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Branklyn Garden
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Autumn is another delightful time in the garden. September is a joy, with cyclamen hederifolium, colchicum, and crocus suddenly appearing. As the leaves begin to change colour, the Chinese gentians are giving their full display: gentiana sino-ornata and its various forms and hybrids will continue to flower till December if the weather stays mild. In most years the autumn colour is spectacular, for many of the plants have been specially chosen for their dual role as flowering plants in the spring, early summer and for their autumnal display. The acer palmatum – bordered path is the main feature at this time of year. Ceridiphyllum japonicum, a small tree at the far end of the garden, takes on a lovely pink hue and is one of our first trees to show autumn colour, the leaves producing a delicious strawberry-like scent.
Closed during winter months
Springtime
Rhododendrons and early flowering alpines make Branklyn an inspiration for the keen gardener in the springtime. Many of the rhododendrons have been raised from seeds collected in the wild not only by ludlow and sherriff but also forrest, kingdon ward, farrer and cox, and rock. More recent collectors regaining access to West China have added to the range of species. Rhododendrons start to flower in February when the frosts allow and continue to display their lovely colours until July.
Beneath them, together with the spring-flowering primulas, grows a large array of bulbous plants, perhaps the most admired being a good range of species and forms of the dog-tooth violet (erythronium) , with the pink-flowered e. revolutum providing the most spectacular display. In the rock garden and scree, alpine primulas, gentians and saxifrages give a fine display to match the exuberance of the rhododendrons. Paraquilegea anemonoides, the blue buttercup, from a ludlow and sherriff collection, is one of the unforgettable sights in the scree and plant trough. This plant is one of the great host of rare plants linked directly to Dorothy Renton’s skills as a grower. Hellebores and lungwort (pulmonaria) provide early spring colour in the semi-shaded borders, where later crocus, trilliums and a host of plants too numerous to mention produce a display to charm the visitor.
Summer
Spring merges into summer with a spectacular display of meconopsis, very much a feature of Branklyn. The soil and growing conditions suit this lovely genus. Asiatic primulas in variety add to the colour, with primula chungensis, p. pulverulenta, p. poissonii, p. cockburniana, p. vialii and the colour forms of p. alpicola prominent. But it is in the early summer that the trees come into their own. Magnolias produce a lovely display of white fragrant flowers, the snowdrop tree (halesia monticola) charms, while viburnum plicatum ‘mariesii’ makes a major feature with its layers of branches covered with white flowers. In July sterartia pseudocamellia covers itself with white camellia-like flowers and in August several species of clethra, clethra barbinervis being the most prominent, give off a delightful scent which pervades the surrounding area.
It is however the foliage effects in the garden which produce the summer joy. The focal point of the garden is the golden form of the Japanese maple (acer shirasawanum ‘aureum’) near the rock garden, but the purple forms of acer palmatum produce a major impact, contrasting well with the many shades of green and the differing hues of the conifers. Grey-green-leaved hoheria lyallii from New Zealand, with its hibiscus-like flowers, adds to the summer interest in the centre of the garden while producing welcome shade and shelter for lilium superbum, meconopsis grandis and other woodland plants.
High summer brings out the lilies and the herbaceous plants, carefully chosen to associate well and make Branklyn what it is. During the Trust’s redevelopment of the garden in the Renton style, every opportunity is grasped to place plants where they will grow best and blend together, not only with the juxtaposition of trees and shrubs but also within the herb layer. Late-flowering alpines such as geraniums and pinks maintain interest in the rock garden, while gentiana x hexa-farreri heralds the start of the flood of blue autumn-flowering gentians which continue until the frosts.
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