Sunday 31st July
Don’t miss the chance to visit Tessa’s garden in St Albans this weekend. It promises to be in full summer swing, with plenty of inspiration for Herts Group members.
Member’s Open Garden, 13 Seymour Road, St Albans, Herts, AL3 5HL, 2 – 4pm
Tessa Davies’ surburban garden is planted for all year interest, with contrasting trees, shrubs and grasses forming the backbone of the garden, interwoven with flowering perennials. Planting is broadly Mediterranean in an English garden setting, i.e. with a lawn at the centre. Tessa says Beth Chatto has been a strong influence, as has Christopher Lloyd.
Highlights in July include Cytisus battandieri (pineapple broom); tooth-leaved Melianthus major; Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’; Cornus alternifolia ‘Argentea’, and felty-foliaged Ballota acetabulosa. Rosa glauca sends up arching sprays of glaucous foliage scattered with dainty pink flowers, and ornamental grasses, such as Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ and Stipa gigantea, add shimmer to the borders.
The back garden is approximately 90ft long and is dominated by a large and very old Bramley apple tree, underplanted with aromatic Phlomis fruticosa and P. russeliana, the perennial poppy Papaver rupifragum and evergreen shrubs such as box. In July, different varieties of phlox and hydrangea are the main flowering plants, but Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and Achillea ‘Moonshine’ will still be going strong. Refreshments provided.
Hardy Plant Society Hertfordshire Group 