Cruciform herbaceous borders are the highlight of this working kitchen garden. Behind the borders you will see climbing roses trained on wires; the crimson purple ‘Grüss an Teplitz’, Ayrshire ramblers, ‘Albertine’, ‘New Dawn’, ‘Adelaide d’Orleans’, ‘The Garland’, ‘Félicité Perpétue’, the climbing hybrid tea ‘Richmond’, ‘Debutante’, ‘Blush Rambler’, ‘Mme Isaac Pereire’ and ‘Alister Stella Gray’. There are other roses on the wires that nobody so far has been able to identify. Clematis, Deutzia and everlasting pea span the flowering times of the roses.
We have noticed from old plans that this garden had originally been divided into eight sections, so in 1986 we created grass walks and arched tunnels on which we now grow sweet peas, runner beans and gourds.
At the beginning of the season the colour scheme is chosen to blend in with the old roses, pinks, blues, mauves, lilac, creams and pale yellows, but as summer intensifies the colours intensify, with bronzes, deep reds and yellows coming to the fore. We have introduced dot planting of annuals to prolong the flowering season well into late summer.
