Friday, May 18, 2018

Garden Glory: (Showing Off a "Small Island" - Part 7)

It is inevitable, when playing tour guide in a familiar place, that you will make repeat visits to certain attractions.  Raby Castle is a case in point.  With its proximity to my in-laws' house, the Castle was an obvious choice to share with my sister and her husband last June.  And so we went, even though Spousal Unit and I had been there the summer before.  But make no mistake, I had no regrets; the Castle has stunning gardens, sweeping panoramas and, of course, a tea shop, that would occupy us while our guests toured the Castle.  Follow me!

My previous posts about this trip (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6)) have noted the uncharacteristically warm and sunny weather we'd been having.  Some evening rain put an end to that, and I rejoiced in capturing lingering raindrops on the flowers the next day. 





What is it about brick walls and stone parapets that shape a garden so?  When I first imagined the landscape design for the 'wild' acreage at our log house, I dreamt of the sort of 'rooms' that you see in a quintessential English garden, often created with the use of plantings and hardscape.  To this day I am inspired by this design technique (even if we are not using it in Montana!)








The walls of locally hand-made bricks were constructed with flues which, when heated, enabled sub-tropical fruits such as apricots to be grown on the south terrace.  Of these, only the White Ischia Fig brought to Raby in 1786 by William Harry, Lord Barnard, still survives in its specially built house, fruiting annually.










The gardens surrounding English castles and grand homes are often arboretums in their own right, with a fascinating array of trees, shrubs and flowers.  As a tree lover, I revel in studying the trees - color, texture, shape, placement in the garden - it all has a role to  play in the beauty of the space.

Many of the original features remain in the Raby Castle gardens, including two fine yew hedges, and the ornamental pond, which was originally constructed to provide water for the kitchen garden.
Yew hedges to right and left

Ah, the summer rose - riveting to the eye and tantalizing to the nostrils … below are the best of the bunch.

Occasionally, a garden will surprise.  This day, around a corner, we found a 'higgledy-piggledy' rectangle, populated by a variety of looming plants.  We wondered: could it be a forgotten section?  The head gardener's 'scrap' heap?  Done deliberately to show that an English garden CAN be disorderly?  Whatever the rationale, we loved the riot of textures, shapes and colors.


As I peruse my next set of shots, I am struck with wonder once again at the rolling landscape, dotted with majestic oaks and other aged trees that have seen Kings and Queens come and go.  This setting surrounding the Castle is referred to as the "Park."  Can you imagine anything more marvelous?
Groundskeeper's Cottage in the distance

Well, perhaps the view of the Castle …

Raby Castle is near Staindrop in County Durham, among 200 acres of deer park.  It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390.  Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Edward IV and Richard III, was born here.

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35 comments:

  1. ...a little piece of heaven.

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  2. Hi Angie,
    Wow - fabulous pictures and that castle! The gardens alone are so formal and well kept - I would enjoy wandering around that for quite a while. Or to sit and just watch the fountain and enjoy the flowers. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  3. This is the kind of garden where you walk very slowly :) Enjoying it all!

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  4. Oh my, the groundskeeper would certainly have his job cut out for him. From a distance, his residence looks quite homey and welcoming across the grassy hill but the castle … well, that is a work of awesome wonder.

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  5. What a beautiful place and your stunning photography brings it right into my living room! Thank you!

    Happy Day to you,
    C & Z

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  6. I have favorite places I go to quite often because they are always beautiful. This place is simply stunning! I love wandering around well-kept gardens to see what is new and possibly get ideas for my own garden. I love all the wonderful sights and the history intrigues me, too.

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  7. Hello, the view of the gardens are lovely. I especially loved the last view of the castle. It is beautiful. Lovely photos. Enjoy your day and weekend!

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  8. Absolutely stunning!! I could visit this place all the time and just feel like I'm in heaven.

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  9. Oh my gosh, I would love to go here! I so agree that brick walls add so much to a garden!

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  10. WoW!!! what a beautiful place, i really enjoy visiting places like this. i love the rose garden, with all the different colored roses. your photography is fabulous!! i enjoyed all of theses images but the last one of the castle is really special!!!

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  11. That is a beautiful place to visit and somewhere you could visit often and never grow tired of it.

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  12. Now THAT is a splendid castle. And don't you love the orderly disorderly gardens? I do. These look especially beautiful. Love the brickwork and arches. Oh, how I love England and this post!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog today -- such a treat to have your visit and it is most appreciated!

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  13. Hello Angie, beautiful scenery here! Thank you for your comment on my weekly blogpost:)
    Is this for coming Sunday May 20 for All Seasons or was it for last Sunday Mothersday? Am asking because I don't see my comment here. As always there are a few comment that do not get through (because of blogspot's chapta) and I sometimes forget to check back!)
    Never hesitate to tell me you haven't received back a comment, okay? It helps me

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  14. Angie, thanks for that tour. My attention was caught on that strategy you mentioned for cold countries, when bricks are heated, the nearby planted fig will gwt some heat and will fruit! I wish thwte can be also a strategy on the reverse, which can be usrd here, but there's none. How can we cool a micro environment for a temperate plant to thrive? Impossible.

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  15. Raby is a place I've never seen. But you're so right Angie. It could be almost anywhere in England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales. There is something essentially British about a walled garden where fruit, veg and flowers are protected from the British weather. Especially in the cold North East!

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  16. It's fun to see familiar places through new eyes and I'm sure your sister and bil loved it!!! I do too and it was a great post to read today (Sunday) because for some odd reason after yesterday I am really in to British Castles. Sure this one could be the setting for a real-life fairy tale too! I love English gardens with the outdoor rooms and the stone work but I wouldn't use it in Montana either (of course I don't garden any more at all, so my opinion on the matter is worth zilch). I do admire them though -- no matter on what continent!

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  17. Lovely pics! What a wonderful trip! :) Kit

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  18. PS: In my comment on your previous post, I was totally trying to be funny in asking if you had to lose the jelly-belly background on your blog. I love the color and whimsy. If you ever do get tired of it (and I don't know why you would) you need to give us lots of warning, as I might not recognize you without them.

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  19. love this park and I love old oaks! It is a beautiful place!

    Thanks for the nice comments on my posts. Glad you like what I do!

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  20. This is amazing! I find something new every time I visit MY garden, never mind something as grand as this!!!

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  21. What an amazing place! Does anyone live there now or is it just a tourist attraction? Is that a moat?!!! I love that!

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  22. What a fascinating garden tour! I’d like to return many times in different seasons. The different composition between Western and Japanese gardens is interesting. I especially like the brick walls with climbers on them, the fountain, the spacious lawn, and not to mention the roses in bloom.

    Yoko

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  23. Ah, great to see my last comment got through. Beautiful and serene gardens! Can you imagine, this is a castle of a baron (the lowest on the totempole of the nobility), what a garden must look like of an earl, a count, etc.? Many thanks for sharing this beauty with All Seasons! Enjoy your week:)

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  24. Lovely formal garden. Must take a lot of people to keep it so manicured. - Margy

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  25. Hi, Angie, the Castle and grounds are what I imagine Darcy's Pemberley in Pride & Prejudice looks like. I can just Darcy & Elizabeth walking around that lake.

    I've enjoyed seeing your photos of the flowers and greenery. The organized look is nice, the disorderly is more my style though. I know what you mean about the bricks. I've got a few acting as a border in the front yard. Maybe one day I'll make a brick pit for outdoor cooking.

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  26. What a beautiful setting, Angie! I would so enjoy the gardens on the grounds of this beautiful castle.

    Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving encouraging comments about Grandma Sally. It is encouraging when we know that others pray for her too. Have an awesome week!

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  27. Glad you enjoyed the Hoopoes Angie. Don't think you'll see one in Montana though.

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  28. I can see why visiting the castle over again would provide new vistas and perspectives. It's gorgeous. I am envious of the walled gardens and tease my husband that I'm going to put one up here. The engineering that went into those gardens is amazing and it's sad to see them fall into ruin.
    Another beautiful post about that small island you love.

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  29. Angie, my book club just finished a discussion of the book "Alice, I Have Been" about Alice Liddell, the muse for Alice in Wonderland, and we got sidetracked talking about English gardens and manor houses and castle grounds, all of us romanticizing about their beauty! Reading your post made me sigh, as this is what we were dreaming about in our discussion. We also thought the upkeep of such gardens and grounds must be tremendous and this post also showed us how true that is!
    Where we live in the west is so much more rugged and sparse. Here in Colorado our altitude and cool springs are a challenge to gardening, as well as animals that eat everything we plant. Chicken wire surrounds my roses!

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  30. A perfect post for this week, with all "royal family fans" still recovering from the awe of this latest and most wonderful (I think) royal wedding. I think this setting would make an equally lovely spot for a wedding, don't you?
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  31. The gardens are lovely!I love that Giant tree!

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  32. Beautiful! Definitely demands more than one visit. I'm always happy to see such large areas of land preserved and maintained. And I do love a riotous garden. :)

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