The Gardens of Durmast House

Dear readers,

I can´t believe it- I am in England, enjoying beautiful gardens! I have been dreaming about visiting English gardens for long and finally I am here. It is just wonderful! Every day we´re visiting several amazing gardens. I am so overwhelmed by their beauty and it is so exciting. As you can probably imagine, being so amazed by all the lovely public and private gardens we visit, I can´t put my camera down. It is only the second day, but I already took about 500 pictures. Of course, I like to share some garden pictures with you, dear readers. Today I´d like to tell you something about beautiful Durmast garden, a private garden owned by Mr and Mrs Philip Daubeney. The garden consists of several small gardens or garden rooms and was designed by the famous gardener Gertrude Jekyll in 1907. When Mr and Mrs Daubeney bought Durmast House in 1991, the garden were neglected and overgrown. Luckily, the owners were interested in the history of the garden , acquired the plans of the original garden from the University of California and have been restoring the garden since then. Every year the owners undertake a new project. Restoring the garden to its original form involves considerable research as some names of the plants originally planted by Gertrude Jekyll have changed over time. Mr and Mrs Daubeney travelled long distances to find some plants that were originally planted. They, for example,found some rare rose varieties only in France and even went as far as to the United States for shrubs. However, there are also some plants that aren´t available anymore today and careful substitutions for such plants are made by the owners. It was such a joy to be taken through the garden by Mr Philip Daubeney. He is so enthusiastic about his garden and was telling us stories about so many of his wonderful plants. It is lovely to see how people are so passionate about their gardens. I especially like that the owners take all the effort to restore the garden. Nowadays, when people buy a garden they often seem to throw out every single plant, giving the garden a total make over. However, I think it is wonderful to see how some people consider the past of a garden and are passionate about restoring it, especially if it is a garden with such special history, being designed by a  garden genius such as Gertrude Jekyll. 

Hope you Enjoy,

Lisa

I love such old brick walls, which can be found a lot in English gardens.

I love how the owners grow fig trees very near to the wall.

Rosa American Pillar 1862

Rosa Variegata de Bologna 1869

A beautiful magnolia grandiflora

Lovely containers can be found everywhere in the garden

Rosa Duchesse d´Angouleme

Rosa Duchesse d´Angouleme

I absolutely loved their greenhouse

Rose de Meaux centifolia 1785