Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Walmer castle – the woods and the vegetable garden

When you leave Walmer castle’s ornamental garden, you can either walk straight into the woods, which we did for a short while, or head for the greenhouses and the vegetable garden.



In the woods we saw this very peculiar ivy tree.


'Albino' ivy?

At first sight it looked quite common, but then I noticed these white spots among the branches. I thought it was just some dead leaves, but when I took a closer look, I saw that they were in fact ‘albino’ leaves. Instead of having a mainly dark green ‘body’ and just a tiny white rim, the ‘body’ was creamy-white with a single, narrow dark green line in the middle. Very pretty! I wonder whether it would be possible to have a complete ‘albino’ ivy tree.

The castle, a section of the vegetable garden
and an impressive hedge shielding the garden from the cold wind.

In the vegetable garden we had fun challenging each other to identify the different plants. In some cases we were at a complete loss, but most of the time we managed, among the three of us, to recognize and name the different species.

 There were fruit trees too. Very appetizing looking apples.

Artichokes, beans, cabbages ...

Are you hungry yet?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want a garden like that. I wonder how many gardeners work there.

Susan said...

The hedge is fab, isn't it. Did you see the auricula theatre at the end of the formal pool?

Craig said...

That hedge is awesome! We're about to have our new back garden done and a corner has been set aside for a vegetable garden. Now how do I get Clive to create one like that?! :)

Leon Sims said...

The hedge is magnificent - ooops, I'm feeling sea-sick.
Leon

Bob said...

Looks like my comment disappeared. Anyway, the hedges are neat. It looks like rolling hills!!

ladybird said...

Dedene, I only saw one, but I'm sure there must be several.

Susan, Yes I did see the theatre. It was very elegant. Sounds to me like you have been to Walmer castle :)?

Craig, Poor Clive ... Good luck with the veggy garden!

Leon, lol!

Bob, Blogger sometimes 'eats' comments. Don't ask me why.
You're right, the hedge looks like green rolling hills.

Niall & Antoinette said...

I'd love a veggie garden like that! But the effort...nee niets voor mij--lekker naar de markt. Veel makkelijker :-) Antoinette

ladybird said...

Antoinette, I wouldn't mind pottering a vegetable garden and picking the results of my efforts. Maybe that's because my grandfather was a professional gardener :) - Maar ik houd ook van verse marktgroentjes, vooral als ze bio zijn!