Four Seasons in One Day

The gardens at Betley Court have been subject to literally four seasons in a day this past week! Whilst the sunny spells have brought out the spring flowers, the short periods of almost gales force winds have brought down a good amount of dead wood that the winter storms missed. Daffodils in less sheltered areas have taken quite a battering! With our Bluebell Walk event just a few weeks away we are keeping an eye on the bluebell woods, to see if their peak will coincide with the weekend. Fingers crossed!

Tickets for our upcoming events can be found on our EVENTS PAGE on the Betley Court website.

Bluebell Walk Weekend: 

29^th & 30^th April 2023, 2-5pm. Tickets available on the day at the gate or book online.

Restoration Tour

Nigel and Su in one of the derelict rooms of Betley Court

There are a few tickets left for our next Restoration Tour on 23^rd April 2023. Join Nigel for a tour of the house to see what our plans are for the next stage of the rebuild. Tickets are £10 pp, and MUST be PREBOOKED. Over 12s only. Check for ticket availability HERE.

In the Gardens

Tanya, tackling the Hypericum overgrowing the steps (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

Out in the gardens, the oncoming spring has inspired us to turn our attention to the formal areas of the grounds. Until a few weeks ago, the raised terrace, designed by Victorian landscape designer William Barron was shrouded in scaffolding and wrapping. Once that had been removed, our handymen, Shane and Melvyn started picking over the grass and ruined borders, gathering demolition rubble. It’s shocking how much debris from the fire is still embedded in the ground – we’re well on the way to filling yet another skip!

It's a dogs life for Mabel (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

As the lawns around the front of the house are cleared, Tanya, our garden volunteer (ably assisted by Mabel, our emotional support dog!) and I have been tidying up the front steps. In our absence (following the fire in 2019), shrubby Hypericum calycinum, commonly known as Rose of Sharon or St John’s Wort has grown quite woody. Due to its invasive nature, it can be a problematic shrub, so Tanya and I have been giving it what we like to call, “a severe haircut” and cutting it back to the ground, allowing ground level shoots access to light, air and rainfall. It’s a drastic but regenerative treatment, but as Tanya likes to say pragmatically, “it’ll either live or it won’t”.

The resuolts of the 'severe haircut' on the Hypericum calycinum (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

We’ve also decorated the steps with pots of tulips, pansies, herbs and Japanese euonomous Euonomous japonica. Its all helping to make the place look more cared for.

Purple tulips, pansies and primulars (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

Pansies and Euonimous japonica (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

The cleaned up steps and pot (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

One of the other spring jobs Tanya and I need to do is plant out the young Halesia carolina I grew from a cutting from our ancient snowdrop tree. Regular readers will remember that this tree was discussed on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners Question Time, when Nigel asked the GQT what we could do with our ancient specimen on its last legs. Chris Beardshaw (he of the twinkly blue eyes, and award-winning garden designs) enthused about this species, recommending it should be grown out in the open as an attention-seeking specimen. His fellow panellist, Bunny Guinness, also known for her award-winning show gardens advised us on how to propagate from our snowdrop tree.

Halesia carolina at the edge of the formal gardens (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

We have successfully raised three cuttings from the original tree, and they overwintered in the gap to the side of the garden shed. It’s time to plant out now, and a spot has been identified (Nigel favours a gap to the side of the late walnut tree that inhabited the formal lawn). All we need to do is find the time!

Our three new Halesia carolina trees(photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

When taking the cuttings, I became interested in how a tree species from Carolina (the second word in its Latin binomial gives the clue to its origins) came to be in an English country garden a couple of centuries ago. I found myself delving into the history of the plant hunters who brought plants back from the New World.

John Bartram, American botanist (1699-1777)

Back in January 1743, it seems and enterprising cloth merchant Peter Collinson received a cargo consignment from John Bartram, an American botanist, back in January 1743. The cargo was made up from seeds of native North American plant species. Over the following decades, Collinson and others like him instigated a boom in interest in flowers and trees from North America, creating nurseries and greenhouses, and propagating these new plants so that garden owners could indulge in their passion for plant collecting. The trade saw a back-and-forth across the Atlantic, with seeds leaving Great Britain to satisfy America’s growing love of English-style gardens too.

Halesia carolina in bloom (photo:Schneeglöckchenstrauch Halesia carolina – Ginkgo Gardens)

Bartram collected seeds of Halesia carolina from native North and South Carolina, and they were introduced to Europe in 1756. Collinson mentioned Halesia carolina plants for sale for the first time in 1764. It quickly became popular due to its drooping clusters of white bell-shaped flowers, giving rise to its common name Carolina silverbell, and is a favouirte for woodland gardens.

The ancient trunk of the Halesia carolina. The gnarly old part in the centre is over two feet wide (photo Ladybird Su/Su Hurrell)

We have no way of knowing when our Halesia carolina was planted at Betley Court. The trunk is massive and gnarled, so it may well have stooled from the original plant (where new growth pops up from the rim of the decaying original trunk) It is a good size, perhaps 2 feet across at its widest, so we can tell it is some age. It was fashioable for well-to-do people to plant unusual plants to show how worldly they were. And happily our silverbell treet has made it through another winter. In a couple of weeks, we will be treated to another display of dainty white bells, hopefully. But just in case, we have three heirs to the throne, to carry on Halesia carolina’s presence in the gardens.

All best wishes

Ladybird Su