March
The many species of Narcissus which grow throughout the Wild Garden are starting to flower with drifts of the original 19th century daffodils such as ‘Emperor’, ‘Empress’ and ‘Maximus Superbus’ still blooming beautifully and the more recently planted strongly scented jonquils and pretty Narcissus cyclamineus bringing even more interest to the collection.
The sharply cut lines of the surrounding yew hedge and the topiary in the gardens are looking their best after the autumn hedge cutting. In the Walled Garden the espaliered almond tree (Prunus dulcis) is in full flower, stunningly covered in bright pink blossom. In the Glasshouses the peach trees are coming into bloom with some of the Pelargoniums, the pink flowers on both complementing each other.
April
The Magnolia species across the garden are starting to flower with a great display to be seen on the borders of the Tennis Lawn.
Cherry trees in the Wild Garden and espaliered pear trees in Walled Garden are in flower.
Tulips across the garden are flowering with strong reds and apricots close to the house, romantically soft pink and purple colours in the Twin Herbaceous borders and striking flamed flowers in the cut flower beds in the Walled Garden.
The Wild Garden is host to the wonderful snakes-head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris).
April is also host to Godinton’s annual Plant Fair! For more details, please see our events page.
May
The tulip display continues in the Long Border and cut flower beds along-side apple and medlar fruit blossom in the Walled Garden.
The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and the foxglove tree (Paulownia tomentosa), by the Lily Pond, are both in flower with their unusual blooms and are easily spotted and both interesting and beautiful.
The Wisteria sinensis on the south of the House are in flower with their clusters of blue – purple flowers.
Herbaceous peonies (Paeonia lactiflora) are planted along the Long Border and transform from May into June from low growing green foliage into sumptuous balls of beauty.
June
The stunning scented waterfall of Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda ‘Multijuga’) covers the entrance colonnade of the Italian Garden. Flowering slightly later than its Chinese cousin it has racemes of pale mauve flowers up to 1m long.
The collection of bearded and Siberian Irises in the Walled Garden and in different borders around the garden are also putting on their flamboyant show this month making a bright patchwork of colour against the mellow brick walls.
The roses are wonderful this month in both the Rose Garden and the numerous wall trained climbers and shrubs dotted through areas of herbaceous planting in the Long Border. Some roses flower just once in June and then develop beautiful hips, others are ‘repeat flowers’ and their display continues.
The Delphinium elatums growing in the Walled Garden will be looking wonderful with their tall flower spikes in shades of blues, pinks and purples, the occasional white and delightful dark pinks.
The cut flower and vegetable beds in the Walled Garden should be full of annual plants quickly putting on lots of growth and producing fruits, flowers and vegetables successfully.
July
The water lilies (Nymphaea) in the formal Lily Pond, the Wild Garden Pond and the smaller round pond in the Walled Garden are in full flower, the waters are also busy with dragonflies darting above the water.
The herbaceous planting in the Twin Borders is at it’s peak, full of flowers with textured foliage covered in bees and butterflies. Salvia ‘Blue Spire’ (formally Perovskia) dominates the planting in the Italian Garden alongside the self-seeded pretty daisy like flower Erigeron karvinskianus.
From the end of July to mid-August, Godinton is host to an annual Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition. Entry to the exhibition is included in the standard admission price to the garden. For more details please see our events page.
August
The stunningly big flowers of Hibiscus moscheutos on the south terrace close to the House will have been open for a few weeks, but the plants will be at their best now.
The Dahlia species in the Walled Garden will be looking their best and flowering freely with a range of flower shapes and sizes from small pom poms to giant dinner-plate sized all in a range of wonderful colours.
The Twin Herbaceous Beds will be starting to fully embrace shades of orange and yellow from the Rudbeckia spp and Tithonia rotundifolia (to name a couple) of herbaceous perennials coming into their own.
September
The orange and yellow flowers of the red hot pokers (Kniphofia grandiflora) in the Twin Herbaceous Beds are tall and impressive and make a great colour combination with the purple flowers of the Aster novi-belgii.
By the Tennis Lawn, the huge clumps of pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) produce tall plumes of feathery flowers which will remain fluffy and beautiful well into autumn.
The long awaited flowers of the Hylotelephium ‘Autumn Joy’ form large clumps in the Long Border and seedheads of Eryngium and Cardoons (Cynara cardunculus) are statuesque.
October
In the Walled Garden pumpkins, squash and more pumpkins of different varieties grow in the vegetable beds, from small to giant and orange to green to a beautiful light bluey grey.
Beautiful hips are developing across the roses, especially on the roses trained against the walls on the Belvedere and on select roses in the Rose Garden.
Autumn bulbs – nerines, colchicums, amaryllis and sternbergias are all popping up around the borders and some of the leaves on the trees across the garden are starting to develop their autumnal colours.