Great Comp Garden Autumn Extravaganza
A trip out to Kent today, to these RHS Partner Gardens near Sevenoaks. Their Autumn Extravaganza hosted a collection of plant nurseries and other artisan purveyors, on their immaculate lawns and in a Marquee right outside their back door.
Well, that was the reason to visit today though these gardens have been on my radar for a long time and today seemed to be the right time to say hello. Given William Dyson is the Curator and his eponymous Salvia Nursery is on site – and these are late season lovelies – treasures were promised. And delivered upon.
The present owners have been gardening here since 1957, their home a rather mellow 17th Century Manor House. The mature gardens are rather clever – so many mature trees throughout the gardens lend a sense of timelessness, with sinuous lawns and paths that wind through the woodland, back and forth, adding acres to the already generous gardeners. Formal lawns and gardens hug close to the house and then warp entirely round it. Spring will be wonderful, with a magnificent collection of Magnolias, together with Rhododendrons and Azaleas and the promise of a wealth of bulbs. Autumn isn’t too shabby either with plenty of architectural grasses, especially the Miscanthus, and the expected flush of colourful salvias joining Dahlias for bright points of colour, drifts of Asters brilliant in the sunlight.
The star of the garden, especially with the sunlight and blue skies we were blessed with, was the Cercidiphyllum japonicum – a bright butter gold rush in the middle of the nursery. Amazing colour.
Highly recommended and I’ll be back in the Spring next year – or perhaps for their snowdrops in February – or for their Music and Theatre events …
http://greatcompgarden.co.uk/dont-miss-our-autumn-extravaganza-89th-oct-with-specialist-nurseries/
The Teddington Gardener 