Inspirations, concept and aims of the mixed beds

Inspirations, concept and aims of the mixed beds.

Bed 12. Cottage Garden

The main season of interest for this bed in early summer months, the aim being an informal cottage garden style featuring roses and foxgloves. Inspiration has come from Bunny Guinness’s rose meadow. The large wisteria arch should in time frame the central beds when looked down from the top of the garden.

Modern shrub roses with repeat flowering, scent and good disease resistance have been chosen. The dominant roses are Rosa ‘Desdemona’ which has an incurve flower, Rosa ‘Scepterd’d Isle’ which has an open cup, Rosa ‘Austin’s Windflower’ is a loose full cup and Rosa ‘Jacqueline du Pre’ is semi double. All these flower types allow bees and other pollinators to access the flower.

Upright herbaceous perennials form linear structure and height through the bed featuring perennial foxgloves Digitalis ‘Glory’ or ‘Roundway’, D. lutea and D. Mertonensis. Hollyhocks Alcea ‘Halo Series’ have been planted for a cottage garden feel. Drift planted alliums flow through the bed providing late spring early summer interest.

In the first year Cosmos ‘Seashells’ filled out the bed whilst the perennials developed. In the second year a few annuals filled the gaps including Cleome ‘Helen Campbell. In the third year lilies will be planted for later season interest. Evergreen interest and silver colour has been incorporated with Euphorbia ‘Silver Edge’, Astelia ‘Silver Sword’ as well as the herbacious Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’.

Spring bulbs Narcissus ‘Sailboat’, Tulipa turkestancia and Scilla mischtschenkoana var rosea have been planted in the top section. Tulipa ‘Apricot Beauty’, T. purissima and T. ‘White Valley’ feature in the side beds. As the season progresses Erodium ‘Bishop’s Form’, Geranium renaldii, Rosa ‘Cutie Pie’, Erigeron karvinskianus and Armeria provide the interest. Convolvulus sabatius trails through over the stone edge. Geum ‘Mai Tai’ and Calaminta ‘Marvelette Blue’ fill the second layer and front edge.

Bed 6. Prairie

Initial inspiration has come from the RHS Wakehurst garden and their work in collecting seed, recreating the wild habitat of the North American prairie. Prairie is one of the worlds most threatened ecosystems and stores more carbon than forest. The aim for this bed is a naturalistic perennial meadow featuring a Rudbeckia collection employing a matrix planting style.

The open daisy flower types in this bed are good for short-tongued pollinators, as they can easily access the pollen. This bed is very popular with honey bees and hoverflies. Tall alliums provide early summer architectural interest working with the tall swaying grasses adding texture and movement. Early season interest comes from apricot corn lily Ixia paniculata ‘Eos’ and Allium flavum buds.

Structural grasses Stipa pseudichu, Molinea caerlea ‘Windspeil’ Stipa capillata, Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blue Heaven’ and Miscanthus ‘Ruby Cute’ feature in the bed. The latter is a shorter miscanthus, providing excellent red colour in the autumn.

As well as the airy flowers, an intergeneric Rudbeckia X Echinacea cross provides larger flowers on a more compact plant. These plants only survived one year, but seed was collected and replanted the following year.

Bed 22 Red Bed

This bed was inspired by reading about the vibrant double red borders at Hidcote. The aim was to combine exciting foliage and vibrant colour over a long season, but also to incorporate some of the well known familiar plants to the visitors like the dahlias and begonias, and add excitement with voodoo lily Arum sauromatum venosum and dragon arum Dracunculus vulgaris. The canna lilies and dahlias once treated as tender perennials are now covered in a thick layer of mulch and kept in over the winter.

The first flowers of season to appear are the beautiful Fritillaria ‘Red Beauty’, this is followed by a range of red tulips. Dark foliage plants Loropetalum chinensis ‘’Firedance’, Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ and Cotinus coggygria ‘ Lilla’ contrast with the bright greens and golden yellow of the Hakencloa. A range of red shades pop with the dark backdrop. Euonymus elatus compactus provides striking autumn colour and Hesperantha coccinea adds to the late season interest.

Bed 21 Potager

Inspired by the book ‘Creative Vegetable Gardening’ by Joy Larkcom, the aim here is to show how a vegetable garden can be beautiful and productive with limited space. The loose mixed planting sits within structured hedges and paths. A further challenge was to use predominantly perennial plants although a few annuals have been sown too. The annual golden purslane Portulaca oleracea now self-seeds without any intervention. The annual rosette tatsoi has also been sown and is replaced with chicory ‘Rossa di Treviso Precoce’ for the winter. The red veined sorrel Rumex sangineus and the buckler leaved sorrel Rumex scutatus are both perennial salad leaves.

This bed was inspired by the french medieval potager, an ornamental kitchen garden providing the vegetables and herbs to make a ‘potage’ or soup, traditionally these beds are laid out in symmetrical artistic patterns. All the plants in the bed have edible elements - all dahlia flowers and tubers are edible. However you must ensure the tuber has not be treated with pesticides and has been organically produced. The phlox has edible flowers as does the hymerocallis.

Winter savory Satureja montana has been used for evergreen hedging and also provides flowers for pollinating insects. The four obelisks feature golden hop Humulus lupulus ‘Golden Tassels’ a dwarf female hop. Mashua tropaelum tuberosum from the Andes is an edible tuber, and the leaves and tiny flowers can also be eaten. Groundnut Apios americana from North America is another edible tuber which has attractive foliage and beautiful flowers. Japanese yam Dioscorea japonica is growing on the final obelisk; this tuber is used as an ingredient in soba noodles.

The loose mixed planting is mirrored on both sides and features Daubenton’s kale variegata Brassica oleracea, a favourite of the Victorians and a very dependable perennial kale. The attractive foliage also makes a pleasing backdrop for other ornamental plants. The rhubarb Rhum x hybrididim ‘Fulton’s Strawberry Surprise’ was voted the best flavoured in the RHS trials. In the centre, the bay tree is underplanted with the pink flowered strawberry and the perennial Viola cornuta, which flowers over an exceptionally long season and provides an attractive, delicate, edible flower. By combining flowers and more traditional crops, more beneficial pollinators are attracted in.

Scented leaved pelargoniums add a sensory component on the ends of the bed. Pelargonium ‘Orange Fizz’, P. ‘Attar of Roses’, P. ‘Tomentosum’ provide interesting foliage which can be used scent sugar, flavour cakes, make tea and infusions and the flowers can be eaten.

Bed 8 Arid

The aim of this bed is to showcase plants which have adaptations to cope with arid conditions and also to experiment and show these hardy plants outside all year. Opuntia humifusa has been shown to be hardy in Cornwall and we are trialling it in the arid bed. At time of writing it has survived the first winter.  

Leaf modification is a coping mechanisim for coping with arid conditions, aiming to minimise water loss while allowing gas exchange. Small, narrow and incurved leaves do this, as seen on grasses. Hairy leaves will trap moisture while silver leaves reflect the sunlight. Colletia paradoxa goes further with no leaves and flattened modified stems. Thick fleshy leaves as seen on the agaves and aeoniums are succulent storing food and moisture in a thick sap. Arid plants also have long tap roots to anchor the plant to the ground in exposed windy locations and store food and moisture as well as going deep in the search for water. Plants with low growth to the ground are also tougher in exposed sites.

There is a focus on bold structure and form with the plants and also from the large pieces of slate which have been arranged to add impact and interesting planting locations. Yukka rostrata, with its spiky leaves will form a thick trunk in time. Berkheya purpurea ‘Zulu Warrior’ has fantastic spiky jagged leaves and large lilac daisy flowers.

Extra colour and interest comes from the narrow leaved Kniphofia ‘Pineapple Popsicle’ and low growing Glandora prostrata ‘Heavenly Blue’. The species Tulipa acumulata will flower in the spring with flame-like petals, and Emerurus ‘Cleopatra’ and Nerine ‘Zeal Giant’ will bring additional impact in the summer months and into the autumn.

Bed 3 Bed for Pollinators

The most important consideration for this bed was to have flower all year round and provide pollen for a large range of different insects. This was achieved in the first year. Many of the plants in the bed have been listed in the RHS plants for pollinators list. Those plants known to have a very long flowering season have also been incorporated such as Erysium ‘Bowles Mauve’, Knautia macedonica ‘Mars Midget’ and Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’. It is important to have many different flower types as they will suit different pollinating insects with different tongue lengths. Erica carnea, f. alba ‘Springwood White’ is planted in the stone trough and flowered from December to May, while the foliage is attractive year round. The other stone trough has water primarily for insects and other animals. The bed has been visited by six spot ladybirds, golden ringed dragonfly, palmate newt, hoverflies, solitary, honey and bumblebees, with considerable numbers of common carder bees visiting in the autumn.

By incorporating bulbs into the planting the season of interest has been extended further with Galanthus nivalis ‘Viridapice’ and Erythronium in the spring. Allium (Nectaroscordum) siculum subsp. bulgaricum in the summer and Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’ in the autumn (as the name suggests). Dahlias featured in the first year - the single petalled varieties D. ‘Teesbrooke Audrey’ and D. ‘Blue Bayou’ in particular attract large numbers of pollinating insects.

Where possible larval foodplants should be allowed space too, so that the whole lifecycle of insects is supported: in the wild area of the garden we retain larval foodplants including nettles for red admiral, comma, peacock and small tortoiseshell butterflies, long grasses for the “brown” family of butterflies (meadow brown, speckled wood, gatekeeper etc), bramble for a wide variety of moths and ivy for holly blues.

Bed 2 Tranquil Meadow

This bed was been inspired by the naturalist planting style of Henk Gerritsen and Piet Oudolf. A perennial meadow feel with drift planting replicated on a smaller scale using long-flowering perennials and grasses to create informal patterns, providing form and structure through the winter.

This style of planting once established is lower maintenance than a more traditional herbaceous border, as the grasses fill the gaps creating a soft abundant feel. The bed uses a restricted, calm palate of white, peach, pink, purple and blues, aiming to have a tranquil and harmonious feel. The bed has a long season of interest with the grasses Nassella tennuissima, Molinacea caerullea subsp. arundinacea ‘Transparent’ and Jarava ichu providing movement, sound and structure.

Small flowered herbaceous perennials with tall stems have been included to combine with the movement of the flowing grasses. Gaura lindheimeri, Verbena bonariensis, Anemone cylindrica and Catanache caerulea feature. Plant choices have pollinators in mind as many are blue and purple – the short wavelength light they reflect has been shown to attract bees in particular. Alliums have been drift planted on mass, flowering in May and June to fill the gap in flower between spring and summer.

Early spring interest comes from Veronica getianoides, Myosotis sylvatica, Allium amplectens ‘Graceful Beauty’ and Calochortus ‘Cupido’. Allium stipitatum ‘Mount Everest’ has been drift planted and follows in early summer, Liatris spicata provides late summer interest and colour.

Bed 4 Asters, grasses and companion planting

This bed utilises the existing collection of asters; some companion planting has been added to create a contemporary look. The main season of interest is late summer and autumn. Penstemon ‘Sour grapes’  echoes the blue and pink shades of the asters and the seed heads of echinacea are left to add additional interest into the autumn. Gaura varieties provide an airy feel, along with the grasses Calamagrostis brachytricha, Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ and Paspalum qudrifarium.

Bed 18 Asters with soft companion planting

This bed utilises the existing collection of asters, selecting the particularly fine and airy varieties and combining them with Amsonia hubrichtii for excellent autumn colour. Gaura and thalictrum work well with the light planting.