Beth Chatto’s garden

Trying to select photos to use from a visit to Beth Chatto’s garden is not easy! All aspects of this Essex garden are stunning and there are numerous ‘take homes’ from a visit. The cluster of pots around a wooden bench is easy to replicate, with its mixture of plectranthus, fuschia, a small but perfect blechium, pelargonium ‘Vancouver centennial’  (keep a lookout for this at our plant sales – it was our ex-Chair Jillian Smith who originally provided a steady supply) and a charmingly named begonia, ‘Beth’s Houseplant’.

Of course, the dry garden is stunning with gaura, various grasses and verbenas (Bonariensis, hastata and ‘Bampton’) dominating the display in mid-August. Stipa gigantea and verbascums add height and Althaea cannabina has seeded itself generously. The blue of Catanche caerulea looked startlingly beautiful in one corner. This area of the garden is always a useful guide to what will manage with little water and good drainage.

And then there are the winding herbaceous borders and the damp garden. We looked in vain in the nursery for some of the delicious phlox we had seen in the borders and were dying to bring home. These are wonderful plants with both scent and colour.

And then there is the planting around the lake, terrifically lush and green. Another plant adding a flash of blue is Pontaderia Cordata, the pickerel weed, in great swathes around the water. White Astrantia are to be found here as well as dotted through the herbaceous borders and Inula provide an intense patch of yellow under the shade of the tree.

And finally, some more easy ‘take homes’ – succulents of every description arranged in tiers in a sunny corner. 

*Photography credits go to Pat K.

Vija V