The loo with a garden

Indeed. Who’d have thought? Not that long ago I shared the outside loo, so I should have expected the loo with a garden not to be too far behind. And it’s quite a garden.

HOW MANY YELLOWS?

Technically it’s to the side of the loo, but as the loos were the closest building I’m claiming it for them. The toilet block was less pretty though, despite the espaliered purple leaved plant, and plenty of lichen to liken (Sorry. Still not tired of that one).

Sadly though, it went downhill from there. Two cubicles. One out of order. And a Brownie pack in front of me. Though they were quite entertaining.

So unusually for a Loo Series post, there’s distinctly few loos. But there are exceptional knotted hedges to make up for that.

And a view. But really, look at the intricate box shapes.

Which reminds me I should look out and share my photos from the Chateau de Villandry, which I’ve still not shared here, and which popped up in my Instagram archive this week. Look out for more hedges shortly, or well my shortly, which could still be a while.

This picture from the gatehouse shows the small toilet block, the hedges (again) and the garden to the side.

I think though for it’s prettiest garden, it deserves its place in the Loo Series.

The knot garden at Helmingham Hall

On our recent break in Suffolk I was keen to get some garden visits in, as it turned out we only managed one, and that was on our trip home. But what a one. Helmingham Hall is a private garden that's close to Stowmarket and full of garden 'rooms'. Today I'm sharing pictures from the knot garden, and for a hedge fanatic like me, it was bliss.

I mean, just look.

It was actually the last part of the garden we visited and despite what you might think, this garden was only formed in 1982. Yes I know that's thirty-five years ago (I don't know how that is either) but it's not as old as the gardens which have a five hundred year history.

The knot garden was created to be "historically sympathetic" to the house and provide visual interest when viewed from the house and the raised walkways that surround it.  And it definitely works.

There are two knot patterns, both divided into four squares. Which is a lot of box. The patterns include the Tollemache fret (the Tollemache family own the estate) and some of the squares are inter-planted with herbs, others with plants themed around those introduced to Britain before 1750.

MOH was of course resigned to the fact I'd be taking plenty of pictures of hedges. He's used to that by now.

Eventually I made it through the garden to the statue, where like him I was fascinated by the bubbly plant surrounding its base. Not what I expected at all but I think I quite liked it.

The beds behind the statue were more formal borders than the front half of the garden, with many more herbs in the planting. The sweeping grass paths were a winner for me.

As was the dill, which was in full flower on our visit. It seems the local wasps were also thankful for that too.

It's great to explore privately run gardens as I think they really do have a different feel to the National Trust gardens that we so often make a beeline for.  These gardens always pique my interest and wonder at how the same plants can be put together to give such a different feel.  I've plenty more posts to come from Helmingham Gardens, and I don't think there'll be a garden you won't enjoy.  So if you're in the area, I can highly recommend a visit in person.

A cloistered garden

The first week we were in France the weather was gorgeous and one of the warmer days coincided with the day we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. A day after the actual date, but a cycle-free day so lunch with some bubbles was our plan. One bottle of bubbly down we hatched a plan to have a mini picnic in the pretty garden we'd walked through to get into town.

So with provisions we settled ourselves on one of the benches in what can be best described as a cloistered hedge, with this as our view for the next few hours. 

Captivating isn't it?  

And tranquil too. And here it's easy to see what I mean about cloisters, isn't it?

The garden itself was quite formal with oblong beds full of lavender and irises, which were sadly past their best. Not by long, a week or so perhaps. But it was easy to imagine how they'd transform the place. Even as they were dying back though they had a certain charm.

We had the garden to ourselves for much of the afternoon, which was amazing but every so often people would hurry down these stairs, across the garden and down into the lower garden using it as a very pretty cut through to the centre of town. I think it'd be a cut through I'd use regularly too.

Just imagine the kind of entrances you could make with stairs as grand as these.  Hopefully, most of them upright too!

I decided to see where these people were heading so I followed their path through the upper part of the garden and enjoyed the glimpse of the lower garden. From the top of another set of stairs, I could see the drama of the diagonal hedges alternated with planting.

As I returned to the cloistered hedge I did find a couple of irises hanging on, not many though.

It was wonderfully cool to sit under the cloistered canopy, and the view up was none too shabby either.  

There were more flowers in the lower garden; foxgloves, dahlias, cosmos and more lavender, as well as a pink mystery plant.  

And nestled among all the flowers were vistas to stunning French architecture, and of course the hedges!