Every summer begins
with my firm intention to visit a few private gardens open to the
public, especially those that have been planned by other garden
designers. Most summers come and go and the good intentions remain
just that but this year I was determined and made the time to get to
several. Each one had something to make the trip worthwhile.
In one garden I
found not only inspiration but also a challenge to a very long held
prejudice where a beautiful burgundy red flower on a lush and leafy
perennial grabbed my attention. Stunned, I recognised it straight
away as a Dahlia, a species I've never liked nor given house room to
in my own garden, despite their return to fashion in recent years.
What a fabulous
flower, matched only by two others in different gardens, one of which
was another Dahlia!
What a mistake to
dismiss a whole species and miss out on such beauties particularly at
this end of the year when as I can now see, their bold forms
complement the glowing colours of autumn so well.
In complete contrast
the other stand out plant was much more to my usual taste, a lovely sky
blue Salvia uliginosa, head and shoulders above everything else
waving around in the wind among the bleaching heads of tall grasses,
a perfect combination.
Other grasses were
memorable too, Miscanthus used as a monoculture completely
surrounding a swimming pool was simple and serene, a perfect plant
for the application as wind break and screening and at its best in
mid to late summer when the pool would be most used.
The garden was
designed by Tom Stuart Smith so I had anticipated brilliance and
found it not only around the pool but also in the way it made me
completely rethink my opinion of clipped and shaped yew.
Earlier in the year
I'd visited a garden known for its use of tall yew hedges which I'd
found dark and oppressive, but here they were much lower, rhythmic
and playfully shaped providing a very different atmosphere.
Pictures of gardens
might give us the general idea but it's only by being in them that we
can appreciate how they make us feel and visiting open gardens is a
brilliant opportunity to understand how we respond to them,
experience other people's tastes and most importantly question our
own.
This year I've been
converted to Dahlias, whatever next!
