Autumnal Hydangeas

Back home from our short break the glorous weather continued - at least for a while. Taking advantage of it we headed to Darley Park for a last look at the hydrangea garden before it closed at the end of October. 

We last visited at the beginning of September but one thing I love about local gardens is being able to watch them change through the seasons as if they were your own garden.

Colours have, of course, changed - many of the white flowers have turned pink, bright reds to a dusky magenta, some plants have leaves which turn a dark red with the approach of autumn. 

Having such an extensive array of hydrangeas is an ideal opportunity to pick which you'd have in your garden. It's a pity there are no sales here but at there are lists of local stockists and as all the plants are labelled you can check their availability. My garden is sadly too crowded for new plants of any description.

 

August

 August seemed to be a quiet month but rushed past; part of the time being spend hiding from the heat, part sheltering from rain.

My grandson came to stay for a few days and we decided to sign him up as a (junior) National Trust member so we could take part in their Summer of Play events. These were being held almost everywhere but we just did the rounds of our local Trust properties - Kedleston Hall, Belton Hall, and Calke Abbey. (Technically the last one took place in September, but it was part of the summer holiday vibe so it belongs here). My favourite location was Calke, as the volunteers had turned a huge area into a field of activities. My grandson's favourite activity? Maybe hobby horse racing or just banging on the improvised musical instruments (at Calke a string of poles of differing lengths, at Kedleston a rope of different size and weight metal watering cans)

It was all a lot of fun, and we did get to see a little of the quieter gardens and a very rapid tour of Belton House.

We didn't have any holidays planned for this month but did take some little jaunts locally - to the hydrangeas at Darley Park in Derby, to Carsington Water, and back to Kedleston Hall for a harp and tabla performance by Tala Tareng

Hydrangeas

A couple of weeks ago I headed over to Darley Park to see the hydrangea garden which is looking fabulous this year.

In hot, dry summers hydrangeas can look a little worse for wear, but they've obviously loved the rain we've had this year; the plants look so lush and green, and their flowers exuberant.

There seems to have been a little change in the overall planting scheme since my last visit, now grouping by colour and shape, and giving emphasis to the peniculata varieties.

This comparatively small space, a walled garden tucked away where you might easily miss it, is the home to the National Collection of hydrangeas so every shape and colour is there.

 The sun came out, the day warmed up, and it was a delightful afternoon.

Darley hydrangeas and wildlife garden

I've been hoping to get along to Derby hydrangea garden all summer, but the weather seemed against me - either too hot or too wet - plus, with the garden being situated in Darley Park which is a popular place over the school holidays, the one occasion I tried to visit the car park was full. So I waited till the school term had started and the park was quieter.

This walled garden in a secluded corner of the main park is home to a huge collection of  hydrangeas of  different size, shape and colour.

Some of the smaller plants were looking a bit burned out by the previous week's late burst of summer but, although we're on the cusp of autumn, many larger specimens were still flowering well.

One of the charming things about hydrangeas is the way their colours change over the summer. At this point in the season their blooms are turning duskier, more subdued that their brash pinks and reds of early summer.

There aren't just hydrangeas to be seen here. Just outside the walled garden is an ares given over to wildlife gardening.

Some of the flowers are dying back now but verbena, cosmos, and this sky-high rudbeckia were still bringing colour to the area. 

With high walls sheltering it this is a lovely area to just sit and soak up the sun.

 

Autumnal hydrangeas

Not far from home, in a corner of Darley Park, there's a walled garden dedicated to the National Collection of Hydrangeas. It's a place I've visited frequently in summer, but a sunny day last week seemed like the perfect opportunity to check it out in autumn. 

I'd half expected that it might look drab and dull - after all it IS autumn - but I was pleasantly surprised.

I remember hydrangeas grown by my mother which just turned brown or beige in autumn but these hadn't; while their colours had obviously changed and muted over the weeks there was still a range of dusky pinks, reds, mauves, and purples.

Some, like this particular one, even had the various stages of colours - moving from white to pink to green/soft red.

And some even have stunning foliage, as bright and colourful as the flowers.

Every time I visit I realise there's a lot more to hydrangeas than the pink mop-heads I remember from childhood.