Sunday 11 June 2023

Posies and Potions at Tretower Court

 




Tansy.


Elecampane.





An Almond flower.  The poor tree had suffered terribly from the cold winter and then a month's drought.  There were also Walnut, Medlar and a Mulberry, and an old sort of Pear which was always inundated with fruit, despite being a youngster.


Beautiful roses (names unknown).  The versicolor striped flower was on the same bush as the solid coloured blooms.



Beautifully fragranced.



The remains of the stone castle.  An earlier one was built in timber.


This just-fledged Jackdaw had gotten OUT of the nest but wasn't sure what to do next and having people walk near scared him, so I quickly moved away after taking the photo.  I noticed when I looked out of the upper window later, that he was plodding across the grass (not quite having mastered the jackdaw swagger) and he looked so fed up.  I suddenly remembered the old camp fire song - "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, think I'll go and eat worms"  !!!  Hope he found some shelter.


The back of Tretower Court.


Pike anyone?  Those eyes make him look quite evil and demonic.


Or roast suckling pig perhaps.


Dried eel to the left of the brass spoons, and a haunch of venison in the corner. A bat has apparently taken up residence in the fireplace (a board blocks most of the aperture) and he comes out occasionally to liven up proceedings!


Perhaps the bread is more to your liking.


 

The top table is rather posh!  The painted wall behind it amazing, and all the glass and ceramics are authentic copies of what would have been used in the late 15th C.  (1475 ish).


Not sure if I liked the fairy lights in here.


Looking across the courtyard.

 

This may remind you that various things have been filmed here.  A Discovery of Witches for starters (so the kitchen may also seem familiar as that is where the spells were woven.


Heading out now.  This is the gatehouse.



I bought myself a cold drink before heading back - a fizzy mineral water infused with crushed cherries and raspberries and NOT sweet.  Very refreshing, and I loved looking at the view and the Ox-Eye Daisies.



I'm just off to bed now.  I've had a busy day and got some bits done in the garden I hadn't planned, but which needed doing.  Two rogue Alchemilla mollis are now having cool feet in pots of well watered soil and will be transplanted in the borders tomorrow.  I may live to regret it as they spread so, but I have some gaps and they are at least free.  (I also have plenty of them on the bank - planted many years back I suspect).

12 comments:

  1. I wish Lady's Mantle would grow and spread here! I've tried it from seed and from purchased plants. It struggles through a summer and then disappears. Are some of the roses rugosa varieties? They appear to have the distinctive 'quilted' leaves. I love the 'natural' look of the garden borders but i suspect they are carefully planned and maintained.

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  2. What a shame they don't survive the winter with you. At Ynyswen they were real thugs and I had them everywhere and used to curse them. They have spread themselves about in the wild bit of the garden here, and I may as well put them where I can see them.

    That last pink rose may be a Rugosa, but I am really stuck trying to identify the lilacy one with the very open flower. Not Rhapsody in Blue - have that here. Not Nearest I have got is William Lobb . Someone I once knew (not the brightest bulb on the shelf) planted that next to a red and orange DA climber. No comment! There's one called Mannington Mauve which looks similar but I think the jury will have to stay out on a positive ID.

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  3. I loved Tretower Court when we visited many years ago. It was the solar room and the walkway that captured the imagination. I have a feeling it has been 'tarted up' since I went there. Perhaps dressed up would be a better term. I think we went to see the castle tower at the back, Ron was a castle man.

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    1. I thin it has been dressed up since your visit but the upstairs rooms are still plain and empty. The castle is worth a wonder across too and I imagine Ron thought it a good 'un.

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  4. A lovely reminder of our visit to Tretower in September 2021. Luckily I know the pike (duck-billed pike?) and suckling pig are fake! Not so the beautiful roses. I have to say that both ends of my pergola are dripping with climbing roses - R. Ghislaine de Feligonde at one end and R. Penny Lane at the other with R. Blush de Noisette in the middle. I cannot tell you how many Alchemilla Mollis I have dug out from this garden. I do love them but .. they seed everywhere and grow so quickly and can be difficult to remove as the little seedlings grow in all the cracks and into other plants. Meanwhile the meadow is a sea of white ox-eye daisies - and the bee orchids are back! I saw the first Meadow Brown butterfly of the season at the weekend too. We had a lovely short break in Kent at the end of last week visiting Belmont, famous for its horological collection and there was a whole room of armoury too, and Mount Ephraim where we stayed in the house. The gardens of both were absolutely wonderful and I could not decide which was my favourite. Funnily enough Belmont was the setting for Antiques Roadshow the other week and last week’s Gardeners’ World had Toby Buckland visiting Mount Ephraim for the roses. I’m off to yoga now to ease out my aching muscles after planting out all my tender stuff at the weekend - I was out there at 6am on Saturday to beat the heat. Yesterday I stayed in the cool house all day dress making. The wonderful thing about visiting 10 acre gardens gardened only by two gardeners is that the bits that are a bit wild and woolly are most popular with insects and birds and make the human feel most relaxed so let’s embrace the parts of our gardens where nature knows best. Have a good day BB and hope that you and K are bearing the heat. Sarah x

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  5. What a super place - I'd love to go there about an hour and quarter from us when we are in Herefordshire I think. Lovely gardens and castles are always good to look round. Hope the poor jackdaw found somewhere quieter!

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    1. Well, if you tell your husband you will NEVER be closer, you may get a favourable response? It is well worth that journey to visit.

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  6. What an amazing place. I've never seen tables laid for that period. Gorgeous gardens too .

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    1. I've seen it in York (and you could go and buy those gorgeous green goblets in the shop there.) The Jackdaw babe was heading off towards the castle, so much quieter over that way.

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  7. The fairy lights strike an odd note. I was very appreciative of the careful attention to detail, the dishes, the 'foods', and even the bat. But the fairy lights are definately not 15th century, are they. The gardens are beautiful though, and the castle was fun.

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    1. I suppose it acts as a function room, but they did jangle and jarr my sensibilities!

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  8. Hmm, I quite agree about the fairy lights, They just do not look right. Loved the tour, thank you for taking us with you.

    God bless.

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