I stopped off at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens this afternoon. These lovely Gardens have been restored to the period 1680-1740 by Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens Trust.
Lady Bridgeman's Garden
Agapanthus
Monbretia
Pansies in a stone trough in the Melon Grounds
Slender Vervain or Verbena rigida
To read more about this plant please visit the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens blog at www.castlebromwichhallgardenstrust.blogspot.co.uk or follow the link from my Blog list on the right hand side of the page.
The Green House - geraniums and auricula theatre
I've not noticed this bug house near North Orchard before
I saw quite a few Speckled Wood butterflies in the Extra Gardens
Reedmace and North Pond
I could only see one Moorhen on the pond today - I hope the young survived.
Fox and Cubs (again - as you can see they pop up everywhere I go!)
Stumpery
South Kitchen Garden - fashioned after Betty Langley's design taken from his book "New Principles of Gardening", 1728
The "Secret Garden"
I sheltered in the Summer House from the rain for a while and discovered a display of photos of some of the past owners of Castle Bromwich Hall (today the Hall is a hotel).
Orlando Bridgeman (1819-98) and Selina Bridgeman (1819-94) by the Hall
Orlando - 1695-1764 - son of John Bridgeman II
Orlando Bridgeman 1762-1825 - 1st Earl of Bradford
Extract from a map dated 1886 showing the Gardens and nearby area
Walking round the Gardens there was lots of evidence to suggest that Autumn is just around the corner.
Horse Chestnut (Conker)
Sadly, unlike last year, it doesn't look as though there will be a very good apple and pear crop this year. The Orchards have a wonderful variety of apples and pears from the Seventeenth and early 18th centuries
"Colonel Vaughan"
"Cornish Aromatic"
Toadstools in Nut Ground
Cockspur Thorn berries
Black Mulberry - the fruits look like a cross between raspberry and blackberry!
Medlar
Blackberries
For more information on the Gardens please visit www.cbhgt.org.uk
What a beautiful and interesting old garden. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love the white agapanthus.
Gorgeous! We have a mulberry tree here and the fruit is delcious. The gardens look wonderful...and that chestnut makes me smile. I grew up with a chestnut tree in our yard. We' make necklaces with them or just throw them at each other. It hurt but it was fun and a sign that fall was just around the corner. Pretty crazy stuff that tree made us do:) But it was a blast.
ReplyDeleteI also like the butterfly. I think it's the first I've seen one of those before.....very pretty. I found one last weekend that has a gorgeous brown coloring. It has been something here with the butterflies and moths. Lots to see and capture on film.
That garden is such a beautiful place. I always enjoy the pics and their various flower/plant arrangements. Apple pie sounds wonderful as well:)
Dartford Warbler - Many thanks - glad you enjoyed. I thought the white agapanthus was quite unusual.
ReplyDeleteRohrerbot - Many thanks Chris. Horse Chestnut trees are just great - over here children play (or used to play these days health and safely seems to stop such things :( ) "conkers" where you put them on the end of a string and then hit your opponents conker and try and get it to break!
Glad you are seeing lots of flutters and moths - look forward to seeing them on your blog. Hope you enjoyed your hike.
Glad you still enjoy the Gardens - they are so atmospheric. I was saying to a gardener there recently that it would never surprise me to turn a corner and see a lady dressed in a crinoline!! I love apple pie too :)
it's fun revisiting at different times of the year.... always something new to see!
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline, an interesting read again and lots of lovely photos. I enjoyed seeing the ones of the former owners too.
ReplyDeleteThere was still lots of nice colour in the gardens despite the signs of autumn. I used to have a white Agapanthus in my garden but after a while it would make leaf but no flowers and then disappeared altogether, they are lovely though. Do you know the name of the flower above the Sunflower, I thought it was very pretty?
I heard it was going to be a bad year for apples and this is the first year that I have ever known our ancient old tree not to fruit :-(
I haven't seen a Speckled Wood since the Spring but haven't been able to get out with the camera lately, hopefully I will in the next few days.
Hi Pete - I enjoy going back and seeing the changes and much as I enjoy Packwood and Baddesley, its much quieter, relaxing and peaceful at CBHG! Hope your Dad has fully recovered btw.
ReplyDeleteShySongbird - Hi Jan - Many thanks glad you enjoyed as I sometimes think I overdo my postings on these lovely Gardens and am in danger of being repetitive!
I like Agapanthus too - we planted 3 blue ones (they always remind me so much of Cornwall where they seem to flower everywhere!). It took a few years for them to flower and the flowers were initially poor but, for some reason, each year the flowers have improved. I think you can grow them in pots so it might be worth giving them another go.
The red and white flower above the Sunflower is a variety of bean (I think possibly runner??) Its worth growing beans just for the flowers!!! and the bees love them :)
Sorry to hear about the lack of fruit on your apple tree :( Actually it looks from my photos as though there are a lot of apples at the Gardens but in actual fact many of the trees in the orchards had very little fruit or none.
Am still very worried about the bad year butterflies have been having especially after the previous poor summers :( We normally get lots of Speckled Woods in our garden but I have hardly seen any this year :(
Hope you manage to get out soon Jan and take some photos. I look forward to your next post as always! For one reason and another I didn't get out much in August so I can empathise. In fact I realised with horror the other day that I think I've only been to Brandon Marsh once this year - not good :(