CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS

My post Exceptional Snowdrops and Gardens: England February 2018 gave an overview of our recent trip to England.  To read it, click here.  As promised, I am going to focus more closely on some of the venues that Michael and I visited, starting with Rodmarton Manor.

We visited Rodmarton in February 2017 also and were very privileged to be hosted during both visits by Simon Biddulph, the current owner.  Simon grew up at Rodmarton, and it was built by his grandparents, Claud and Margaret Biddulph.  We were given a tour of the house and gardens; however, no photos are allowed inside the house.

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US.  For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are mail order only.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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The Village of Rodmarton features a Norman church built in the 1100s.

Rodmarton is a tiny and very scenic village in the Cotswolds near Cirencester.  The Biddulphs built and furnished their home there between 1909 and 1929, using what is now called the Arts and Crafts style.   Everything, including the amazing furniture, was made by hand on site using local materials and craftsmen.

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The entrance drive to Rodmarton Manor.

The garden’s outline was laid out by the architect of the house, Ernest Barnsley, but Margaret Biddulph, a trained horticulturist, and her head gardener created the eight acres of gardens. The Rodmarton Garden is considered a fine example of the Arts and Crafts gardening movement, which emphasized harmony with the house and featured garden rooms outlined by walls or clipped evergreens and leading from one to another.   To read an excellent article about the Rodmarton garden, click here.

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The front drive is lined with moss-covered staddle stones, which were originally used to support grain storehouses and keep water and rodents out.

.Inside the wall pictured in the photo above, note the espaliered trees.

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Clipped hedges, quirky, ornamental buildings, and long views from “room to room” are important characteristics of Arts and Crafts gardens.

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In February, all the borders were dormant—-I would love to see Rodmarton in June.

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Just one of many Arts and Crafts style structures in the garden.

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This view looks through at least four garden “rooms”.

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Arts and Crafts design considered the garden an extension of the house, and beautiful views of the house are everywhere.

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the South Terrace

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The layout and structure is quite grand, but close attention is also given to smaller details and the garden is richly planted.  Here, some masses of spring snowflake, Leucojum vernum, against a stone wall.

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Yellow snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis Sandersii Group, in groundcover.

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Winter-blooming hardy cyclamen, C. coum, beside a moss-covered stone wall.

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Snowdrops in a stone urn on the wall leading to the Topiary Garden.

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the Topiary Garden

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Planted stone troughs in the Topiary Garden.

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Pleached lime trees in the Topiary Garden.

.I was very envious of the moss, which covered everything, including the lime trees.

Snowdrops are everywhere at Rodmarton in big, glorious clumps.  For this post, I will show you the varieties selected by the Biddulphs at Rodmarton.

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Simon Biddulph grows many of his snowdrops at the base of small trees inside Rodmarton’s walled orchard.  Here, Simon tells us about his gorgeous selection ‘Rodmarton Regulus’, a very large and vigorous snowdrop with big flowers.

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‘Rodmarton Regulus’

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‘Rodmarton Regulus’

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‘Rodmarton Arcturus’ with its big, rounded petals is a favorite.

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‘Margaret Biddulph’, a rare virescent (greenish) snowdrop.  My favorite of all the snowdrops I saw was a virescent called ‘Claud Biddulph’ after Simon’s grandfather, but the wind was blowing so hard the photo didn’t come out.

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‘Rodmarton’, a double snowdrop—it was blowing so hard it was difficult to get the snowdrops in focus!

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Galanthus RS 2015/02, under evaluation

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Galanthus RS 2015/01, also under evaluation—I love those twisted outer segments.

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Michael with Simon Biddulph (left) looking thoroughly frozen after our windy and cold visit in 2017.

We are so grateful to Simon Biddulph for giving us a private tour of Rodmarton, not once but twice, and sharing his memories and snowdrops with us!

Carolyn

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