I don't
know much about gardening but, even so, Sissinghurst
Castle Garden was a sheer delight.
It also has some interesting history and people associated with it.
The garden
was created in the 1930's by poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West and her
husband Harold Nicolson – he was a historian, diarist and diplomat. They were quite a pair!
Sissinghurst
can be found in Kent in England. It is
about a one and a half hour drive from London (according to Mr Google).
The first
house on the site goes back to the Middle Ages.
It became a bit of a ruin and was operated as a poor house for a
time. But the destiny of the house
changed for the better when in 1030 Vita Sackville-West bought it along with
400 acres of surrounding farm land.
It took 5
years even to get to the stage of the house having mains water and electricity.
The largest
room in the house is not surprisingly the library which was created out of the
old stables. The couple were not really
party animals and it seems that only one party was ever thrown – to celebrated
the end of the war in 1945 – a pretty good reason for a party!
There are 6
acres of garden. The only place you can see the whole garden from is the top of
the tower. Harold divided the garden
into classical geometric shapes and Vita filled them with a wild romantic
profusion of plants.
The Rose
Garden is spectacular but the White Garden which is the earliest one is the
most well known.
How pretty! What wouldn't I give for a private library like that!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I think it's Mrs. Google because everyone knows men are notoriously bad with directions. :-)