Guest post by B-Twin
Peonies, Roses & Hedges.
“You haven’t heard of Sunnymeade?” My friend expressed shock.
Sadly, I hadn’t.
She explained that it was a private garden that was opened to the public only two or three weekends a year. Then she described clematis beyond compare, a huge array of plants and amazing garden ‘rooms’.
I have a soft spot for English and European style gardens – partly because they seem so lush to my water-deprived Australian gardening eyes. Also, they have age on their side. They’re old enough to have structure and if gardens as an entity can have roots then they have them – so to speak. And while many of our Australian plants are pretty and all of that, most native-based gardens tend to not be on the, shall we say, spectacular side of the scale (I’ll admit to having a ‘thing’ for roses too^).
Not long after the conversation with my friend I noticed a small Public Notice in our local newspaper. An Open Day at Sunnymeade! My curiosity won, I decided to grab the opportunity and so travelled along dusty, winding hill country roads through pine plantations and natural bush land to see this garden for myself.
My friend was right. (She usually is.)
Upon arrival I proceeded to be absolutely gob-smacked. As it turned out I remained that way for the entire visit. It’s a good thing I didn’t have a companion who required conversation.
Come further in....
Going from ‘room’ to ‘room’ and seeing the different themes, structures and plants I really found awe-inspiring. And the varieties! Not just one sort of clematis or rose or poppy. Dozens. I saw blooms I had to look twice at and check the foliage to be really sure what they were! It was the type of diversity you expect to see at City Botanical Gardens not in a private garden. And the work that had gone into the structures blew me away. Columns, faux ruins, tiled water garden, faux castle-like buildings and more. (I’m a total sucker for stone and the depth that it can give a garden is tremendous.)
Stone walls and roses.
The weather was a little threatening that day but the rain held off. By the time I left I was desperate to try clematis one day – and to go back.
O Clematis!
It turned out not very long at all between visits. The very next day I dragged my mother along to see this wonder as well. Her gardening heart went all pitter-patter just like mine had. Hers had an added pitter-patter because she is an artist as well as a gardener and she just happens to paint a lot of flowers.
The range of poppies is amazing.
Speaking of roses.... Rosa "Wedding Day"
The garden though, like most, is a constant Work in Progress. Part of the fun in visiting each year is to see what is new! So far I have been back three years in a row. Gardening-wise these have been challenging years with declining rainfall and very hot dry summers. It’s amazing what you can do though in a garden…
Hornbeam hedges with windows...
Did I mention that all these structures are made with local stone and by one man? Yup, the owner/gardener does it all (admittedly his parents help him with the weeding and such). And he was originally a chef.
Enter in through the Moon Gate...
Set in country higher up than my farm, the folks at Sunnymeade can take advantage of slightly cooler summers – and colder winters. Of interest to me is that despite the altitude difference the soils are still fairly similar to ours here due to the granite base. (Very handy for when you want rocks and boulders in the garden!) Also, they changed a bare paddock into a series of hedged rooms in around 20 years. Our garden here is still so new that it lacks infrastructure in the way of large trees or shrubs. I long for the day I can plant wind sensitive plants and not have them burnt and shredded by a howling gale. A garden like Sunnymeade is an inspiration that this can be achieved sooner rather than later.
And this is all on sloping site! Hope for our garden yet.
There are several ideas I have now started to transpose to my garden – one being MORE ROSES. ;-) With the help of a few tall poles there are quite a pillar roses in place.^^ And there are plans afoot to make a Moon Gate and secret garden. Although the hornbeam hedges are superb they are a little higher in maintenance then I would like so we are sticking to Buddleja due to its drought tolerance. The fact we (and the butterflies) love the fragrance is a bonus. The Clematis have started to appear in my garden also – once I made a couple of makeshift climbing frames for them – pleasing the bees no end.
One of my clematis on a homemade trellis (no flowers)
Sunnymeade have several Open Weekends throughout the year. So, if you ever have the chance to visit this part of Victoria, Australia then I highly recommend it! (Their website is www.sunnymeade.com.au)
Isn't that colour divine??
PS. The garden was featured on the Australian ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ TV show in February this year. If you are in Australia you can check out the footage on the show’s website.
—
^ Yeah yeah… understatement I know.
^^ I recall Robin being aghast at some of my original rose choices for the pillars. It is possible that the phrase “ARE YOU INSANE???” came up. She had me all worried about the world-domination tendencies of Mme Alfred Carriere when it turns out I perhaps should have been more concerned with Aimee Vibert… (6 FEET IN 6 MONTHS!)*
* I did suggest you ask local growers how things do in Australia. My Mme Alfred is thirty feet in five years. My Aimee Vibert is six feet in three years. –ed.
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