Appreciation: Out and About

Discussion in 'How's It Growing?' started by wcutler, May 24, 2020.

  1. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    I have just found this Carpinus betulus Hornbeam I photographed at Petworth in Sussex in England. There are so many questions on the forums asking, "Will my tree survive"?.
    Well have a look at this one and you will see they really can. Petworth house Sussex (3).JPG
    So much character, why would you want to lose it!! The Bonsai members amongst us would love to have something like this to display.
     
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  2. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Is the weeping willow actually growing in the water as it looks?

    That hornbeam is incredible!
     
  3. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, good afternoon Margot, no it's right on the edge of the lake side. Perfect place for a Willow.
     
  4. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    That's so interesting to see for the starkness of the scene on that face of the house in contrast to what I assume is what people see looking out from the house.
     
  5. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @wcutler, I agree the house is quite stark on the outside, but not inside. The views are not too bad though !!!

    Another one tomorrow!!!
     
  6. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    This is a nicer looking stately home we visited with a lovely Cedar to the right. It doesn't frame the house, but draws your attention to it. We also like the way the planting of trees gradually lead your eyes across the amazing vista.
    It is Dyrham Park in Wiltshire England.
     

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  7. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    How fortunate you are to be able to visit so many of these wonderful, historic places! It's great to be introduced to them by you because I know I'll never see a one in person. Still, it's a lot of fun to look them up online and read their history. Thank you.
     
  8. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, you are very welcome Margot. I feel the same about photos you and others share on this thread and Virtual Garden that I will never see in person.
    We are so very lucky in this day and age that we can do this. So 'thankyou' also.

    Another one from me tomorrow.
     
  9. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Good morning, I thought today I would add my photos of a well placed Lebanese Cedar at a National trust property in Devon we visited. 'Knightshayes Court '.
    This house and gardens will be familiar to Maple Society members from the 2019 visit.
     

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  10. Nik

    Nik Contributor

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    Hi D, several years back I visited Chatsworth. The gardens were impressive. That’s probably an understatement. I have always looked at such places as an inspiration, but there is no wonder such estates did not last as households, they are just so unnecessarily enormous. Beautiful museums though, and a constant emblem of inequality in the not so distant past.
     
  11. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Nik, couldn't agree more N, in their day it was about saying "look what we have". But the landscapes are just beautiful. I find myself staring out of the windows in all the stately homes we visit. I do find the interiors a bit suffocating tbh. Glad you enjoyed Chatsworth, the fountain is rather spectacular also.
    Pride and Prejudice ( film version) was filmed their. These houses are ideal for period TV dramas.
     
  12. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    I found this quote on Wikipedia: Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house of moderate size."

    I wonder how many square feet it is.
     
  13. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, Moderate !!!! I wonder what big is then, lol.
     
  14. Nik

    Nik Contributor

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    From Wikipedia:
    Chatsworth's garden attracts around 300,000 visitors a year. It has a complex blend of different features from six different centuries and covers 105 acres (0.42 km2). The garden is surrounded by a wall 1.75 miles (2.8 km) long. It sits on the eastern side of the valley of the Derwent River and blends into the landscape of the surrounding park, which covers 1,000 acres (4.0 km2). The woods on the moors to the east of the valley form a backdrop to the garden. There is a staff of approximately 20 full-time gardeners.
     
  15. Nik

    Nik Contributor

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    “At 124,600 square feet, the house made it into the 1966 Guinness World Record as the largest private home in Britain. Its 606-foot façade is nearly twice as long as Buckingham Palace’s, and the interiors are a magnificent maze spanning several wings, more than 300 rooms and about five miles of corridors.” from Forbes.
     
  16. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Out of all the stately homes we have visited, Chatsworth is up there with the very best. If not the best!!! Blenheim palace is rather special also. They are from another age that will never return. So we look on them as museums as Nik rightly says. At least these days we can visit and share the beauty, unlike when these estates were out of bounds to the average person.
     
  17. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    This must be Chatsworth you're describing. A tad larger than Knightshayes Court, the 'moderately-sized house' Nikolaus Pevsner described (#162 above).

    Yes, I think I'd be more comfortable in Knightshayes; cozier for sure but large enough that my husband and I wouldn't be tripping over each other all the time.
     
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  18. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, I know Chatsworh is so very big, but inside it is absolutely amazing. If there was one stately home to visit if you ever venture to England, then this is the one. We wandered around the estate for hours and still did not see all we wanted on one visit. Knightshayes inside is not all that special and IMO a little bit depressing. But the gardens and that's all I go there for, are lovely and the views over the Devon countryside make you stare and just really unwind.

    Do have a look at the film version of Pride and Prejudice ( Kiera Knightly ) version. Not as good as the BBC version in my opinion, but you get to see Chatsworth. The BBC version shows Lyme Park as the stately home of Mr Darcy, we loved that estate also.
    Sorry for going on, I just love these country estates.
     
  19. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    I wish I had the opportunity to visit them as you do. I tend to romanticize old buildings generally whether they be old houses, churches, stores or barns and try to imagine what the area (and the world) was like when they were newly built. Unlike England, old structures here are usually less than 120 years old. Things certainly have changed in that time however but few people are interested in preserving reminders of the past - especially where land values are so high.
     
  20. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    We tend to lose ourselves in these beautiful places, a little bit of escapism. We are fortunate I agree. Then we are brought back down to reality in a world of graffiti, crime and wanton damage to the countryside etc etc. But that's another story.
    I don't like the destruction of history either. But as you say land prices and an ever increasing world population will dictate how we progress.
    So romanticize as much as you like Margot, my wife does the same, she calls it her bubble.
     
  21. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    I thought today that a hot border and a cool Beech tree walk would be suitable during this extreme heat. Both of my photos at Hinton Ampnor in England. The small church at the end is Norman. Hope you like the Norman church,. Not a bad folly to have in the garden !!!
     

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  22. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Today I thought I would show some clever planting of shrubs and Ivy around Hever Castle in England. The moat is picturesque but of no defensive use at all.
    This was the home of Anne Boleyn. My wife and I stayed here in the Anne Boleyn suite in 2019. 'No ghosts' !!! I think.
     

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  23. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Today I thought I would add some photos of Greys Court in Oxfordshire England we visited. The photos of the house can be seen online, but these are my photos of the surrounding gardens with the obligatory folly and Cedar.
     

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  24. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Today I thought my theme would be beauty after death. I took these photos of our visit to the Winkworth Arboretum in England.
    Just because a tree no longer has leaves it doesn't deter from its beauty IMO. Even a sculpture in the dead wood can give an interest to children.
    I've also added a photo of the wonderful lake and for @Frog and @Nik some fungi on a dead log.
     

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  25. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    What really appealed to me in that posting (posting # 172), which I thought was farther back than it is, is the expanse of unmowed grass, in contrast to all these photos showing huge mowed lawns. I thought of this posting last weekend when I drove past Queen Elizabeth park and saw what I think is Fagus sylvatica 'Purple Fountain' standing out against the uncut hay-coloured grass along the north side of the park, just past the entrance from Midlothian Ave. I want to post this in the Fagaceae forum, so I'll just post this one photo here.
    Faugs-sylvaticaPurpleFountain_QEPark-MidlothianEntrance_Cutler_20200809_151902.jpg
     
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