Enchanted Garden

A blustery Sunday in February took me to Chirk Castle where I walked in dappled sunlight and sprinkles of rain through its beautiful gardens with my guide Head Gardener David Lock.

The castle hugs the hillside overlooking extensive landscaped grounds to the east of the fortress combining formal structured gardens with wilder bosky areas.

The entrance to this enchanted place is via huge iron gates which lead to a pathway lined with carved topiary.

 

Immaculate statues, Lucchesi nymphs softly draped in cast bronze, wait patiently for the hour when they can awaken from their static pose to glide gracefully across the dew-laden lawns their lustrous skin shimmering in the moonlight.

 

The sorceress Taccus baccata leans against the prevailing wind, arms outstretched and tangled hair streaming behind, the fuzz of new yew growth covering her wizened bony body.

Sinuous rhododendron trunks form into twisted limbs of a witch, silently sashaying through the boscage.

 

The Miscanthus sinensis maidens murmur in drifts as their feathery villus is caught by the breeze.

Woodland fay hand-colour the faded sepia of hydrangea a pale duck egg blue to incite the coming of Spring. 

 

Three giant spectres guard the terrace which overlooks the borrowed landscape of Shropshire and beyond. 

The turfed incline and retaining wall of the ha-ha act as a recessed barrier over which potential invaders cannot cross, cleverly protecting the garden and all its inhabitants. 

Galanthus nivalis nymphs sway as they meander across the woodland floor, winter sunbeams lighting up their demure white heads.

The sunshine yellow spiders of Hamamelis mollis, spill out of suede textured buds like strips of sticky, crumpled tissue paper.  A mass of tiny golden explosions, their spicy fragrance fills the air.

Galanthus 'Sam Arnott', shelters in the corner against the chapel wall; a thousand white moths, flawless, hang quietly in repose ready to take flight at the slightest breath of wind.