The Amphitheatre
The Amphitheatre is a roughly circular area bounded by part of Shanklin's Path and the path that extends the drive to the Roundel. The area is in a slight hollow with a beech headge (and a tall fence to keep out marauding deer). As such it is a wonderful suntrap in the summer, but a proper frost pocket , parts of which don't get any sun late in the year because of Crofthead Hill to the east.
Some parts of the amphitheatre have good, though fairly shallow, loam, whereas most of it features a thin, mildly acid, topsoil over the stony detritus of the glacier that helped sculpt the Moffat Dale during the Quatenary Ice Age some 2.6 million years ago. The soil is thus quite poor in places and leaches nutrients rapidly due to the considerable amount of rain enjoyed (!) by Southwest Scotland. To say that these factors pose challenges is to put it mildly and I have lost many technically hardy plants in this part of the garden over the years, including trees and shrub species. Nevertheless, I have learnt over the years what tends to work and what doesn't so the beds and borders are well-populated. Of course, there are plants that I put here more in hope than conviction and surprisingly some of them actually survive.
There are three central beds surrounding Robert's memorial bench in the middle . These are planted almost entirely with perennials, both grasses and herbaceous plants and are designed for summer flowering in the main, although some early perennials are included such as Geum 'Lady Stratheden', Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum' (whose common name is apparently 'hairy chervil') and the dwarf goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius). The planting style is - as everywhere - relaxed and informal. Each bed picks up themes from the others and develops them in different ways. The West Bed is notable for a number of the New Zealand red tussock grass (Chionochloa rubra), while the other beds contain its family member plumed tussock grass Chionochloa conspicua). The planting is eclectic with self-seeding Euphorbia schillingii teaming up with Lychnis coronaria, Crocosmia varieties, Molinia and Calamagrostis grasses amongst others, giving different effects in different contexts.
Of course, the planting reflects my obsessions over time as well as impulse buys - which we are told proper gardeners shouldn't do, but who can resist? Some of the latter are the giant ragwort Senecio cannabinifolia, the huge white flowered knotweed Persicaria polymorpha, a Japanese bamboo Shibataea kumasasa and a number of deciduous Agapanthus varieties which do surprisingly well here. Apart from grasses (which I use in most of my perennial plantings), my recent obsessions include varieties of Crocosmia, daylilies Hemerocallis, burnets Sanguisorba, knotweeds Persicaria and sea hollies Eryngium. There is no attempt to theme particular colours or colour types. So bright colours are allowed to mingle with soft ones and purples and pinks can share space with orange and brilliant reds.
Surrounding the perennial beds are borders that follow the line of the beech hedgs. Although there are only three areas delineated by paths from the three entrance gates, I classify them into six according to their principal themes and refer to them by the name of the commonest plant or using a more general term. Most of the borders are planted with shrubs and small trees.
The main theme of the Azalea Border is, as might be expected, a collection of azaleas which blaze away in May and early June in flower and then again in the autumn with their bright foliage. But there are also some buddlejas, some rather too large plants of Physocarpus 'Diabolo', a katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), a Japanese cedar which has creamy-yellow leaves on young growth (Cryptomeria japnica 'Sekkan Sugi') and a maturing specimen of golden dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Goldrush'). Within this area are planted white and blue forms of Camassia leichtlinii (camas or quamash).
In the Hawthorn Border there is a small collection of ornamental Crataegus trees which flower well in early summers and fruit well in early autumn (late frosts permitting). The berry theme is maintained with the a red/purple-leaved shrub rose (Rosa glauca) and a yellow-berried rowan (Sorbus aucuparia 'Joseph Rock'). Other spring/early summer flowering shrubs include the white flowered Exochorda korokowii, yellow flowered Laburnum x wateri 'Vossii', the shrubby St John's wort varietyHypericum patulum 'Hidcote', and a couple of pink flowering rhododendron hybrids. Some perennials are also planted in the turf between the shrubs such as Eupatorium purpureum, Eryngium agavifolium and the mourning cranesbill (Geranium phaeum), as well as giant golden oat (Stipa gigantea).
Of the remaining three shrub borders, the Birch Border cantains self-seeded silver birch (Betula pendula) and a number of birches with ornamental bark such as Betulae nigra 'Heritage' and 'Black Star', and B. albosinensis 'Fascination'. The Rose Border is given over to shrub roses, intermixed shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) varieties, a dark flowered lilac Syringa vulgaris 'Andenken an Ludwig Spaeth', late winter flowering Viburnum bodnantense and very early spring floweing and scented Osmanthus burkwoodii. Unfortunately two dogwood varieties, the white variegated Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' and golden leaved Cornus alba 'Aurea' are trying to take over the border and need frequent total cutbacks to keep them in reasonable order.
The Shrub Border doesn't have a particular themed plant but is planted with a variety of small trees and shrubs. These range from the beautiful white barked Himalyan birch (Betula utilis 'Jaquemontii') through the greyish leaved Sawara cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard') to Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa). And from the purple leaved English oak (Quercus robur 'Atropurpurea'), through (nicely behaved) flowering dogwood (Cornus kousa) to the slow growing savin juniper (Juniperus sabina).
The exception to the shrubby theme of the rest of the borders is the Perennial Border where I have attempted a real New Perennial Planting. The plants are left to fend for themselves and the only maintenance I do is to cut down once a year in late winter and to pull out the stems of invading rosebay willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium) in late July just as starts to flower (any earlier and the plants just grow back and flower later). The principal plants here are the old daylily cultivar Hemerocallis fulva 'Kwanso' as well as the more modern 'Frans Hals', a couple of yellow oxeye daisies the tall Buphthalmum speciosum and the dwarf Buphthalmum salicifolium,
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' has been steadily increasing as has an unknown variety with deep orange flowers and the pinky-orange flowered Crocosmia pottsii, the spreading spurge Euphorbia 'Great Dixter' and the very vigorous loosestrife Lysymachia ciliata 'Firecracker' (be warned if you're thinking of planting this in a border as it will try and take over!). A number of grasses make up the rest of the mix: Miscanthus species, Chionochloa rubra, Calamagrostis epigejos (a bit of a thug) and the New Zealand pampas grass Cortaderia richardii. The image shows the border in early August although it flowers well into September.
One of the great joys of the shrubby borders (other than the Rose Border) is the wealth of wild flowers that have found their way into them over the years. These include yarrow (Achillea millefolia), common knapweed (Centaurea nigra), creeping cinquefoil (Potentilla repens). shasta daisies (aka marguerites) (Leucanthemum vulgare), some Scottish heather (Calluna vulgaris) and one (!) marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza maculat)a .
© Ronnie Cann 2021