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| Colourful Cornus |
Winter swept back with a vengeance this weekend, but between showers of snow, sleet, hail, rain and odd combinations of all four, there have been hints of spring and sunshine. Luckily, a visit to the beautiful Winter Garden at Dunham Massey in Cheshire, with some old and new friends from Reaseheath College, coincided with one such break.
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| Dunham Massey House across the lake |
Dunham Massey has glorious deer-filled grounds accessible with or without a National Trust card and the house has an intriguing exhibition recreating its history as a small military hospital during the latter years of the First World War, but the gardens are quite a favourite of mine as they have year-round interest. We enjoyed a summer visit last year, mooring our little narrowboat nearby and enjoying the herbaceous borders at their best and the new rose garden, while a few years earlier we visited in bluebell season. The winter garden was a recent creation when I first saw that, on the recommendation of one of my first Reaseheath tutors (Carol Adams), but it has matured well in the four years since.
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| Birch bark and snowdrops |
The snowdrops are probably just about at their best just now and the drifts beneath the pure white birches, which looked a little sparse at first, are knitting together well now and the simple palette of white and pale green is attractive and restful.
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| Blue and white mix |
There's a lot to be said for adding a dash more colour. This clump of snowdrops with a dark blue miniature iris looked particularly striking; a combination with the softer blue 'Sheila Ann Germaney' was less so - perhaps golden aconites or early narcissus might lift the paler blooms, though the dark autumn leaves also set them off well. They were an unusual and attractive little bulb and had the NT been willing to charge less than £4 for a small pot of them, I may have treated myself. I will definitely be looking out for bulbs in the autumn.
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| Iris histrioides 'Sheila Ann Germaney' |
There were some gorgeous scents drifting across from the winter flowering shrubs, particularly the Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' and Lonicera fragrantissima, thought the most colourful displays came from the flowers of various hamamellis and the striking stalks of the cornus, particularly 'Midwinter Fire'. Cornus aren't hard to strike from cuttings and I have noticed some planted as landscaping at a local DIY store, and a variagated-leaf red-stemmed cultivar handy to the nearest petrol station, so a visit to both with secateurs is on the 'to do' list.
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| 'Witch Hazel' |
My own front garden was looking decidedly short of impact when I got home, though in the back garden I seem to have had more luck with my hellebores than the gardeners of Dunham, and my little snowdrop clumps are spreading nicely. The remodelling of the front garden will incorporate some ideas from this visit, but there was no chance to start work this weekend - Sunday disappeared under snow and hail and, though brighter, Monday was battered by a bitter wind.
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| Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' |
But there's nothing like a blog post to reinforce good intentions for the
future and record ideas, and some fragrant winter shrubs would be a good
addition to a space that lacks structure at present. And if my nose detects the scent, it must be quite overpowering!
