PUSHING THE BORDERS

We went to Erddig Hall near Wrexham today which has a wonderful garden. As a walled garden it is absolutely enormous and rarely have I seen so many rare and ancient fruit trees beautifully grown against the walls and laden with fruit.

As for rare ornamentals, well there were not so many but the Grade 1 listed garden really is a stunning place to wander around and there were a couple of gems.

Normally I don’t much care for Japanese anemones but I really liked this one. I’ve searched on the internet and can’t find it. Does anyone know it?






This lovely Colletia armata is a plant I’ve thought about a few times but thought it might be too tender having read different views on its hardiness. This one had grown into a great size but was clearly sheltered by the wall. Can anyone offer an honest cold tolerance based on their experience with it?





I’ve grown Lobelia tupa myself and found it quite straggly and wishy-washy in terms of colour but these seemed to be a much stronger colour than the one I had and made me want to get it again!




Seeing this rubbed salt into the wounds as mine, which normally flowers profusely for me, never even appeared this year:




There were a fair few borderline hardy plants which were doing well:










Some general shots of the place which may be of interest to some of the recent visitors to this forum, as an example of a British formal garden of a stately home:

Your first two pictures are of Dahlia 'Take Off' I think.

Dahlia leaves are in the background.

Thanks for the wider shots, it is another garden I don't know.

Chad

Thanks for the ID Chad. In my defence they were mixed in with anemones and were such small flowers I assumed they were from the anemone stems. Just looked at the pics on a bigger screen and can see the bud and leaves are definitely as per your ID. Need to go to Specsavers!

There are a number of NT gardens within a comfortable ride of here. This summer we’ve been to Hidcote, Biddulph Grange, Powis, Attingham, Chirk Castle and Erddig. I think that the NT appears to be putting most of its finances into the houses and less so into the gardens. Some of these are Grade 1 listed but in my opinion have deteriorated over the years. They are pleasant but could be amazing. For example, the huge herbaceous border at Chirk Castle which could be so bountiful at this time of year, had equal measures of run of the mill plants in vast blocks and big areas of bare earth. Even Powis, where the pots in particular are usually amazing, was a let down this year. Of them all, Erddig impressed me the most.

To be honest, I think this must be an issue across the board with NT gardens. I’ve been to Cornwall many times but the last time I visited (admittedly a few years ago now), I saw a marked deterioration in the quality of the planting. I guess they are having to prioritise where the money gets spent and no doubt historical internal artefacts and interiors cost a lot more to acquire, conserve, refurbish and renovate.

Here is a shot of just a part of the huge herbaceous border at Chirk (it stretches way out of sight into the distance, the thatched building being the central point). In my view a missed opportunity for something truly memorable:

Colletia armata is apparently a synonym of C hystrix which I have grown, here in Paignton, since 2017 with no problems; it even puts up with the cold dry East winds in spring.
Here https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/ar ... a-hystrix/ is a picture of one growing in N Yorkshire.

I can’t offer any help on the plants you’ve mentioned. I’m not really a plantsman but I do enjoy using them to create a place to live. And the British always seem to do it better than anywhere else! The long peaceful greens even if planted in uninteresting blocks of the standard repertoire, offer a safe haven that isn’t easily found anywhere else. I was just in the city of Leiden in The Netherlands and went to the oldest botanical garden of the N’lands. ‘Hortus Botanicus’ from the 16th century. A beautiful place, but as interesting and exciting as it is the peacefulness or quiet grandeur was lacking.
So I enjoy your pics Martin of a bit of an England that hopefully will last. Those gardens are a valuable resource of British culture.
That Colletia armata is a beauty, I’m not sure how to use it in the scheme of things in my garden but it gives me something to think about when I’m at work! I’m glad you brought it up. I didn’t know it.

The Colletia is extremely hardy - Tom HD grows it at the frost hollow that is the World Garden at Lullingstone with no shelter where it has survived -15C or lower. Mine is currently flooding its surroundings with its pervasive sweet vanilla/almond scent.

The other commonly seen species - C. paradoxa (cruciata) is less hardy but equally interesting.

There is a species Colletia ulcina low growing and with red flowers in summer.
Photo here https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/colletia/
No idea on availability though.

I haven't managed to source Colletia ulicina, but I'll keep looking.

Chad

Thank you all for the replies. Looks promising … if I can get one! Paul there is a lovely paradoxa growing outside at Powis but it has the shelter of a warm wall. Nigel the uncina looks fabulous.

And Andrew and Chad. Thank you for your kind comments. My pictures may seem a bit banal to the UK contributors who will have seen similar a million times over. However, Andrew I think you do an injustice to some of the great gardens in Germany. I’ve been to quite a few and some of my favourites ( such as Schloß Benrath, Schloß Augustusburg, Karlsaue in Kassel and the Wilhelmshöhe) are as good as our stately home gardens and some of the town parks rival any here. I spent many a happy hour or two in the Nordpark, Südpark and Hofgarten in Düsseldorf.

I think some of you know Mark Collins, that superlative plantsman in Kerry curating the botanical wonderland that is Dhu Varren Garden. He very recently posted on Instagram aboout it - tracked down seed of Colletia ulicina ten years ago and it is flowering for the first time. https://www.instagram.com/dhuvarrengarden/