I'm just now getting around to organizing the photos from my trip to England back in May. As I've said a million times, this was the trip of a lifetime, and I had an incredible time. This was a 3-week trip organized by the HPSO (Hardy Plant Society of Oregon) during which we visited 35 different locations. Most all of these were gardens but there were also a few castles and villages thrown in, as well as the icing on the trip - the Chelsea Flower Show. This tour focused on the southeast region of England, notably the Cotswolds and Cornwall.
I've watched so many programs and read so many books about England and the gardens there that I was afraid it would tarnish the image I had built up in my head. I'm pleased to say that it not disappoint. The trek from London to Bath by train was not the best first impression. However, as we gained distance from the city, the rolling green countryside gave me glimpses of things to come. After arriving in Bath and finding my hotel, I met up with the group and we were ready for an early start the following day.
Our first stop was actually Bourton House, a Jacobean manor home and garden, but I wanted to begin with our second stop, Hidcote. Aside from Sissinghurst (which I will have to catch on another trip, hopefully next year), this garden is the one that I have read about the most and it has inspired me in many ways.
This prompts the question: When you are visiting a garden, do you read about it and look at photos beforehand, or do you let it be a total surprise? I was reading someone's comments earlier who said that they never look at anything in advance. I am of the former persuasion, as I like to know the history of the garden before I get there. These days, you can see almost any garden on YouTube, sometimes gorgeously filmed. I am not as apt to view those although I did briefly look at some of our destinations before I left home, just to get a glimpse.
Here are some members of our group arriving at Hidcote and getting photos of the magnificent wisteria on the walls of the house -
Hidcote has been called the most influential garden made in the twentieth century due to its unique design and the novel concept of using rooms to isolate different areas, which are often characterized by a particular theme. The use of architecture, art and ornament within the garden is just fantastic.
The creator of Hidcote was Lawrence Johnston, who is somewhat of an enigma as he was very reclusive and did not leave any diaries or correspondence. He was born into wealth on both sides of his family. Johnston was born in Paris to American parents. He spent a considerable amount of his childhood in New York state, where his father was in the banking business. Lawrence's father died when he was thirteen, and his mother remarried a wealthy lawyer, who died after only a few years of marriage. Lawrence's mother inherited a fortune from both husbands. Having lost two other children, Lawrence was now the only child.
Johnston's education came from a tutor and later Trinity College, Cambridge, where he earned a degree in history in 1897. Soon after, he became a British citizen. He then served in the Second Boer War in South Africa and this is where he developed an interest in exotic plants. Johnston attained the title of "Major" and he would remain known as "Major Lawrence Johnston.
In 1907, Johnston was thirty-six when his mother purchased the hilltop estate of Hidcote, at that time consisting of 280 acres. Both mother and son moved into together, with the intention of developing a working farm. Apparently, however, Johnston's interests went in a different direction and he set about building the garden with hedges, walks and multi-layered terraces. No one is certain where Johnston's inspiration came from as he did not have a written or recorded plan. Many believe that he was influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, spearheaded by Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens. Fred Whitsey, the author of the marvelous book The Garden at Hidcote, thinks he was influenced by a popular book of the time The Art & Craft of Garden Making by Thomas Mawson.
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| The ancient cedar tree in part of the Old Garden. |
Johnston returned to the army in 1914 to serve in Flanders. He was wounded, and he returned home to Hidcote and resumed his garden in earnest. He hired a gardener and former flower decorator at Windsor Castle, Frank Adams, who bonded with Johnston and was the crucial link for putting Johnston's plans in action. Johnston himself was not a practical gardener and no one remembers ever seeing him performing garden chores. He was the planner, the artist and the supervisor. Eventually, an entire team of gardeners worked at Hidcote.
Johnston spent a fortune on his garden, much to the chagrin of his mother, who confided to a friend that she was afraid her son was a "waster". Nevertheless, Madame Winthrop kept her son on an allowance, albeit probably a massive one to most of us. Johnston went on many plant expeditions to gather plants for the garden.
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| The Maple Garden |
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| The Courtyard |
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| The Circle Garden |
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| I'm not certain what this garden is called - perhaps The Fuchsia Garden |
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| I saw this euphorbia over and over again in almost every garden we visited. I never discovered the name of it. |
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| Entrance to The Stilt Garden |
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| The Theatre Lawn |
The garden is maze-like, and larger than I expected. It was sometimes difficult to get a handle on where you were heading. There is no particular route to take, and even with a map, it is easy to miss something. In fact, I'm still not sure if I saw everything. We were early in the season for the garden, and I would love to see it someday later in summer, especially when roses are in bloom. Despite this, I was amazed. I kept thinking I would sense the ghost of Johnston wandering around with me. The closest that came was when I stepped into the house, which has only a few rooms open to the public. Here was Johnston's study and a glimpse at his luggage -
The one major disappointment was the famed Red Borders. It was actually roped off but you could easily see over it. Sadly, it was too early in the season to be truly appreciated-
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| The Red Borders |
In Part 2, I'll show some of the outer lying gardens and the surrounding countryside.
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