Enchanted garden
Last week, I took you on a tour of the fireworks that greet one at every turn in the dramatic Winter Garden at Anglesey Abbey. This week we visit an older Winter Garden, subtle and enchanting, first established in 1979 and forming part of the magnificent Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
The original Botanic Garden was founded in 1762 in the city centre, a typical physic garden of five acres. In 1831, the university acquired a much larger site of 40 acres (16 hectares), a mile to the south. Initially, only the western half of the site was developed. Trees were planted and a path was created to curl around the perimeter. A U-shaped lake and a series of curvaceous Systematic Beds are among the original features.
It is always a treat to visit a garden with the person in charge, on this occasion, on a bitterly cold morning, Head of Horticulture Sally Petitt. Sally began with some history, explaining that a legacy from Reginald Cory, whose family owned Dyffryn House and its magnificent Edwardian gardens in Wales, had made it possible to develop the eastern part of the site. The original garden, she said, had been planted taxonomically. In the 20th century (work began in 1951) there was a move towards demonstration gardens, influenced by a growing interest in ecology, climate and sustainability. The Dry, Scented and Winter Gardens all reflect this.
‘Here at Cambridge there is no topography,’ said Sally, explaining that in compensation, the landscape had been sculpted to provide vistas. The once level site is now a shallow valley through which runs a winding path. On one side a yew hedge provides shelter and a perfect backdrop for the tracery of winter branches and blossom. As in all good winter gardens the site is designed to exploit the slanting light and low sun. ‘We have taken out some of the bigger trees and thinned others. The garden is 30 years old and we are thinking about how to take it forward,’ she said. It is clear to the visitor that this is being done with great care and sensitivity.
One of the most lovely sights in this garden are the lichens on the bare branches of mature trees and shrubs. A fine Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’, by way of illustration, has incrustrations of vivid orange and yellow lichen, which enhance the impact of the spidery yellow flowers.
Other fine shrubs include a Viburnum foetens, with scented white flowers, elegant in old age, huge specimens of V. x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and the one that enchanted me as a novice gardener, V. farreri. Symphoricarpos x chenaultii ‘Hancock’, a ground-covering shrub with tiny pink and white flowers, and Lonicera setifera, a rare, late-fl owering, white shrubby honeysuckle of Chinese origin, were among the plants I’d not seen before.
The dogwoods and the pollarded willows were electrifying among the ghostly brambles. The powerful yellow shoots of Salix alba var. vitellina, the golden willow, were the most dramatic. Heathers and hellebores are to be found in profusion, and lots of the sometimes despised euonymous – ‘a valuable garden plant’, says Sally firmly. Snowdrops, including ‘Magnet’ and ‘S. Arnott’ – ‘such a good doer’ – are mixed with ophiopogon and sedges. Unexpected but stunning were the swathes of red-leaved bergenias, including ‘Bressingham Ruby’.
The Winter Garden is a model of how to manage and develop an established garden of great significance and beauty. It is a garden to savour and to return to many times. I shall be back for the flowering trees, among them Prunus mume ‘Omoi-nomama’, its single white flowers, at the time of my visit, tantalisingly still in tight bud.
Cambridge University Botanic Garden is open daily from 10am: www.botanic.cam.ac.uk
An exciting series of early evening talks is underway, offering RHS members and non-members an introduction to this extraordinary horticultural library’s collections and the range of its interests. Dates for the diary include:
26 MARCH Clematis: past, present and future
Raymond Evison OBE VMH, nurseryman and author, will share his passion for clematis, which were first introduced in the 1500s, eagerly sought by plant hunters and bred and developed from the 1850s. He will share tips on growing clematis and give a sneak preview of new plants for Chelsea 2013.
16 APRIL Botanical Art in the Age of Enlightenment
Librarian Charlotte Brooks provides the opportunity to view items otherwise only available to groups by appointment.
Tickets £7 RHS members, £10 nonmembers. All talks take place at the Lindley Library London, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1. Talks start at 6.30pm. Doors open at 6pm for pre-talk drinks.
To book tickets: 0845-612 1253; for more information: www.rhs.org.uk
Prunus mume ‘Beni-chidori’ is an early-flowering Japanese apricot with deep pink, almond-scented flowers in early spring. A compact, shrubby tree ideal for small gardens. For stockists: RHS Plant Finder at www.rhs.org.uk
The original Botanic Garden was founded in 1762 in the city centre, a typical physic garden of five acres. In 1831, the university acquired a much larger site of 40 acres (16 hectares), a mile to the south. Initially, only the western half of the site was developed. Trees were planted and a path was created to curl around the perimeter. A U-shaped lake and a series of curvaceous Systematic Beds are among the original features.
It is always a treat to visit a garden with the person in charge, on this occasion, on a bitterly cold morning, Head of Horticulture Sally Petitt. Sally began with some history, explaining that a legacy from Reginald Cory, whose family owned Dyffryn House and its magnificent Edwardian gardens in Wales, had made it possible to develop the eastern part of the site. The original garden, she said, had been planted taxonomically. In the 20th century (work began in 1951) there was a move towards demonstration gardens, influenced by a growing interest in ecology, climate and sustainability. The Dry, Scented and Winter Gardens all reflect this.
‘Here at Cambridge there is no topography,’ said Sally, explaining that in compensation, the landscape had been sculpted to provide vistas. The once level site is now a shallow valley through which runs a winding path. On one side a yew hedge provides shelter and a perfect backdrop for the tracery of winter branches and blossom. As in all good winter gardens the site is designed to exploit the slanting light and low sun. ‘We have taken out some of the bigger trees and thinned others. The garden is 30 years old and we are thinking about how to take it forward,’ she said. It is clear to the visitor that this is being done with great care and sensitivity.
One of the most lovely sights in this garden are the lichens on the bare branches of mature trees and shrubs. A fine Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’, by way of illustration, has incrustrations of vivid orange and yellow lichen, which enhance the impact of the spidery yellow flowers.
Other fine shrubs include a Viburnum foetens, with scented white flowers, elegant in old age, huge specimens of V. x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and the one that enchanted me as a novice gardener, V. farreri. Symphoricarpos x chenaultii ‘Hancock’, a ground-covering shrub with tiny pink and white flowers, and Lonicera setifera, a rare, late-fl owering, white shrubby honeysuckle of Chinese origin, were among the plants I’d not seen before.
The dogwoods and the pollarded willows were electrifying among the ghostly brambles. The powerful yellow shoots of Salix alba var. vitellina, the golden willow, were the most dramatic. Heathers and hellebores are to be found in profusion, and lots of the sometimes despised euonymous – ‘a valuable garden plant’, says Sally firmly. Snowdrops, including ‘Magnet’ and ‘S. Arnott’ – ‘such a good doer’ – are mixed with ophiopogon and sedges. Unexpected but stunning were the swathes of red-leaved bergenias, including ‘Bressingham Ruby’.
The Winter Garden is a model of how to manage and develop an established garden of great significance and beauty. It is a garden to savour and to return to many times. I shall be back for the flowering trees, among them Prunus mume ‘Omoi-nomama’, its single white flowers, at the time of my visit, tantalisingly still in tight bud.
Cambridge University Botanic Garden is open daily from 10am: www.botanic.cam.ac.uk
Events at the Lindley Library London
An exciting series of early evening talks is underway, offering RHS members and non-members an introduction to this extraordinary horticultural library’s collections and the range of its interests. Dates for the diary include: 26 MARCH Clematis: past, present and future
Raymond Evison OBE VMH, nurseryman and author, will share his passion for clematis, which were first introduced in the 1500s, eagerly sought by plant hunters and bred and developed from the 1850s. He will share tips on growing clematis and give a sneak preview of new plants for Chelsea 2013.
16 APRIL Botanical Art in the Age of Enlightenment
Librarian Charlotte Brooks provides the opportunity to view items otherwise only available to groups by appointment.
Tickets £7 RHS members, £10 nonmembers. All talks take place at the Lindley Library London, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1. Talks start at 6.30pm. Doors open at 6pm for pre-talk drinks.
To book tickets: 0845-612 1253; for more information: www.rhs.org.uk
