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f Mottisfont by Annie Bullen<br />
David Stone, head gardener<br />
roses correctly,’ says David. ‘He discovered<br />
and identified many, including the true<br />
musk rose which had been muddled with<br />
another climber and a Portland rose called<br />
Indigo thought to be lost to cultivation.’<br />
Step through the doorway in the rosecovered<br />
wall that leads to the first rose<br />
garden, and it’s hard to know where to turn.<br />
A path runs round the perimeter, in front of<br />
deep box-lined beds under the high brick<br />
walls. Straight paths bisect the main central<br />
beds with their lawns at each quarter of the<br />
plot. A round pond and fountain<br />
surrounded by eight clipped Irish yews lies<br />
at the centre of the garden. The pinkflowered<br />
rambler Rosa ‘Raubritter’ billows<br />
over the side of the pond and this is a good<br />
place to sit awhile, absorbing the colour and<br />
scent.<br />
The perimeter walk, lined by neatly clipped<br />
box, turns gently between rose-filled beds.<br />
Ramblers and climbers are trained on the<br />
brick walls.<br />
The four large main beds are filled with<br />
soft-coloured, low-growing plants. Taller<br />
specimens, such as Echinops ritro, Centaurea<br />
ruthenica, Crambe cordifolia, Aruncus and<br />
Lavatera, Perovskia stand at the ends of<br />
borders, while the roses in the middle are<br />
underplanted with stachys, sedum, hardy<br />
geraniums, catmint, pinks, campanula, aster,<br />
phlox, saponaria, sea holly, iris and many<br />
other good varieties of traditional<br />
perennials.<br />
In <strong>June</strong>, when the roses are in full flower,<br />
tall white foxgloves (the biennial Digitalis<br />
purpurea f. albiflora) keep them company, so<br />
that the shape of the roses is perfectly<br />
outlined against the white spires.<br />
The second rose garden, opened in 1987 has<br />
a different feel, with its wider paths covered<br />
with grey slate chips, its lavender-edged beds<br />
and its central bower featuring the ramblers<br />
‘Bleu Magenta’ and ‘Debutante’, standards<br />
of ‘Little White Pet’ and a central planting<br />
of ‘Reine des Violettes’.<br />
‘There is much pleasure to be had from<br />
Mottisfont outside <strong>June</strong>,’ says David, ‘but<br />
our collection of roses is at the heart of the<br />
garden.’ V<br />
Mottisfont Abbey is signposted off the A3057<br />
between Romsey and Stockbridge. Call 01794<br />
340757 or visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk<br />
and follow the links for details of admission<br />
charges and opening times.<br />
Box hedges enclose the rose beds<br />
gardening v<br />
The first rose garden at Mottisfont<br />
Iris and foxgloves are perfect partners<br />
47<br />
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