White Has It All!

General Interest

Waterford, south-east Ireland, 19th June 2021

“Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.”
― Coco Chanel

There were two occasions during this past week when happenchance gave me a gardening activity I really enjoy. The first was with snowdrops and the second with erythroniums. On both occasions I noticed the snouts sticking out of the ground, a sure indication that the bulbs below were congested and needed to be lifted and replanted with a little space. The snowdrop was one I found a few years ago and, while I had expected to find eight to ten bulbs, there was around thirty instead, so a very pleasant surprise. There were two “small” clumps of the erythroniums which turned out to be over a hundred tubers when I lifted them. They were in a bed which I had extended a little only recently so I had plenty of room for them. I find this a very pleasant and enjoyable activity. By its nature it is a slow and easy job, physically undemanding, mentally relaxing and a time to appreciate what we have and to imagine what we will have in the future. It’s a time to stop and enjoy the garden.

In that vein, my look back at this week in the garden will be a little more relaxed with none of the listing of work done and all of simply enjoying the garden. I won’t even stretch myself to the whole garden but will remain in a small area, The White Garden, which the Head Gardener has made over the past number of year.

I have put two slideshows together. The first shows various views of The White Garden and the second is a selection of plants grown there. I already realise I have left out a number but there are enough to give you a good sense of what is growing there.

The Views:

The Plants:

The White Appendix:

Waking early and lying in bed allows thoughts to creep in to the old head. I wrote the above last evening – something to do while Gardeners’ World was on the television! – and as I lay in bed this morning my mind wandered back to The White Garden and to the plants I hadn’t included and I felt I should try to add them now. Believe it or not, I couldn’t find a photograph of the delphiniums there and there are a small number I couldn’t recall and I wasn’t going to wake The Head Gardener to ask her – she needs her rest after all the work she does in the garden. So, here you have a few more of the plants in The White Garden:

Click on the first photograph to begin a slideshow of larger images:

I’m sharing this blog with a group of fellow bloggers who contribute to a “Six on Saturday” theme which is hosted by “The Propagator”. To read more contributions go to The Propagator’s entry for today, scroll down to the comments and you will find other bloggers have posted links to their Saturday entries there. Lots to read!

Published by Paddy Tobin

A keen amateur gardener. Interested in wildflowers with a particular interest in native Irish orchids.

Published

27 thoughts on “White Has It All!”

  1. We were talking about hymenocallis but I must say that all your white flowers are just as pretty: Your lilliums regale are ahead of mine which should soon bloom.
    I also do like the Diplarrena moraea that I didn’t know and what a choice of white flowers you have!

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  3. I like it that you have a hedge growing round your White Room, it shows off the blooms, and encloses the area too. The design is perfect. As for the blooms, you will not be surprised that I have written down the name of Primula ‘Dawn Ansell’. Many thanks Paddy for showing us this attractive area of your garden.

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  4. Thank you for this tour! Your Head Gardener has created a lovely, serene garden. The variety of shapes and textures with the occasional hints of color are wonderful.

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  7. Fabulous, completely love the white room and I am going to have to come back for another visit to take in all the plants. The watsonia has caught my eye immediately. Thank you for a great virtual tour!

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    1. I’m afraid I don’t have a cultivar name for the watsonia – a single bulb given to us years ago.. Watsonias grow very very well for us, almost too well as them make large clumps and are difficult to lift and divide.

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  12. This area must be especially lovely in the evenings – that’s when I appreciate white the most in the garden – and you have such a great selection of white-flowered plants, hats off to the Head Gardener.

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  14. It’s a shame peonies don’t flower for longer, ‘Jan van Leeuwan’ is lovely, but so is the Veronicastrum, and Watsonia. I think I may be more fond of white flowers than of white gardens, all the same.

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    1. ‘Jan van Leeuwan’ is one that flowers for longer than most and produces a huge number of flowers – Mary always thins out the flowers by at least half as there are so many.

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    1. Shhhhhh! I made a mistake there. The fuchsia in the white garden is ‘Hawkshead’. This has a similar general growing habit and the same kind of small flower but is white!

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  17. Gosh Paddy, the White Garden is really beautiful! I visited your garden when it was in its infancy soI really enjoyed seeing how it has matured! Well done to Mary for the careful choosing of suitable plants along with the perfect formality of the design! Your photos bring it all to life, particularly the one with is it evening shadows?

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