Sussex – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

Arundel Castle Gardens

I visited Arundel Castle last week with my son and grandson who spent too long in the castle leaving little time for me to see the gardens. The castle is set in over 40 acres of verdant grounds and within that are the formal gardens in a Jacobean style comprising a domed pergola covered in hornbeam, temples, cascading fountains and obelisks. There is also a stumpery, some very colourful herbaceous borders and a wildflower gardens. I just wish I had more time.

Cascading fountains at Arundel Castle Gardens

There are two huge Victorian glasshouses, one housing a collection of pelargoniums and another for more tender vegetables in the kitchen gardens. The box parterre was in very good condition with little damage from box moth or blight and had in its midst some lovely healthy looking dahlias. Some of the huge pots housed tender perennials in quite a formal style in what must be a very sheltered spot. I understand that the garden underwent a renewal when the current head gardener arrived and surrounded the lawns with a tropical border based on work he had done in gardens in Bermuda. They also have a tulip festival in the spring which a friend of mine went to and said was spectacular. It certainly packs a punch and if you find yourself in the vicinity of Arundel it is definitely worth a visit but make sure to give yourself time to see it all.

Pat K

A visit to Perch Hill

A few weeks back Vija and I went to one of the open days at Sarah Raven’s farm Perch Hill in East Sussex. The preceding evening had seen torrential rain and an email arrived on the morning of the visit warning people of the muddy conditions and that a four wheel drive was essential. And they weren’t exaggerating… the field we were to park in was a mud slide with a tractor towing cars out of the mud!

But the rain hadn’t affected the garden. The tulips, many of which were in pots,were stunning with the same colours used repeatedly throughout the garden. They were well labelled so we could make a note of them and there seemed to be loads of new varieties and quite a lot in oranges and shades of reds. There were lots of pots with pastel shades too and it wasn’t just tulips. There was a whole bed planted with a tall variety of fritillary which you don’t see very often and is certainly different.

Additionally there were displays in pots of some lovely frilly violas and the glasshouse was planted with ranunculus and other early varieties of annuals. There were displays of early vegetables but they were small and obviously affected by the cold spring. And the tea and cakes were good too!

All in all a stunning display and worth a visit despite the mud and flooded roads.

Pat K

Sussex Prairie Gardens

The Sussex Prairie Garden is a six acre garden with naturalistic planting, created by Paul and Pauline McBride, who worked with Piet Oudolf some years ago. The garden is on a farm and surrounded by oak trees, featuring a wide range of herbaceous perennials, Veronicastrums, Thalictrums, Persicarias, Sanguisorbas, Kniphofias and Hemerocallis. Huge drifts of ornamental grasses and Asters extend the season of interest hugely. In addition to the planting in the borders there are some massive pots beautifully planted up with huge salvias, Melianthus Major and splendid Pelargonium Tomentosum. The expansive beds are planned with winding rough paths to allow visitors to wander through, brushing grasses and Heleniums as they pass. It is definitely a garden for a late summer visit and seems to have managed remarkably well through this hot summer of 2022.

The plant fair on the day of our visit was spread out through the garden and accompanied by a band and stalls selling refreshments. It had a decidedly festive air! There are dozens of varieties of Miscanthus, Panicums, Molinias, Sporobolis and Penisetum and several of the plant stalls capitalize on this by selling a good selection of grasses.

Beds of mixed grasses and herbaceous perennials

The garden is at its best in late summer and into the autumn as might be expected from the nature of the plants. I have visited earlier in the year when there is far less to see.

The planting is bold and on a grand scale, not much of it less than a metre tall, but for anyone interested in growing prairie type plants or simply just interested, this is a garden well worth visiting.

Vija

Perch Hill

Thinking we would take advantage of the extra days made available for visits to Perch Hill, we chose the one for container planting. However, on the day it was the dahlias that stole the show and which we will remember!

Although rain was not forecast, we arrived to a little bit of a mizzle and a very grey sky – in the photographs this has tended to deaden the exuberant colours. We were knocked out by Penhill Watermelon, Geri Scott and the delicious Apricot Desire, but it would be impossible to choose one favourite out of all the lovely colours. Although some are critical of the Sarah Raven enterprise, there is no question that the gardens are beautifully styled. Of course, plants are labelled so that anything you see you will find on their website, but it is a commercial business. In fact, it is good to find a label so that you can identify what you are looking at! Salvias are everywhere, edging the herbaceous borders, in pots as well as mixed through the beds. These are such versatile plants.

Great Dixter – spring glory

We went to see the tulips, but found instead curated chaos, a glorious cacophony of spring planting.

Vija

A visit to Great Dixter

As you will see from our website What’s On, there are a lot of virtual garden tours now taking place online, but for those members who like to smell the plants and feel the breeze, this isn’t quite the same! Great excitement then as Pat and I decided to visit Great Dixter – for both of us it was the first garden visit of the year.

Fennel at Great Dixter

We had wondered quite how social distancing would work at Great Dixter, mindful of the narrow paths and tight spaces. However, the one way system in operation and the limitation on the number of visitors at any one time proved very effective. The only area currently out of bounds was the vegetable garden. Covid-19 is a truly devastating disease and it is hard to see any good in the current situation, but reductions in visitor numbers in galleries and in gardens does mean that you can take your time and appreciate things better.

We marvelled at the huge Fennel, which Fergus Garrett loves, scattered throughout the gardens.

The glory of the varieties of Phlox which seem to be in abundance everywhere. We mourned the loss of the name Aster (now the unpronounceable Symphyotrichium). I fell in love with the Pelargonium Concolor Lace.

We discovered a beautifully unusual double burgundy coloured Antirrhinum, but couldn’t find seeds for it. And, of course, we bought some plants! Both Pat and I have gardens already crammed with plants, but have a similar approach to gardening which is that there is always room for one more! In my garden, at least, this results in an undisciplined profusion. I look with envy at spaces which are carefully laid out (like the Chelsea garden below) and where every plant has its place, but this is something I can only aspire to!

Chelsea 2018 calm garden — Chelsea 2018, calm, restful and carefully curated

Vija and Pat