Sissinghurst. The name says it all. Mystery and romance. The renowned garden of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. Home of the world famous white garden, the white Wisteria was just coming into bloom when we visited. (For facts and figures and reliable information, click on the link to the National Trust site for this fascinating place here.)
It was the last day of our mid May garden visit in England before returning home to Tennessee. Fellow innocent abroad Gail and I were being escorted by the vivacious Victoria, of hair clippie fame to this most famous of gardens. The sun was brightly shining. For a change. This is the entrance. (Note the four nineteenth century bronze urns which Vita’s mother had inherited from the Wallace Collection in Paris). Please come along and we will show you what we saw. It was fairly bustling with visitors, so there will sometimes be folks in the photos that we do not know, please excuse our temerity in not getting permission. There is a lot to see, even breaking it into two posts there are many photos. It is hoped you will gobble up, or hoover as the Brits say, the experience, as did we.
Along the inner walls of the Top Courtyard, the first garden seen after coming through the entranceway arch were walkways around the perimeter featuring stone troughs, they call them sinks, on brick pedestals with a calm, quiet lawn in the middle. Tulipa batalini ‘Bronze Charm’ glistened in the clear light. Others were planted with Auriculas and other delicacies, changed throughout the year.
At the feet of one of the series of stone sinks were exuberant wallflowers, Erysimum ‘Chelsea Jacket’. The signage at this garden was outstanding, name tags for most plantings were discreet but visible.
The main walk led us to the Tower.
We climbed the winding steps inside the turret. It was a trial, but the people coming down the spiral staircase all said, “It’s worth the effort!” (This photo was taken looking upwards inside the spiral of the carpentry involved.) Onward.
Along the winding stairs, a window with a beatiful view was passed, but the eye catcher was her name in tile on the sill. Hmmm, motor turning inside cerebrum….Fairegarden in cobalt letter tiles cast in hypertufa…. Onward.
The summit was reached, after peering into Vita’s workroom on the first floor above the open passageway that was furnished with her belongings, a glimpse into her private world. Outside, lichen on the shingles attested to the air quality, as did the color of the sky.
The view from the Tower of the South Cottage and Rose Garden. The yew hedges have such a sharp edge to the pruning that it almost looks like metal rather than living plant tissues.
The view from the Tower of the Top Courtyard. This is a large estate. Note the trough and wallflowers that have been shown in previous photos in the center of the walkway.
Enough bird’s eye view, let’s look at the human view. We begin with the iconic white Wisteria in the White Garden. The method of keeping these aggressive vines in tip top blooming form is pruning to two buds in February as well as severe pruning in summer after flowering of the longest whips.
Enchanting planting combinations abounded. Camassia coming up through Cotinus, puuurfect.
Inspiration for quince, grown against a wall and hard pruned. We have seedlings of quince and no space for more large shrubs. This may be adopted in some way. Please note the doorway leading from the walled garden.
Another doorway. I like the sundial mounted above.
Uh oh. This door is locked, no passage. The handbook we purchased in the gift shop states that …
In plan, Sissinghurst is a conversation between invitation and delight, a constant suggestion of what might be beyond the next hedge or wall, but no revelation of what that was until you reached it. The experience of walking around the garden is in that way a squence of arrivals.
This is a good stopping point for part one. It is the amuse bouche before the meal to come in part two.
Oh one more shot, a gratuitous macro of Pulsatilla vulgaris, a plant that continues to elude the Fairegarden, whether by seed or plant.
Stay tuned for part two of our visit to Sissinghurst Castle coming soon.
The posts from our London excursion can be seen by clicking the links below. (There is a permanent page on the sidebar containing the links to the England posts as well. Click England Trip-Two Innocents Abroad to view it.)
Living A Dream-Meeting In Malvern
Touring With Friends-Ledbury And Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire
An English Country Garden-Stockton Bury
Batsford Arboretum With Victoria
Frances
Aha! Beautifully done! Jean (I think it was – it’s a few month’s back already…) challenged us all to post on Sissinghurst. I’ve had it on the backburner ever since, and hope to show some of my shots in the next weeks. In fact, I should take my que from you and get it done. I’ll post her link and then you can cross-refer!
The hedges are looking sharper and neater than ever – in particular the long-term reshaping of the hedge between the Cottage and Rose Garden that I’ve been voyeuring for 3 years on flickr is finally done. You’ll see on my pics what it looked like in 1995…
Frances,
When I saw those hedges from above I thought they were brick walls, that is tight pruning. Never happen like that around here:)
Oh Sissinghurst, my heart beats a little faster every time I hear its name. My first garden love, and it has not dimmed at all over the twenty five years since. Still amazingly beautiful!
Frances: I am so enjoying your photos and explanations of what you saw. I hope that I too may see this first hand. It is a really beatiful garden and has been written about so much. I await the next post. Valerie
Even as a plant person, I would have been torn between focusing on the brickwork and other structures and enjoying the plants. Bravo to them for such good labeling, seems the ones not labeled are always the ones you want to know. I can’t wait to hoover part II.
Frances, I was back there from the first photo and stayed there the whole post~It’s a marvelous garden with so many classic garden elements: walls, enough perennials and annuals to make your heart skip a beat, hedges, rooms, statues, architectural plants, vistas, meadows and those doors to garden and sky views! Your photos are captivating~~Wasn’t it a wonderful trip! xxxgail
Frances, Thank you for sharing your visit! It is a dream of mine to stand where you and Gail were looking down on the gardens. Lovely observations in your beautiful photos! ;>)
Frances thanks again for sharing. It’s not every day we get a chance to visit such a lovely place.
What a beautiful tour. It took me back to the tour I took in 1983 – in August – with a delightful group of gardeners. I was overwhelmed by the thought of the labor this garden takes, but I love the idea of walled gardens and Sissinghurst is all about the walled garden. Your trip sounds wonderful.
Frances, ooh ahh, simply so wonderful and I love the angles of your photos. Feels just like I was there. Love the wallflowers, too.
More! More! wonderful post!
English gardens are so wonderful, aren’t they! There are some old English gardens left over from the British times in India too.
The more I read and see of Sissinghurst the more determined I am to visit. Thanks for such an enjoyable post Frances. I am looking forward to the next installment.
We visited Sissinghurst right after you did. The weather was warmer, but the garden was just as beautiful!We were captivated by some of the same views apparently. I have several of that blue gate, stone troughs,vistas from the tower.
Oh, I’ve been waiting for this. One of my favorite gardens although I’ve never been there in person. Great photos Frances and I look forward to seeing more.
Frances those are some really good shots.
I look forward to the second installment.
Frances, I devoured every word and was absorbed by every photo. Thank you so much for posting this! As I told Gail, I read a novel set partially at Sissinghurst a month ago and was intrigued by both the garden and Vita herself. I’m almost embarrassed to say I had never heard much of either of them before then, but the novel prompted me to do a little research. Your photos offer a much more personal tour than the official website, which I really appreciate. Looking forward to Part II!
What a beautiful place to visit. I have heard quite a few people rave about the beauty of the gardens. The pictures remind me of visiting the UK in the summer. I wish I was going this year…. 🙂
Looks like you had a wonderful day – I remember falling in love with that workroom at the top of the stairs! Lovely photos of a magic place 🙂
Where were the famous bottle trees and tire planters? I really missed them.
loving all of these england posts! thanks for linking to the hop’s blog. i learned from the best.
much love
A lovely garden, thank you for the tour Frances
Ooh ooh…love tours !!!
The red and blue combo of the Camassia Cotinus is my favorite.
It’s just perfection! I would especially love to see the white garden.
Those clipped hedges are wonders. I can’t imagine the work it takes to keep them like this. Beautiful photos Frances. I can’t wait to see more. MORE!!
A most adventurous post Frances. Intrigue around every corner or should I say door. It’s almost like the “Secret Garden”.
I am looking forward for part 2.
The view from the Tower of the Top Courtyard is breathtaking, and I felt like I was there myself. Fantastic garden and great post. Thank you Frances!
A very lovely tour. How special to see it with your friends and fellow gardeners.
That sundial above the door is so perfect. I’ve wanted a wall-mounted for my stone chimney, but since I already have an indestructible pedestal sundial that was a gift to me at least 30 years ago, I’m trying to remain practical and satisfied!
I’m in awe, Frances! Thanks for the lovely tour and photos from the turret … I’m most impressed since, with my vertigo, climbing the winding steps inside the turret would certainly do me in. If indeed I ever made it up, I’d never be able to get back down. Your photos are a delight!
Goodness, it all seems like a dream now? Did we really see those beautiful gardens? Did the sun really shine like that? Yes, it must have done, because there I am, with my jacket billowing in the wind and making me look like the back of a bus! What a fantastic time we had… Love, Victoria xx
Frances — these posts, by gardeners who are American and who I have met, have been more interesting to read than most articles and books about Sissinghurst. It makes a real difference to be able to picture you, your garden and then see and hear your response to Sissinghurst. And I have to say I would adore a hedge that smooth and straight and tall. Our arborvita hedge may never recover from last winter’s snow.
Lovely photos and tour, Frances. We’re heading to England the end of July. Not sure what all I’m going to get to see, as it’s a ‘family’ trip, not geared toward gardens, per se. If it’s at all possible, though, I would like to make a visit there.
Thanks for part I. I look forward to part II. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that I had the same idea for flowering quince as Vita (or somebody) at Sissinghurst did. (Of course mine is still a bit of a mess, but it’s definitely vertical.) What a treat for you & Gail.
The gorgeous old architecture is such an important part of these great english gardens. We just don’t have much of that out here in the Western US. Sad for us! I love the periwinkle and crimson flower combo.
Nice to read about this English garden. But the weather is an advantage for English people which we don’t have in many parts of USA. So, it’s tough to grow many plants here in USA. Nice to uncover the architectural beauty of the garden.
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