The perfect English hedgerow is an ephemeral thing and this year I was lucky to be on the spot at the right time. The ingredients are:
Hedges (of course!)
Key trees are oak, ash, blackthorn or sloe, beech, hazel and the occasional horse chestnut, but absolutely vital to a spring hedgerow is hawthorn, or as it’s known when in flower, “May”.
Occasionally the “hedge” is a wall…
…and there should be the odd gate or gap to allow a view of the fields beyond.
Wild flowers peeping out from the grass;
And last but by no means least: cow parsley. Not that spectacular seen singly,
but in drifts…beautiful!
Tag: horse chestnut
March at Descanso
March is a colorful – and busy! – month at Descanso Gardens. While the camellias are still giving their best, joined now by the clivias planted beneath them,
other trees and shrubs are getting in on the act. The cherry blossom in the Japanese Garden warrants a festival all to itself, well-deserved when you see how beautifully they combine with the azaleas and acers with which they share space.
This
is holly. I’ve never seen it blossom before.
And horse-chestnut
– a real reminder of English springs!
The dogwoods (though not strictly a blossom) deserve an honorable mention.
And a relatively new plant to me – the redbud.
And don’t get me started on the bulbs…!
