One of the elderly brothers waves a proprietorial slim and once elegant hand into the distance. 'It's a natural garden now of course' he says, his voice a faded treble.We nod. Of course it is. That much is obvious. Cowslips - such kind sweet flowers - have taken hold in cobbles 3 paces from the back step; a gooseberry hunkers down against the wash-house wall. Briars whip the unwary. Sappy diamond-dewed grass is ankle high. Everywhere Arums, Aquilegia, Forget-me-not and a jewel box of primulas jostle beneath a canopy of apple, pear and prunus blossom. There's a horticultural riot taking place. Today we were blessed with a blue skies too.
This garden opens only once a year - to raise money for the parish church I believe. I have been here twice before and each time been moved by its fragile beauty. Speedwell, dandelion and stinging nettle, goose grass and cow parsley - how I love you all in your fresh spring finery amongst those promiscuous primulas and hellebores. Such is its wild perfection that I wish it were mine to keep and preserve. I want, I want, I want.
I envy the visiting childrens' bold footsteps as they zoom and shriek around what might have been an orchard - I hardly know where to step through a carpet of flowers. I try not to leave footsteps. I take only photographs.
11 comments:
Oh how beautiful. Where is it and when will it be open next?
From your words and photos I can understand why you'd want to re-visit this garden. How marvelous to have the weather cooperate!
xo
Just found you while browsing UK bloggers.
I live in the South Shropshire Hills over the border.
Plenty of gardening this side too.
i remember you going last year.
Oh how perfectly beautiful. I have a real weakness for those places which hang on the brink of chaos (this is also my excuse for my nettles and dandelions but works better in the absence of the orange anti hen fencing which is disfiguring my landscape). I would love to see it.
"Horticultural Riot" seems to describe it perfectly. Looks lovely.
You had me at the 'proprietorial slim and once elegant hand' - everything after that was gravy.
Loved it.
My kind of garden that. And how about a trip to ???? just gone blank !! The garden centre we went to last year xo
A walk in a lovely place from the past.You can dream of the people who came before you.Wondering what
they thought.How they lived.
I would love to see it=places like this are so rare-one visit a year
would not be enough.
Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely my kind of garden.
Yes, and you capture it beautifully for us.
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