We had a wedding to attend in Kent in early September. Tempted by the thoughts of all those lovely gardens around the area of the Weald, we decided to have a few days away. A smooth journey meant that we arrived too early to book into our B&B, but I knew just where to head to kill time. It was late afternoon, the car park was emptying and most visitors were in search of ice cream as Sissinghurst was sizzling in the sun.
I had never been to Sissinghurst Castle garden. Although my student days were spent in Canterbury, visiting gardens was not high on my list of student pastimes. Now the time had come to visit that hallowed turf.
The cutting garden at Sissinghurst.
The entrance to the garden leads into the upper courtyard. The famous tower was ahead of us, but we turned right and followed the wall round until we passed through another gateway into the rose garden. The borders here were past their best, so we were fortunate that it was Thursday, the day when the nearby cutting garden is open. As you’d expect, this was a riot of colour provided by a wonderful annual seed mix sown as a block in the Donkey Beds. There were also rows of everlasting strawflowers, mostly in shades of pink. Prickly, papery and ready to harvest. The cutting garden is more than annual flowers though. There were delphiniums throwing up a second flush of flower spikes and I also spotted areas devoted to early summer plants; peonies for example.
Sissinghurst is a series of distinct areas or ‘rooms’, so the next room we entered was the cottage garden, complete with cottage. This was full of late flowering perennials and half-hardy plants. Sometimes a plant just takes your eye and here it was a floribunda rose. I’m a fan of slightly exotic and late flowering perennials, so it was strangely out of character for me to notice a rose in this situation. Sultry red, healthy looking and still blooming, ‘Dusky Maiden’ is one to remember.
Dusky Maiden
The day was still hot so the coolness of the nut walk beckoned. I loved this peaceful, dappled green area with its coppiced cob nuts underplanted with ferns and other dry shade lovers. Emerging from shade into sun again, we wandered round the side of the orchard by the moat and heard the spitfire overhead before we saw it. I felt like I’d been transported back to the 1930s, when Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson created the garden here.
The nut walk
In the famous white garden, we sat down in a shady corner to cool off. It was interesting in the bright sunlight seeing how well white flowers worked in the shady parts of the area. Late season coolness was provided by cosmos, antirrhinum and ammi. By complete contrast to the innocent white flowers, the slightly wicked looking, purple spotted toad lilies (Tricyrtis formosana) were planted en masse nearby in the shady area known as the Delos. I rate these trouble free hardy perennials. Late season shade lovers are few and far between.
The white garden
The challenge at Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst is undergoing change at the moment. Some of you might have seen the relatively new head gardener, Troy Scott Smith talking about this on Gardener’s World. Gardens evolve with the vision of individuals and the National Trust is a huge charitable organisation entrusted with the upkeep of many gardens. I am sure that the team working on this garden will succeed in their aim of making it feel more authentically like Vita’s garden. She aimed for a romantic, intimate look, crammed full of plants. Sissinghurst is a big responsibility with high visitor numbers and an international reputation to maintain, so it will be a challenge to maintain that ‘full to overflowing’ look with the planting rather than with too many visitors.
I am glad we visited in late afternoon with few people about. My impression of the garden was a tranquil place that I was able to enjoy at a stroll on a baking hot summer’s day. Sissinghurst has been ticked off the list at last!
Low impact interpretive material at Sissinghurst is informative and attractive
