Why have we got a White Garden?
Because we always found ourselves drawn to them – at Sissinghurst, at Barrington Court – and now our own bower is a favourite spot to sit.
The garden is entered through a laurel arch under a huge white cherry tree. Beneath it’s shade, a path leads to a circular patio and rose bower seat. A semi-circle of lawn radiates out from there between the room’s two biggest beds.
There are many ‘star do-ers’ but it’s the self-seeders that give it a blowsy effervescence: Sweet Rocket, Jacobs Ladder, Honesty, Mrs Wilmott’s Ghost, Corn Cockle, Foxgloves, Lychnis and Forget-me-nots – all in their white form of course.
Iris White Grace, with a Cistus
Get the look...
It is hard to go wrong with single-colour gardens; they have an inevitable cohesion.We went for mad profusion rather than the constrained formality of Sissinghurst.
Our White Garden is a testament to the power of self-seeders. The froth is provided by plants that multiply without help from us: Sweet Rocket, Jacobs Ladder, Foxgloves and Grey Echinops all started with one purchased plant and fill our beds from mid-May throughout June. Variegated Honesty scatters its ‘silver penny’ seeds around and we never have enough of it.
Clouds of white stars from four Crambe Cordifolia provide a June wow moment. We bought one but it divides itself happily. Our two white iris, White Grace and Sibirica White Swirl, add to the May-June hit. Both multiply beyond what we have space for.
Best months - Performance through the year
Snowdrops
Euonymous
Narcissus
Libertia
Irises White Grace, White Swirl
Crambe Cordifolia
White Corn Cockle
Sedum Iceberg
Japanese Anenome
Leucanthemella Serotina
Miscanthus Morning Light
Miscanthus Morning Light
The plants that make it distinctive
Top 10 Plants
Top plants – when they flower – what they bring to the garden
| 1. Crambe Cordifolia | June | Large clouds of white starry spectacle |
| 2. Iris White Grace | May-June | Upright elegance with yellow beards |
| 3. Iris White Swirl | May-June | Rigid stalks tipped with white flags |
| 4. Variagated Honesty | Mar-June | Architectural white-edged foliage |
| 5. White Corn Cockle | June-July | Immaculate white saucers |
| 6. Libertia | April-June | Spiky ball of foliage with sprays of white |
| 7. Foxglove Alba | June | Handsome spires of white trumpets |
| 8. Jacob’s Ladder Album | July | Feathery foliage, white bells |
| 9. Scotch Thistle | June-Aug | Towering pale green architecture |
| 10. Rosa White Star | Mar-Sept | Rigid rose with endless pure blooms |
And more...
| Oriental Poppy |
| Sweet Rocket |
| White Lychnis |
| Var. Sisyrinchium |
| Globe Thistle |
| Anenome Blanda |
| Snowdrops |
| Daisy Bush |
| Euonymous |
| Mount Tacoma Tulip |
| Ferns… |
Barrington Court
Sissinghurst is more iconic, but Barrington Court in Somerset is the first time we saw a white garden and thought – we could do this. One of its walled garden areas is laid out in a ‘clock’ of circular quadrants around a statue. It’s design is more formal than our White Garden and reliant on annuals but the effect is clearly inspirational.
Gertrude Jekyll had a hand in the design of the Barrington Court, which includes a large walled vegetable garden and a classical pond garden which can be admired from the restaurant courtyard.