I found this stunning blue flower amongst the wildflowers planted up near yesterday’s gravel garden. It’s rare to find truly blue flowers – in fact my photo makes it look more purple than it was in real life. It stood out vividly among the more common pinks, whites and purples, and the fact I caught a bumble bee in the middle cemented this as inspiration for a colourway before I’d even returned home to review my photos.
This area of garden is in the middle of the gravel path leading away the house and towards the kitchen garden. I tried to pick out some of the purples and yellows in the flowers, while leaving some of the natural cream or grey of the yarn to represent the gravel.
The Parterre is the formal garden to the side of the house. The area is planted differently depending on the time of year. This particular photo was taken in late summer, and shows a mainly foliage based planting scheme, with a few small splashes of colour. You can see the fields and larger trees of the wider estate beyond.
Many of Kingston Lacy’s trees are old and large. This unfortunately means they sometimes get damaged by high winds. Tree stumps are home to a huge array of plants, insects and fungi, so as long as they are safe, are left to decay naturally. I didn’t want to use more brown in this colourway so I took inspiration from the shadowy greens of the ivy and plant life on and around the tree stump.
Just off the path away from the house there is a small area called the Fernery. It’s a shady spot which in the spring is carpeted with snowdrops. Amongst the stone walls and ferns there is this small pond with a cheerful bubbling fountain. The vibrant green of the duckweed was the perfect inspiration for a colourway.
Part of the Kingston Lacy gardens are Japanese themed. There is a large area with lots of bamboo. This area is also a designated silent area, letting people enjoy the sounds of nature without interruptions from modern technology or loud conversations. It’s a lovely peaceful area to wander through to relax.
There are trees of all shapes and sizes at Kingston Lacy. There is a Japanese area full of acers and you can imagine just how pretty it looks in the autumn. Rather than take inspiration from one area in particular, I photographed a selection of trees and based the colourway off of that.
First, an apology for the spelling mistake on the label for today. I only noticed when it was far too late! The greenhouses in the kitchen garden at Kingston Lacy were, and still are, used for propagating a large number of plants. As you would expect, I’ve taken a lot of inspiration for the colourways in the calendar from the various plants and flowers in the extensive gardens. I needed more neutral colours, so I started looking in more unusual… Read More »Kingston Lacy Advent Day 5: Propagation
You may remember if you read yesterday’s post that Kingston Lacy House was originally built from red brick which was covered over in the 1800s. The stable block, which is where the National Trust café is now located, remains in the original red brick.
While the original house at Kingston Lacy was built from red Brick, during it’s refurbishment in the early 1800s it was faced with local Chilmark stone. The chimneys at the corners were also added at this time.