The new place feels almost like home now, I think moving a different part of the country is what is making it a little harder to settle. That and finding a new job.
So, to make myself feel better, I decided to look through photos of our little road trips and came across the snaps we took at Hill Top. As many children, I owned some of her stories, but it was only as an adult that I go interested in Beatrix Potter – okay, I might have watched Miss Potter more times than I care to admit. I have read Marta McDowell’s Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life and wanted to see the area described which was so important to Potter.
The garden here is also of great interest to me. From all the styles I have come across through my hobby, cottage gardens (and kitchen gardens) are my favourite. Deep borders, plants interspersed with vegetables, the relaxed feel of it; there is of course a place for traditional, regimented gardens. But there’s something rather bucolic about the somewhat higgledy-piggledy look of a cottage garden – but of course, that perception is not quite right.
Snippets of Hill Top
We are greeted by a deep border to the left with a broad planting scheme and repetition. To the left, the wall is full of climbers.
I spotted some of my favourite plants here and there, such as this spotty Pulmonaria.
Annuals are interspersed with perennials.
The last blooms of the Wisteria still made an impact.
The climbers around the house made the building look like it belonged in a painting. A bit like that scene in Mary Poppins, when they jump into Burt’s street art.
To your right, as you look up at the house is this fenced orchard.
To the other side was the vegetable patch.
Finding items of gardenalia scattered about added to the sense of cosiness I associate with the country side and cottages.
The terracotta tones of this hidden rhubarb forcer stand out against the grey of the wall and the intense green of the planting around it.
I have heard people refuse to use green paint or pots in the garden because there’s already a lot of green in it and want a contrasting colour. I quite like this sage green, however.
In the house, you can spot these geraniums on the windowsill. I don’t know the variety, but I like the colours on the leaves.
Of course, I could not leave Hill Top without snapping a photo of the rambling roses!
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