Being aware of the name Loseley ice cream, but not of Loseley Park as a venue for garden shows, when invited to one at the end of July, I was keen to go along and find out more. As I discovered a garden show is breathtakingly wonderful, set beside the lawn in front of Loseley House, there were 350 stall holders, some in tents, others like the nurseries, outside in the open. Just to be clear, the ice cream is not linked to Loseley Park.
It was hard to decide where to start, the plants were a draw, I particularly liked some penstemons and rudbeckias on Steve's Plant Shack stall, but food drew us to the back of the site where there were lots of tasty snacks on offer, then we looked round the shabby chic stalls ending up talking to Rupert on the Woodland Trust stall, all three of us joined The Woodland Trust because of the fantastic conservation work they do.
We then had a look round the gardens, this is how they describe them on their website:
'Comparable with gardens considered national treasures, the Walled Garden covers 2.5 acres and is divided into ‘rooms’ each with its own unique planting scheme and personality.
There’s the Rose garden with over one thousand bushes, the Flower Garden with its maze of pathways and hidden corners and the White Garden that contrasts spectacular, showy, blooms with lush yet subtle silver and grey foliage.
Then there is the extensive Herb Garden, the Organic Vegetable Garden with its unusual varieties and, just outside the walls, the wildflower meadow – a haven of calm and tranquillity.'
In a word, the gardens are 'spectacular'. I would have loved to chat to the Head Gardener about the fantastic work they and their team do, the gardens were a joy to look round, with a new gasp as each 'room' was visited.
I'm not sure about a favourite view, but I did like the way the underneath of this tree had been planted with different varieties of Tagetes:
here's a close up
Going back to the beginning of the garden, this was our first view, and gave a hint of the good things to come
It was a bit overcast when we were looking round the garden, this was a gravel area flanked by herbs grouped together in some way. Here you're looking at hollyhocks
In another of the garden 'rooms' there was a vegetable plot
with some delightful netted brassicas
and then we found the White Garden with breathtaking and imaginative planting
The hydrangeas were just peaking when we were there
they were absolutely stunning
It was hard to take enough views of the White Garden to convey how much I enjoyed the structure, sculpture and planting
There was a trough at one end flanked by Echinops
There wasn't exclusively white planting
I wasn't quite sure what this was, some sort of mallow perhaps?
Flanking the botanic garden is a Moat Terrace, looking down on the Moat garden and Moat itself with wild flower meadow planting on the opposite side. This is a magical area of the garden
We were lucky to see lilies blooming in the moat garden
and here Lyn and Sarah are making their way down some steps to the moat
This si the view from the bottom of the steps
The last part of the garden to be looked at was the Gertrude Jekyll style long border
which was looking lovely, I've added the photo below because I love those cone flowers at the back of the border.
It was hard to decide where to start, the plants were a draw, I particularly liked some penstemons and rudbeckias on Steve's Plant Shack stall, but food drew us to the back of the site where there were lots of tasty snacks on offer, then we looked round the shabby chic stalls ending up talking to Rupert on the Woodland Trust stall, all three of us joined The Woodland Trust because of the fantastic conservation work they do.
We then had a look round the gardens, this is how they describe them on their website:
'Comparable with gardens considered national treasures, the Walled Garden covers 2.5 acres and is divided into ‘rooms’ each with its own unique planting scheme and personality.
There’s the Rose garden with over one thousand bushes, the Flower Garden with its maze of pathways and hidden corners and the White Garden that contrasts spectacular, showy, blooms with lush yet subtle silver and grey foliage.
Then there is the extensive Herb Garden, the Organic Vegetable Garden with its unusual varieties and, just outside the walls, the wildflower meadow – a haven of calm and tranquillity.'
In a word, the gardens are 'spectacular'. I would have loved to chat to the Head Gardener about the fantastic work they and their team do, the gardens were a joy to look round, with a new gasp as each 'room' was visited.
I'm not sure about a favourite view, but I did like the way the underneath of this tree had been planted with different varieties of Tagetes:
Garden shows are fabulous, especially when there's a garden like Loseley to look round.
Not forgetting the scenic house:
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