Garden visit: Helmsley Walled Garden

Helmsley Walled Garden, view from the perennial meadow

It's hard not to be attracted to the romance of a walled garden and on a recent holiday to the North York Moors I visited two, this one, Helmsley Walled Garden, and Scampston Walled Garden which will be written about separately.

Helmsley Walled Garden was built in 1758 and originally provided produce to the Feversham family at nearby Duncombe Park. Between World War I and 1982 it was leased out to a commercial enterprise, but then fell into disuse. Then in 1994, Alison Ticehurst, a local woman, decided to restore the 5-acre garden to open it to all, and specifically as a place for horticultural therapy.

One of the old greenhouses has been turned into a separate enterprise, the Vine House Cafe, and it was here that we began our visit. As you can see below, it's a beautiful space to enjoy a meal. And the food is wonderful. We ordered pizza and expected a couple of slices heated up. Instead we got freshly made pizza's to order made with fresh produce from the garden. It was truly delicious, as was the cake we enjoyed when we returned later for afternoon tea. Just the cafe alone is worth a visit to Helmsley.

 The Vine House Cafe and Kevin

Overview of some of the cottage style borders,
from the edge of the Vine House Cafe (left), with Helmsley Castle in the background

Lunch enjoyed, we then ventured into the garden. Scampston and Helmsley, whilst both being walled gardens are quite different from each other. This no bad thing, quite the contrary, it would be boring to have visited to similar gardens in the space of a few days. Scampston has straight lines and distinct garden rooms, whereas there are few straight borders at Helmsley and one area of the gardens flows out of and into the next. I loved both, though for different reasons.

Kevin and I were both taken with Helmsley immediately. It is very much the kind of garden I enjoy most. Spread over five acres, it's a mix of beautifully planted borders, meadows and vegetable gardens. The borders have a very relaxed cottage style where plants have been allowed to spread and enjoy their surroundings.

Along part of one long wall of the garden the blues and greens looked lush and gorgeous. This theme, using different perennial plants, from the characterful foliage of ferns and Rheum, to the elegant blues of Aquilegias and Irises, was repeated, with fruit trees growing up the wall framing the under planting.

In amongst the Gravel Garden plants, I fell in love with this one which was new to me. I forgot to ask the name when I was there, but Tricia, the very helpful woman who runs their Twitter account, informed me it was Phuopsis stylosa.

I loved the colour. the flower, the foliage, the way it scrambled around a border. Just gorgeous and now an absolute must have.

The Phuopsis was repeated in different borders.

As was this beautiful blue Iris.

Iris sibirica Papillon

Iris sibirica Papillon en masse

Helmsley has two meadows, an annual and a perennial one. From the annual meadow you get a great view over to the castle.

It was very pretty, but it was the Perennial Meadow that I most loved. Flowers and grasses were growing in wild abandon. They were enchanting against the backdrop of one of the restored greenhouses.

Perennial meadow detail, including yellow rattle grass which is semi-parasitic and weakens rye grass to allow other species to thrive.

The castle looms over the garden much of the time, as it does here just on the edge of the vegetable garden. In fact it is a wonderful 'borrowed view' and gives both a dramatic backdrop to the garden and situates it within a wider context of the world beyond it's walls. The garden isn't walled in and separate from it's surroundings, it's walled within.

The cafe uses seasonal produce from the kitchen garden and as you saw above, I can attest to it's extreme yumminess! I liked the allotment-feel of the vegetable garden. Here is the practical heart of the garden and the gardeners and Vine House Cafe chef work together to plan the specific varieties to be grown and then used in meals.

Some of the plots are used by locals. I like that sense of the garden being a part of the community.

Community owned plots within the kitchen garden

On such large site (5 acres), not everything will be in full bloom at the same time. This is the Hot Border which will really burst into life in July-August and into Autumn. It is apparently filled with reds, oranges and yellows and I hope to visit again early autumn to enjoy that spectacle.

Over the hedge of the Hot Border and into the Cottage Garden, I came across another variety of blue Iris. I thought the underside of the petals, prior to blooming, looked amazing.

And the full exquisite detail is realised once it unfurls.

I confess I didn't notice what was climbing up this eventual tunnel as I was focused on enjoying the yellows and purples of Alchemilla mollis, Aquilegias and Alliums.

And then around the next corner... Aren't these Lupins stunning? I've never been a great Lupin fan, but upon seeing these I realised that this was in part because I hadn't seen a colour combination that appealed to me prior to this. Also, single Lupins look a bit sad and out of place, but en masse like this, wow.

How about a game of Where's Gwenfar?

The bees liked the Lupins too. I couldn't work out where they were getting their nectar, but there were lots of bees in the Lupin patch, so they were getting it somewhere.

Also well visited by bees was this Astrantia major Gill Richardson. 

It has a similar dark colour to A. Hapsden Blood but the flower heads are larger.

There was a lot to see in the garden and I confess that I didn't see it all. The garden does (thankfully) provide a lot of seating for viewing and I took frequent stops to rest my ME weary body. Annoyingly, as much as I was enjoying myself, I only had so much energy to explore.

So I left it to Kevin to visit this (not so) secret doorway...

And to take artistic shots of blackberry flowers with the castle in the distance.

As we headed for the exit, I drooled over these coldframes. Such dreams I have.

And we laughed at the sign below, particularly about ice-cream and being nerds. I can appreciate that.

Kevin and I both loved Helmsley Walled Garden. The restoration of the garden is an ongoing project. Its development to-date has been designed with a relaxing flow within it's walls whilst borrowing from the wider context such as the castle. I love that it's also a garden that is a part of the local community. I responded emotionally to it visually and as a space working with nature. I thought the planting was relaxing and beautiful. It was a space to spend moments of contemplation, sitting amongst the flowers and listening to the birdsong and the rustling of the perennial meadow. It's my kind of garden.

It's a garden I will be returning to, hopefully very soon.

You can follow the garden on Twitter @HelmsleyWalledG

* * * * *
Did I buy any plants you ask? Well, no! The Phuopsis stylosa wasn't in stock at the time and I'm trying to reduce plant buying* as it just gives me more work. I already have enough to do whilst #GardeningWithME. But I did buy this lovely rusted iron butterfly stake.

*don't quote me on how long that will last  ;)

Wordless Wednesday 17th June 2015: Dianthus cruentus

Wordless Wednesday 10th June 2015: Astrantia major 'Hapsden Blood'

Wordless Wednesday 3rd June 2015: Geranium macrorrhizum 'Czakor'

End of month view: May 2015

The Long Shady Border, from the shadier end

May has been much cooler month than normal, it's been quite windy but there hasn't been much rain. The Long Shady Border laughed off the vagaries of the weather and went ahead and put on lots of growth during the month, making it extremely lush, as you can see above.

At the shadiest end in the Damson Border, the new growth on the Damson has made it a bit top heavy, not helped by all the wind. So I need to prune this, in part to stop branches from snapping off, but also to give it a bit more form. There are quite a few infant damson fruits developing, so I need to be careful not to chop these off.

Damson border

Underneath, the Pulmonaria has nearly gone over and needs to be chopped back. This will encourage new leaves to develop over summer/autumn, so that they will good next winter. I was surprised to find that some ramsons that I had planted last year have in fact come up and are flowering - if you look carefully you can see the white speck above. They are few in number and need to bulk up more before I can start harvesting them for pesto.

 Shady! Lush! Crowded?!

In the Long Shady Border proper, the shadier end is very lush indeed. In fact, I think I may have over planted. It's so hard to get right, because when you put them in the ground the plants are often quite small and there is much bare earth So even though I thought I was spacing them out enough, clearly it's a little congested.

Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' is looking very healthy after almost dying from being in the Bog Garden last year. This is one of Kevin's two plants in the garden and he is a little protective of it and feels that the Digitalis behind it are crowding it rather too much. So I'm going to tie them back toward the fence to give it a bit of space. I need to keep my master digger happy. Plus, he is right.

The Lamium orvala has also grown into a rather large plant and is swamping the Sarcococca confusa.

Lamium orvala. You can spy a couple of Sarcococca leaves to the left.

The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and I rather like the shape of the leaves. Maybe I should tie this back too. And give the Sarcococca some room...

Lamium orvala flower up close

And I love the starry flowers of Heucherella 'Tapestry'. In fact I think this, the Lamium and Acer, and along with the fern Dryopteris erythrosora, all go rather well together. They just need a bit more space, so I need to think about how I can edit this part of the border to give the plants some breathing room whilst retaining the lush feel.

Heucherella 'Tapestry'

Looking from the middle of the border back up to the Damson, the Morello Cherry, being trained on wires along the fence, is now in full leaf and the blossom of April has become tiny cherries.

From the middle of the border up to the Damson

Can you see the two Epimediums under the Acer? Between the Geranium and the Melica? Of course you can't, as these plants have totally over grown them! I've decided I need to rescue the poor things and move them elsewhere so they can have their place in the, well, shade. This will be a job for June.

What you can see under the crimson Acer, Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood', is a small grass Melica nutans, with delightful brown-cream flower panicles which rustle in the wind.

Melica nutans

After not growing much nor flowering at all last year, Geranium macrorrhizum 'Czakor' has filled out and has produced lots of flowers. Happy in shade and happy being picked for cut flowers; they lasted two weeks in my vase in the lounge room.

Geranium macrorrhizum 'Czakor'

The Bluebells have been flowering, but I'm slightly confused as to their variety. They are meant to be Hyacinthoides non-scripta, the English bluebell, but rather than leaning over to one side as they should, they are flowering all around the stem, like a Spanish bluebell. They do still have the fragrance, which the Spanish don't, and they didn't do this last year. I got the bulbs from Peter Nyssen, who are very reputable and I've never had any problems with bulbs from them. There are no Spanish bluebells nearby, neither in my garden or nearby ones, so I'm curious to know why they looked like English bluebells last year, but have changed to look like Spanish bluebells this year!

I've emailed Peter Nyssen to see if they can put some light on the matter. I'll let you know what they say. But if you have any ideas that could clear up this mystery, do let me know.

Bluebells in the border

From the conservatory end of the Long Shady Border there has been lots of growth since the end of April.

The above photo makes the conservatory end look quite lush, but as I mentioned last month, it's still quite sparse compared to the other end of the border as you can see below.

Thanks to readers who offered suggestions last month of what I might add that will give height and that doesn't mind being wet, those being: Photinia Red Robin from Angie (like me she isn't keen on it but it does survive being wet), Leucothoe fontanesiana from Juliet, Cornus from Home Slip, which to my surprise don't mind being wet, and Sorbus aucuparia from Helene. Of these, I quite like the idea of the Cornus, particularly as it would add much needed winter interest, or the Sorbus which would add height, but I'm still dithering over the decision-making!

Whatever I decide, I'll have to do quite a bit of editing in the area around the plants above, which include the Tradescantia Andersoniana with the grass like leaves, and Amsonia tabernaemontana with the yellow-green leaves next to the fence. And therein lies the reason for my dithering. The ME is much worse at the moment and I'm reluctant to add more gardening tasks to my already long list. The rest of the garden beyond the Long Shady Border also demands my attention. Rearranging a whole section of a border, even a small area like this, is a lot of work. And as you saw earlier, I have to sort out the crowded plants up the other end of the border. Hopefully when I've improved I'll be able to make a decision, and have the energy to carry it out.

In the meantime, this part of the border will stay as it is, the ideas on hold, and instead, I shall try and make the most of enjoying the border as it is. And there is quite a bit to enjoy. Flowering in this area now are:

Primula beesiana

and

Primula florindae

I wasn't expecting their flowers for a few more weeks, but hey, not complaining! There are a few of each planted in the Bog Garden area, plus thanks to a reminder from Helen, I've also managed to purchase and plant out Iris siberica 'Silver Edge' which should also flower in June.

The Bog Garden, with the leaves of Ligularia 'The Rocket' making their dramatic appearance.

To the right are the leaves of the new Iris.

My current favourites in the bog garden now are the stunning flowers of Astrantia major 'Hapsden Blood'.

And the beautiful leaves of Osmunda regalis 'Purpurascens'.

The gorgeous new leaves of Osmunda regalis 'Purpurascens'

On the whole, whilst there is still work to be done, the Long Shady Border gave both Kevin and I lots of pleasure in May. I look forward to seeing what it does in June. See you then.

*****

End of month view is hosted by Helen Johnstone, aka @patientgardener. Visit Helen's blog for her May 2015 EOMV and links to other bloggers EOMV posts.