the end of my post last week I gave a little hint of what we are planning in the garden this spring - a new island bed!

While I was at work last week, my wonderful husband made a start on it and hauled a load of landscaping blocks and laid out the first layer  in more-or-less the shape we had drawn out with the soaker hose.  He had some extra so he started on the second layer too.

As with our other island bed, we didn't dig out the sod, but instead laid down sheets of brown paper and cardboard, soaking them and then layered soil on top.  It's still got a way to go -- we need more of the landscape blocks to finish the second layer and then more soil to plant in.  

So, what are we going to put in it?  First of all, my husband already planted a small mandarin orange tree and a navel orange tree to replace the two orange trees that had died. (We both LOVE the aroma of orange blossom!) Other than that, I also want to add some low evergreens to give it some substance even in winter. 

And of course, as with the other island bed, there will be lots of flowers to offer nectar to butterflies and hummingbirds, as well as for the birds - coneflower, zinnia, Mexican sunflower, columbine and whatever else I can fit in there :-)

There's something a little extra in the bed too.  For ages I have wanted a water feature in the garden but wasn't sure exactly what, or where.  When I saw this cute little waterfall in the store last year I decided we had to have one in our garden, but until we built this island bed, we really didn't have a place for it.

It looks a bit strange at the moment as it's just sitting there, with nothing around it, but I'm hopeful that as we plant some shrubs and flowers around it, the birds will come in and enjoy it as much as we enjoy listening to it from our patio.   

I took the short video clip below as I was sipping my morning coffee on Sunday. It struck me, as I sat listening to the birds singing and the waterfall gurgling that the garden was finally becoming the Green and Serene retreat for which I had named this blog when I started it in 2009.

 


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

New Addition to the Patio

We are so lucky to have this patio.  It's shady for most of the day, allowing me to sit out on weekends and not broil.  It's got ceiling fans, making even summer evenings comfortable.  My husband and I love to sit out there on Friday and Saturday nights with a bottle of wine (OK -- sometimes two!!)

One thing that could make it even more perfect, I thought, would be the sound of gurgling water, as in a small fountain or other water feature.


At first I was thinking about a pond or fountain out in the garden, but the thought of digging and installing a pond made us think again about that, so nothing was ever done.  Then I started considering the possibility of having a small bubbler-type fountain on the patio. So completely on impulse I headed to Lowe's last weekend to peruse their selection.


I walked in to the garden center and cast my eye over the fountains on display and one little one just sort of jumped out and it was as if it had a "Buy Me" sign flashing over it.


It was small, inexpensive, and within 10 minutes it was in the back of my car on the way and on its way home with me.

It's by Allen and Roth, if you're interested, and is called the Three Tier Fountain.  It comes with a wrought iron stand, or can also sit on a table.  We have it on the stand and surrounded it with greenery.


Click on the above photo to see the full size version and spot the little visitor who particularly enjoys this new addition to the patio -- Kermit, our resident tree frog.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.