Vita’s Words
Since traveling to see the Chelsea Flower Show in May I have been contemplating Vita’s Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent and Virginia’s Monk’s House in Sussex. So much to ponder and reckon with. I am deeply thrilled I traveled to see the two gardens They both not only left a mark on me but have made me think about my own garden and space differently, and the time we have to create such spaces.
Now that is it spring all of my grand plans pile up on me, seeds and mulching need to happen as soon as possible. What I loved about these gardens is the garden rooms, the walled gardens and hedges. Plan A.........more of this. I know it is going to take time and planning and sometimes I can see the possibilities of it all and some times I think I am just a dreamer and it’s a nice dream to have. But I did take some great photos that I can muse over. And I loved that behind a garden wall is just a picking garden, full of delphiniums, marigolds and sweet peas. They all there in a wayward plot of dirt. I like that idea and decided I would do that with sunflowers, echinacea, french marigolds and pink cosmos. Just see what happens.
Formality, Design and Summer, a beautiful path to wander on
I like what Vita said and concur.......
”The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before”.
Both women were writers. Vita was the gardener at Sissinghurst and Virginia’s husband Leonard the man of plants at Monk’s House. Virginia was usually in her writing room watching things happen from large windows next to the orchard. I liked that, she was an observer of things growing and changing.
Wandering around the land they cultivated and loved one hundred years ago was a revelation. The small cottage, the roses rambling, the books on the shelves, the paintings on the walls. A life truly lived. That is all we can aim for, just to give it everything we have.
There was a lot to take in at Sissinghurst yet one thing I loved was this quote from Vita’s husband Harold to Vita. I know there marriage was unconventional to say the least, but it is this feeling that comes with time that you can look back at everything and know that it was perfect in its own beautiful way.
