Secret gardens appeal to us for different reasons. Perhaps it is the sense  of past experiences, happy, tragic, or romantic, that may have been acted out within the enclosing garden walls that intrigues us. Sometimes The Secret Garden is usually bordered by trellis, fence, or stone walls, or may be  a “garden created within a garden”. These secret places, with fountains, arbours and walks are usually planted with roses, and other fragrant flowers. So true is their design, that even when filled with people, the sense of romantic seclusion in The Secret Garden is evident.

Historically, the Italians had their “giardino secreto”, but these intimate enclosures were not introduced to England until Tudor and Stuart times. Later replaced by landscape gardens and  elaborate parterres, they experienced a revival in the Edwardian area, and are popular still.

The Secret Garden, today, would be invisible to prying eyes, totally unexpected, and only accessible through a door in a wall or fence that would give no clue to the garden which lies beyond. In The  Secret Garden the outside world is to be forgotten, wholly inward looking, having a dream like atmosphere which permits the imagination to take flight.

Fragrance is  a very important component of The Secret Garden. The perfume of scented flowers arouses memories or sweet nostalgia. In the spring the grass, crocus, scilla, muscari, narcissus, and tulips bloom with ornamental plums, cherry,  and apple blossoms. Lily of the valley, violets, iris, lilacs, and peonies follow. Honeysuckle, lilies, sweet geranium, lemon verbena, thyme, and finally the roses bloom. The combination of beauty and fragrance of the rosemacts irresistably upon our senses and is more than any other, the flower of romance.

In the gardens of today The Secret Garden may well have a place, providing a tranquil retreat from the bustle of modern life, or the perfect setting for romance.

Favourite Rose Gardens Visited
Mottisfont Abbey, Hampshire
Queen Mary’s Rose Garden, Regents Park, London
Jardin du Bagatelle, Paris
Botanic Garden, Christchurch and Dunedin, NZ
Viceroy’s Palace, New Delhi, India

Favourite Rose Artist
Pierre Joseph Redoute (accent) “Les Roses”

Favourite Rose Quote
“and I shall make thee beds of roses, and a thousand fragrant posies”
~ C. Marlowe ~
*pic WWS Best Booth Award for Bed of Roses

Favourite Rose Fragance
“Evelyn” by Crabtree & Evelyn

Favourite Rose Breeders
David Austin Roses, Wolverhampton,UK 2010
introduced “Susan Williams-Ellis” and “Princess Anne”
www.davidaustenroses.com
and
Peter Beales, Norfolk, UK 2010
introduced “Beatrix Potter”
www.classicroses.co.uk

Favourite Place To See
Chelsea Flower Show, and Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, London, UK

Favourite Rose
Abraham Darby, Evelyn, Heritage, Radio Times by D. Austin

Famous Secret Gardens Visited
Hidcote,  and Barnsley House, Gloucestershire. Sissinghurst, Kent
Munstead Wood, Surrey
Great Dixter,Sussex
Museum Of Garden History, London

Favourite Book
The Secret Garden, Francis Hodgson Burnett, garden books by Gertrude Jekyll

Favourite Secret Garden
My Secret Garden

Favourite New Service at My Secret Garden
SECRET GARDEN DELIVERED