The White Garden
Inspiration abounds.
I was reading about the life of Vita Sackville-West (and what a life!) when I read about her "White Garden" at Sissinghurst. Apparently it's famous!
She wrote, in 1950:
"All the same, I cannot help hoping that the great ghostly barn-owl will sweep silently across a pale garden, next summer in the twilight- the pale garden that I am now planting, under the first flakes of snow."
The U.K National Trust, which manages the garden, states "Only the colours of white, green, grey and silver were to be allowed to grow in this new pale garden thus creating what we now call the White Garden, one of the most famous areas of Sissinghurst."
Simultaneously, in July I noticed a curious lot of white perennials on sale at the Canadian Tire near me: white bleeding heart, white liatris, white scabiosa pincushion, and pearly everlasting. They were marked down cheap, but I had nowhere to put them. In the backyard I also had a lovely clump of white violets that could easily be divided. Hmmm...a white garden, you say?
So, of course, I had to have one!
But where to put my white garden? It was an experiment - it would take some time to see what bloomed in my garden, where things could be placed pleasingly beside each other, and so on. I had various plans for the existing beds...where could I experiment?
The answer came quickly enough - the erstwhile French Garden! You will recall I described this in a previous blog post; this is a circular garden created by a previous owner. When we moved in, it was stuffed full of hostas and striped Gardener's Garter's grass. I did away with the hostas, tamed the striped grass, and put in impatiens, poppies, and a few irises. A lungwort plant, with pretty purple and blue spring time blossoms, emerged from somewhere last year, which pleased me very much.
But I wanted to do away with the striped grass entirely. If I removed it, that spot would be a blank slate where I could put anything - even a white garden! I also had to think about the irises - I didn't want to upset them by moving them at an inopportune time, so I would have to wait until the autumn to transplant them to another bed. I decided to leave in the lungwort - its blossoms last just a short time, and the green and white spotted leaves would provide a nice contrast to the white flowers. It is a pretty plant and I didn't want to disturb it.
I plotted quickly - in spring time there should be white hyacinths, white grape hyacinths, white allium, and white and pale yellow daffodils. I found all of these at Richie Feed n Seed, in Orleans. I would also get a white azalea in the spring (hopefully in bloom) and pop it in there too. White alyssum and white impatiens would fill in the spots before the perennials started blooming.
I bought the perennials and parked them in the meadow garden while I waited for autumn, when I could move the irises. Just to note --> this demonstrates a level of patience with the garden that I don't usually possess! Finally, on a sunny day in autumn, I dug up the striped grass and irises, divided the white violets, put in all the perennials, and all the bulbs!
This is the white garden in October:
Hardly a "moonlit masterpiece" like Sissinghurst! But, maybe in time?
Now the big question: will it work? The problem is, this garden is in a shady area, and many of these perennials need full sun. I think the spring bulbs will do well, as they will bloom before the tree comes fully into leaf. But as for the perennials...I don't know. We will see!
The dreaming is as much fun as the blooming!
I was reading about the life of Vita Sackville-West (and what a life!) when I read about her "White Garden" at Sissinghurst. Apparently it's famous!
She wrote, in 1950:
"All the same, I cannot help hoping that the great ghostly barn-owl will sweep silently across a pale garden, next summer in the twilight- the pale garden that I am now planting, under the first flakes of snow."
The U.K National Trust, which manages the garden, states "Only the colours of white, green, grey and silver were to be allowed to grow in this new pale garden thus creating what we now call the White Garden, one of the most famous areas of Sissinghurst."
Photo source: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden/features/a-moonlit-masterpiece-at-sissinghurst-castle-garden
Simultaneously, in July I noticed a curious lot of white perennials on sale at the Canadian Tire near me: white bleeding heart, white liatris, white scabiosa pincushion, and pearly everlasting. They were marked down cheap, but I had nowhere to put them. In the backyard I also had a lovely clump of white violets that could easily be divided. Hmmm...a white garden, you say?
So, of course, I had to have one!
But where to put my white garden? It was an experiment - it would take some time to see what bloomed in my garden, where things could be placed pleasingly beside each other, and so on. I had various plans for the existing beds...where could I experiment?
The answer came quickly enough - the erstwhile French Garden! You will recall I described this in a previous blog post; this is a circular garden created by a previous owner. When we moved in, it was stuffed full of hostas and striped Gardener's Garter's grass. I did away with the hostas, tamed the striped grass, and put in impatiens, poppies, and a few irises. A lungwort plant, with pretty purple and blue spring time blossoms, emerged from somewhere last year, which pleased me very much.
But I wanted to do away with the striped grass entirely. If I removed it, that spot would be a blank slate where I could put anything - even a white garden! I also had to think about the irises - I didn't want to upset them by moving them at an inopportune time, so I would have to wait until the autumn to transplant them to another bed. I decided to leave in the lungwort - its blossoms last just a short time, and the green and white spotted leaves would provide a nice contrast to the white flowers. It is a pretty plant and I didn't want to disturb it.
I plotted quickly - in spring time there should be white hyacinths, white grape hyacinths, white allium, and white and pale yellow daffodils. I found all of these at Richie Feed n Seed, in Orleans. I would also get a white azalea in the spring (hopefully in bloom) and pop it in there too. White alyssum and white impatiens would fill in the spots before the perennials started blooming.
I bought the perennials and parked them in the meadow garden while I waited for autumn, when I could move the irises. Just to note --> this demonstrates a level of patience with the garden that I don't usually possess! Finally, on a sunny day in autumn, I dug up the striped grass and irises, divided the white violets, put in all the perennials, and all the bulbs!
This is the white garden in October:
The autumn planter shows where the blooming azalea will go.
Hardly a "moonlit masterpiece" like Sissinghurst! But, maybe in time?
Now the big question: will it work? The problem is, this garden is in a shady area, and many of these perennials need full sun. I think the spring bulbs will do well, as they will bloom before the tree comes fully into leaf. But as for the perennials...I don't know. We will see!
The dreaming is as much fun as the blooming!
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