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Hidcote pt. 2

I am continuing my last post with more photos of Hidcote, this time focusing on the outer perimeter of the garden. Like most gardens, these areas were less formal in design. Along the outer fences, you get serene views of the English countryside with nary a building in sight. One such vista occurs at the top of a long avenue called the "Long Walk". This expanse of lawn surrounded by hornbeam hedges is a stark contrast to the previous garden rooms that are packed with plants.  The angle of the hedges gives an optical illusion, making the avenue appear longer than it is. Once you reach the summit, an open gate leads to a view of the countryside - One can choose to walk back down the way they came up or take a route back through "The Wilderness" which runs alongside The Long Walk. The Wilderness is a woodland area with winding grass pathways that meander through mature trees and densely planted shrubbery. If you walk to the opposite side of the Long Walk, you will stro...

Lily 'Caravan" and "Silk Road"


The lilies are beginning to bloom. I think they are spectacular plants. They struggle to reach for the sun in our garden and the stalks aways flop over and have to be staked, otherwise the beautiful flowers end up nodding towards the ground. This is one of my favorites - "Caravan" - which I purchased many years ago from The Lily Garden in Vancouver, Washington.

Another good one is "Silk Road" (pictured below).



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. Phillip, I love lilies as well and appreciate them more every year. They fill a void in my garden between rose flushes and before the Rose of Sharon and fall perennials kick in.

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  2. These are beauties. How can anyone not like these gorgeous plants? I would love to have many more than I have now. They are such an easy plant to grow. I too have to stake them. I don't know many who don't have to stake their lilies.

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  3. I haven't had much luck with lilies here, but I'm not sure why. I do have a few plants looking good about now, so maybe I'll have more blooms this year. It's been very rainy this year, so perhaps they like more rain? Yours are gorgeous!

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