June in the Lodge Gardens
Everything is growing - and the Lodge is becoming the land of giants.
Enter the lodge through either of the archways from East Road and you will see that the bank behind the Rose Garden is now full of the white flowers of cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), growing as high as your head, and huge clumps of Giant Rhubard (Gunnera manicata) originally from Mexico and known as Dinosaur food. The large leaved plant along the edge of the rockery is Elephant Ears, (Bergenia crassifolia), it forms very effective ground cover and has pretty pink flowers in winter but it will quickly take over your garden if you plant it at home.
In the herbaceous border beside the carpet bed, giant cardoons(Cunard cardunculus) are growing fast and will soon be 2.5 metres high. They are the ancestors of our edible artichoke vegetables. Beside the cardoons is a huge spire of a Giant Echium (Echium pininana).Also know as Tower of Jewels, it is native to the Canary Islands and now an endangered species. Each plants lives for only two or three years and is a monocarpic, meaning that it only flowers once before dying.
Further on up in the middle meadow, the huge chestnut and lime trees tower over the Central Park. Originally planted for the Lairds garden in the 19th century, they are now in their prime. Chestnuts can grow to 50 metres and live for 400 years. Beside the swing park is a giant redwood, planted in …. It is still a baby compared to the chestnuts and limes nearby.