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PICARDY GARDEN

History

We began on the South side of the house by laying brick edged ‘paintbox’ beds, influenced by Monet’s garden at Giverny. We planted hybrid tea roses, Sylvia and bush roses  Gruss un Aachen, either side of the central path and chose Standard roses for the beds including Souvenir de St Anne, Charles de Gaulle, Seduction, Happy Child and Iceberg. Then we filled the beds with perennials and poppies.  Espaliered apples, hedges of Privet (Ligustrum undulatum) and lavender enclose this garden. To create a N/S axis we planted the avenue of Golden Hornet Crab apples, and white daffodils and Dutch iris for spring and Japanese wind anemones for autumn. At the same time, the orchard of old apple varieties and the quince circle was established.

By 1995 Our love affair with old-fashioned roses was in full swing and we created the Rose Garden around a circular pond. Shrub roses Include Duchesse de Brabant, the striped Honorine de Brabant, Fantin Latour, The Edna walling rose, and on the rose arbour Alister Clark’s Day Dream and Pierre de Ronsard.  One garden of roses proved not to be enough and a horseshoe bed was made on the East side of the house for more roses. One half of this garden has apricot toned roses including Perle d’or , the David Austin’s Perdita, Abraham Darby, Buff Beauty and Devoniensis. The pink side has Cecile Brunner, Reine Victoria, Rosa Centifolia, Souvenir de Malmaison and others. These freeform beds of roses, perennials and shrubs continued to creep down the hill until a halt was called by building the fence.

In 1996 we were given an ornamental weeping pear (Pyrus salicifolia) by a friend. “That tree that’s in that famous white garden at ‘Sizzlehurst”, said John. So we hedged ‘ Sizzlehurst Crescent’ in it’s honour.  It has grown into a special tree for us too, though it tangles rather than weeps. The Dogwood walk, planted at the same time, has now matured and this spring had a thick carpet of hellebores, bluebells and sparaxis.

Over the years the garden has developed into a series of room or spaces both by design and available resources of energy, money and time. We have added a dovecote, the barn, a herb garden, a “palais de poule”, a  vineyard, a trufferie and recently a new vegetable garden. The garden is beginning to mature and our original vision to be realized. The hedges give structure to the massed plantings of perennials and happy accidents. Oak trees planted as acorns are now trees and the apple orchard at the front of the house has created a shady retreat in summer giving a much needed contrast to the openness of the site. 

Marian & Bryce Somes

LATEST BOOK RELEASE

Picardy

An Australian garden inspired by a passion for all things French

BY MARIAN SOMES

Published by Echo + Distributed by Allen & Unwin