Village Gardens Lion Garden, David Austin Roses continued from previous page


dry in the sun. They are then packaged and offered for sale on their website. Another British grower who has dedi-


cated his life to growing British flowers is David Austin of David Austin Roses based in Wolverhampton. A visit to the gardens and tearooms is not to be missed. Although many of his varieties repeat-flower, the best times to visit are June and September, when most varieties are in full bloom. As you enter the gardens, the scent is in


the air, subtle but penetrating, and you can’t help but stoop down and take a bloom in the hand for a closer smell! There are more than 400 varieties on sale, with names such as Judi Dench, Emily Bronte, Maid Marion and Scarborough Fair, evoking that sense of English-ness. The gardens contain very little else other


than rose bushes, climbers and ramblers. You’d think it would be too much, an over- kill, but it’s not; it’s a place to linger and sit and contemplate. As you enter the Long Garden, the central walkway, you realise that this is no ordinary place. This area, interlaced with rose-clad pergolas, contains a collec- tion of old roses that flower just once a year. Leading off from there, the formal, circu-


lar Victorian walled garden is divided into “pinwheel” sections, each section outlined with manicured box hedging and filled with English roses and repeat-flowering shrub roses. These roses flower right through to the frosts of early winter. The Renaissance Garden is as you’d imag-


ine: Italian-looking with English rose bushes lining a long straight pool that runs down the centre, flanked by wide borders leading to a verandah with seating, a welcome re- spite on a hot summer’s day. Then of course, there’s English lavender,


sold all over the world and grown on our very own doorstep. In mid-July in Snowshill, Broadway, there’s an unmistakable per- fume in the air, when the fields at Cotswold Lavender are in full bloom. For a small entry fee you can walk among the rows of plants, offering a great photo opportunity for fami- lies with small children. Even in our British climate, there is hardly


English peonies grown by Primrose Hall Nursery


60 The Village September 2018


a month during the year when growers in the UK can’t produce something of interest. So it’s heartbreaking to think that although £2bn a year is spent on cut flowers, only 12 per cent of the flowers sold in the UK are


continues on page 62


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