MySecretGarden

Great Dixter. Part 2 - Nursery, Exotic Garden, etc.

In this post - some pictures of the Garden which weren't included in the first post (Great Dixter Garden From Under My Umbrella), and also Exotic Garden, Nursery, Prairie and everything else.

Let's start with the Nursery.
It was a pleasure to walk among the greenhouses and plant beds, reading the plant labels
and, well, envying the people who were buying the plants.
If I could take a train, not a plane, over the pond, I would happily join them.

'The Nursery was started by Christopher Lloyd in 1954 after teaching at Wye College.
Specialising in clematis and plants that he liked and deemed garden-worthy,
he started with a couple of cold frames and a glasshouse.
We still raise plants using the same methods to this day,
and we remain a small, personal and professional nursery'.
(Great Dixter House and Garden website)

The whole time I was in the Garden, there were people (gardeners, students, volunteers)
working - doing maintenance, cleaning, preparing plants for sale, etc.

Great Dixter Garden From Under My Umbrella

It was raining. The same as when I visited Sissinghurst in May 2014.
In Sissinghurst, rain would stop for a moment, the sun would show up briefly and then, the rain would start again, but at least I had some breaks. In Great Dixter, there were no breaks, and only several pictures were not taken from under my umbrella.

Most of the pictures are not altered in any way. Brightness, sharp contrast - it is exactly how the garden looked on the morning of May 10th, 2016. (We are lucky to see these vibrant, crystal clear colors in our own gardens here in the U.S. Pacific Northwest due to high humidity).

How many pictures are not too many? I probably will make one or two additional posts.

I am an amateur gardener. I mean v e r y amateur. And my approach to visiting famous gardens is also very amateur. I don't prepare my visits properly by studying garden maps, looking at garden pictures, etc. I refresh my memory about the history of a garden, and that's it.
I do this to avoid any influence of other people's opinion on me. Egoistically, I want my first feelings about the garden to be purely mine. I want to be as naive as naive could be.
I even don't look at the garden leaflet received at the gate until I finish my initial self-tour.
After I take the pictures and make a first round, I usually sit on a bench and study a map.

Here is a dry one!

After that, the second walk-around is done.
I followed this strategy in Sissinghurst, Hidcote Manor Garden, Giverny and others (they all are listed in this blog's page 'Gardens of the World That I Visited').

Sissinghurst Garden was my first from the famous English gardens. It shocked me in a good sense of this word. Hidcote Manor Garden which I visited the following year, was beautiful, but I couldn't stop catching myself thinking 'I saw something similar at Sissinghurst', 'they used the same concept', and so on.
Great Dixter Garden, of course, also has something in common with these other two great gardens, but somehow, it didn't make me think about common features which it shares with them.
It grasped me from the first second I entered it and held my heart tight until the second I stepped beyond its gate.

The first view of the Christopher Lloyd's house

Several End Of March Garden Pictures

Just several pictures showing that spring is underway in the Pacific Northwest.

One flower? Really?
Dear Rhododendron, I suspect that the Arborvitae trees bother you with their roots.
That is why I'll give you one more chance - move you somewhere else.

Weeping Hemlock - a new addition.

Last year picture

These two metal chairs stood here a couple of seasons with no purpose, just for a look.

I moved them so I could sit on them and face my Terrace Garden.

Now, I like it! I can relax and not only enjoy the plants in front of me,

but also plan any needed changes:

With spring coming early this year, my garden has awakened and shows new growth every day.

One day, I can look at some spot and it's bare. Next day, there are will be 2-inch stems with leaves at the same place!

And, if Hosta emerging in early March isn't enough, then potatoes appearing in February are a clear sign of a premature spring!
They grow on the same spot from small tubers left in the ground.