Guest Garden: Agecroft Hall

Agecroft Hall is a 15th century English manor house. It was transported from England to Virginia back in the early part of the 20th century, after it's original location in the heart of coal mining territory, meant that the house had become unstable.
It is a truly beautiful house, rescued but not rebuilt exactly to the original plans. The wealthy philanthropist who rescued it had willed it to become a museum after his wife no longer lived there. She and the people in control of the trust decided to make it a museum representing late renaissance and Tudor/Stuart life in England.
It is beautifully decorated with period pieces, but the gardens are of course, what interest us :)
Coming out of the courtyard of the house you can choose to go down hidden garden paths and into a sunken garden- designed to be like that at Hampton Court Palace in London.

It leads out to more secluded pathways, and you might find yourself at an outdoor banquetting hall- the docent told me that people would eat their desserts there after a banquet in the house. Below the hall is a still-room- where herbal preparations were made by the ladies of the house.

Banquetting Hall

If you turn around, you can look out over the rolling hills and down to the James river. It is astonishingly like the land it originally came from in Northern England.

Coming out of the banquetting hall, you might sneak through another opening in the hedge, and find yourself overlooking extensive formal gardens.

Pass through a wrought iron gate...

The first is a herb garden- outfitted with all the culinary and medicinal herbs of the time- plus a few bee skeps!

Up the steps and you arrive in the Tradescantia garden.

Here are representatives of the numerous flora discovered by John Tradescant the elder and his son John Tradescant the Younger. In fact- they have the spiderwort you can see in my garden!

Up a second series of steps and you arrive in a knot garden. Knot gardens were very fashionable in Tudor times- tiny hedges of herbs were clipped into intricate patterns. It is NOT easy to do- we tried it once :) Establishing the plants into an even hedge would be the most difficult part- since typically one or two plants will die on you!

If you walk back through the formal gardens and out, you'll come to the rolling hills again, and be beneath that banquet hall.

A magnificent magnolia dominates the hillside- the air was redolent with that sweet scent.

Further up the hill and you meet the maze! It's a grass maze- nothing spectacular- but mazes were hugely popluar back then too. I wonder if they did that because of Hampton Court too- because if so, they got it wrong! Hampton Court had HUGE 6 foot tall hedges. I heard they got rid of it though!

If you go off of the terrace on the back of the house, you find a rose walk- where modern roses bloom effusively and scent the air.

Terrace

I recognised this one- it is the crazy one in my front garden- the 1939 New Dawn rose. I'm thinking that I need to do this across the driveway though!

There are more plants I did not get to photograph- people were all over the place! I managed to get the highlights though!

Next door, is another English transplant- the Virginia House, which was once a priory.

It has some nice gardens too- my everlasting memory from there is treading the paths to the smell of mint- a closer look revealed corsican mint between the pavers on that path! I can only show you outside though, because it was closed!

If you get to visit Richmond, Virginia, then take a look at these two magnificent homes!

The Rose Garden

Our weekend was HOT.  As in 90* temperature hot!
It was kind of nice though.  We spent the day in the garden again and worked on it some- and enjoyed the wonderful roses, which just bloomed!  In addition, were the plants I bought just over a week ago at the annual herb festival... so here is my update.

First up- last weekend, was the annual herb festival, Herbs Galore at Maymont Park in Richmond, VA.  Vendors from numerous states come, selling their wares- herbs, herb related things and vegetables.  I usually buy my tomatoes and peppers from there, but this year got my tomatoes from the local garden centre.  I picked up three peppers and several new herbs for my gardens ;)

We also put in a fire-pit.  We had been using an old trash can for burning garden debris (old limbs etc.) but it was all holey!  I actually cooked over the firepit yesterday too- that was kind of fun, if a little too warm ;)
The burgers were delicious though ;)
The blocks are ones from Lowes, the circle is about 3 foot in diameter and sits just off of the patio.  On a cool day we'll be able to warm ourselves around it.
On a hot day we have to avoid that side of the patio- it was about 90* while I cooked over it- I felt very colonial ;)

The entrance to the garden is currently stunning.  Our old garden rose (highly fragrant) is tumbling over it.  There it is- the one on the right is about as tall as they are supposed to get.  You can see how much taller the left one is.  And oh the fragrance- it is the 'tea rose' fragrance you get in perfumes!  This is the fabled 'Tudor Rose'...

The Tudor rose is said to be a cross between the roses of York and Lancaster.  This, the Lancaster rose, is also known as the Apothecary rose.  It too is highly fragrant and beautiful.  Reds apparently don't like either my camera or my monitor much, because they never look right on my screen :/  But I guess that means I need to draw it ;)
This is the one you can use for all your cooking needs... and medicinal!

This is the other rose that is said to be the parent of the Tudor rose- the White Rose of York.  It too is highly fragrant and so pretty... this year the rose is looking wonderful- we had a bad few years when we were unable to take care of them, and they are finally looking good again!

Here it is in all its glory!  A stunning rose, providing a nice little shade for the patio :)

This rose is extra special.  It is the Jacobite Rose after which my main blog is named.  It is also a survivour- we thought we'd killed it when we tried to move it about 8 years ago.  It got a little better, then the spot we had it in started to get less light (another neighbour tree).  So we had to move it again.  This time it came apart into two, one part survived, and the other died.  The survivour was hit by falling roof tiles when we had to re-do our roof.  This year, it has finally gotten back to its former beauty- what a stunner!

Yes, it is fragrant.  Yes, those are fully double blooms...

See?

We have other roses in bloom too.  This is the Tudor rose again...

This is a miniature rose called the Leda rose.  We were sent it by accident!

The New Dawn rose- this is a more modern rose.  it climbs.  It attacks the car.  And it really needs to be moved!!  But I love it :)

Rosa centifolia - parvifolia.  That means the small cabbage rose.  We have the original too, but that has yet to bloom :)
















Rosa alba- regalis.
Or 'Great Maiden's Blush'.  This bloomed just this morning.

Two other roses have bloomed- the Betty Prior and the Rosa damascena bifera.  I think.  I forget its name LOL.  You can see the Betty Prior in the background with the firepit, but since they are both red, the flower close-ups came out funny on my monitor :/

This last photo is the Tudor Rose cascading over the arbour- just this morning :)  

But I have other things to show you so I will stop with the roses for now, and get a nice edible garden post ready for you later!

The Edible Garden- and flowers

If you haven't yet decided to participate in Good Life {Eats} 'GrowCookEat' then you should head on over to the blog to see all the wonderful gardening posts :) And maybe participate in her Mother's Day Giveaways!

But on to my garden, and how it is fairing :) It was a good week for eating the garden- the kids got their first strawberries :) I am fairly sure this is the first time they have picked strawberries and eaten them straight from our garden :)

I decided that this was a fairly momentous occasion, so I managed to get the kids to post with their strawberries just before they picked them!

The verdict? "Delicious!", "Sweet!", "Juicy!".

Is it usual for us to get such early strawberries? Well usually not quite this early- but remember these ones came from the garden centre with some flowers already! However, the next strawberries will be ones that grew here. From the already started plants. Oh well, maybe I can't say they are all ours this year, but next...

You can also see some of my herbs in the pictures. Next to my son you can just spot the chives- I used those a couple of times this week as a garnish... once for a baked potato and another time for soup. Cheddar Potato soup to be precise... it is absolutely delicious!





There are some more chives next to my daughter- those are garlic chives. I have yet to do anything with those this year- I want them to recover after their being transplanted! You can also see the basil I am growing- I LOVE basil in the summer. Especially with tomatoes and mozarella cheese... mmmmm!

Speaking of tomatoes...

I always buy my tomatoes as plants- I just do not have the spot to grow them as seeds.
Plus I need at most, two plants. Only my daughter and I eat them anyway... and I have no space for storage of canned tomatoes. Although that is something to consider...
I digress. These are my sungold tomatoes- they are the best tasting cherry tomato EVER! I had to buy the hugest tomato plant because the small ones were already sold out! But that is OK. I got them- and they are already blooming!
I'll tell you a secret though- I have babies cropping up all over the garden from last year's plants ;) I planted one in the herb garden just to see if it would grow.


The tomatoes are blooming before the peas!! But the peas are doing well- since the weather cooled down. I added some extra string to my trellis so the peas could grow- and you can see the Swiss Chard coming up next to them too :)

This will eventually be given over to a later summer crop- perhaps of squash, (winter) or something that grows fast!

Maybe cucumbers!

The rain we had earlier this week has done some good though- look, Limas!
I planted these especially for my husband, who is a huge fan of them. They really don't produce much though- like peas you have to plant a lot to get a decent crop. I never seem to plant enough (and in case you wonder, I pretty much empty the pea packet!).

They are not the only beans sprouting in the garden though... you can also see blue lake green beans...

Yes, they look very much alike at this stage. However they are in totally different square foot gardens and I marked them so as to not forget which I planted where ;)

These ones are in the same garden I planted my carrots in- which are also doing well :)








As you can see. They are baby carrots, so I am hoping it wont get too hot for them too soon. I am always so happy to see them. Unfortunately, so are the swallowtails!








The bed next door is now sprouting corn. They are tiny yet, but there they are.
I need to thin them out this weekend...








The rainbow beets are taking off...

...as are the lettuces and spinaches. For some reason I forgot to photograph the spinach. I think I'll be able to harvest some lettuce leaves soon though ;)

You can just about see two spinach plants growing in the second square from the back on the left. Those grassy things are my shallots. A couple did not come up, and I am considering planting my garlic in those spots if I still see no signs of life...
The garlic is stuff from the fridge that sprouted. I put it in some water and it took off!

Raspberry season is just around the corner- and you can see my raspberries are ready to go :) Look closer and you can see the berry part. I think they bloomed when I wasn't looking! These plants were given to me by a dear friend, and they produce twice a year- isn't that a great gift? :)

They sit next to this lady, who was also a gift :) This is an Elderberry- and look she is getting ready to flower. I am thinking of moving her over some so she can have a bit more room.
The raspberries have gotten quite thick, and I think they could use a trellis :)

Lest you think the garden is ALL food, I wanted to share some of the other wonders in it- like the flowering comfrey. I know, I know, I really shouldn't let the herbs flower... but I love the flowers on comfrey, and I love the bumblebees guarding it!!

This blue beauty was the first of the irises to bloom. It used to be in my Mother-in-Law's garden, but my husband took it after she died. It sits in the bed with some other irises we rescued :) I also have one from a friend in there, but I am not sure which it is or what colour it is, so theoretically this might be it anyway :)

These yellow ones were also rescued from my Mother-in-Law's garden. They stand in front of some peonies (we also have some of those from MIL's garden, but not these ones) and an heirloom rose. Far in the background you can see the wonderful robin-egg blue pot that my tomato is in :) It sits under the pawpaw for now :)

I have no idea what this iris is. We planted it ages ago and forgot about it- it has a stunning triple bloom- very pretty!


It sits amongst the creeping phlox in the fountain garden- where the spiderwort is now blooming :)

The roses are starting to bloom. This is Rosa damascena versicolor- otherwise known as the Tudor Rose. It has the most wonderful fragrance, and is supposed to get about 5 foot tall. At MOST. This one is about 12 feet tall- and I could not reach this rose to smell it, I had to reach my arms up to get the photo- and the rose is not at the top of the plant!


The periwinkle or Vinca major is also in bloom- a carpet of green leaves studded with blue flowers. They were originally supposed to grow around the mailbox, but they no longer do, because we moved the mailbox. They have spread so far though, that I am sure they'll get back to it soon :) These were gifts from my Mother-in-Law's garden :)

With all the flowers, it is to be expected that there will be a visitor or two to them.
I saw the first hummingbird at our feeder in the last week. He was pitifully thin from his long trip, but there he was.
I had had my feeder up for a good week or so already, so I was prepared- unlike last year when he kept hovering around the window trying to tell us to supply his food ;)

They are not alone in the garden either. In fact, the garden has been harbouring a thief!

The other day, I came out to find one of my square foot garden grids all messed up... and I blamed the kids or a dog, not thinking too much about it. The grids are made of string this year, and before I bought my skewers to use as stakes, I had used some plant tags...
The following day, my daughter asked me "what is that in the tree?".
There was a robin, trying to get some string- and not just any string, but some from my garden!! She had managed to get it stuck in the tree- and if you look in the lower half of the photo- dead centre, you can see the plant tag hanging from the barely visible string. Sorry about the photo quality, but it was a rainy day! She kept attacking the string and trying to take it up to her nest- but to no avail.
I suspect she was a first timer, because about 30 minutes later, her nest fell out of the tree!

Here you can see it on the ground- complete with pieces of string and pine needles. She had not finished it yet, so at least there were no eggs!
There is also a piece of wool from my spinning stash. I still wonder how that got outside...

Well that's the garden so far :) Happy Gardening everyone!