As Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Platinum Jubilee last week, there’s a new report (yes, a report!) looking at six of Her Majesty’s top private gardens to find the plants, flowers and features the 96-year-old monarch loves most.
With priceless statues, elegant pergolas and woodland walkways, the report found the following: clematis, daffodils, pink and red roses, hedges and herbaceous flower beds are present in all of them.
“It’s fascinating to see the characteristics that make a garden real,” says Sophie Birkert, founder and designer of Screen With Envy, the garden screen company that did the research.
Now, with this list, people will be armed with the information they need to recreate what a real garden looks like at home.
colorful clematis
“The Clematis is the queen of climbers, climbing trellises, climbing arbors and burrowing into other plants,” says Sophie. ‘There are many varieties of the plant in all the palace gardens.’
In Windsor Castle, just outside London, there is even a beautiful purple variety called ‘Prince Philip’, named after the late Prince Philip.
daffodils
“As daffodils are the national flower of Wales, they hold a special place in the Queen’s heart and are found throughout her private gardens,” says Sophie.
“In fact, the Queen had a daffodil of her own created for her in 2012 called the ‘Diamond Jubilee’ Narcissus, and other varieties of flowers also created in her honour.
real roses
«The Queen’s love for roses it is well known. At Windsor Castle, there are more than 3,000 rose bushes planted in a geometric pattern,” says Sophie.
We learned that there are 25 different quadrants in Buckingham Palace Gardens in central London, and each contains 60 rose bushes of the same color and variety, with each type of rose chosen for its fragrance and color.
‘These are red and pink roses that appear in all of Her Majesty’s gardens,’ says Sophie, ‘as opposed to orange, white and yellow, which appear in 83.33% of gardens.’
Hedge (or hedge)
“Hedges not only look great in the Queen’s royal gardens, but they are also very practical, helping to add privacy to the vast spaces,” says Sophie.
At Sandringham House in Norfolk, there are colorful plants surrounded by immaculate hedges, including yew trees.
“At Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, Walled Garden keeper Adam Ferguson says he has reimagined the feature by incorporating a symmetrical structural covering to introduce color and emotion to the space,” adds Sophie.
green edges
“From the 156-meter herbaceous garden border at Buckingham Palace to the beautiful herbaceous borders of Sandringham House Garden designed by the late landscape architect Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, this traditional style of cottage garden is a must-have in any royal garden,” says Sophie.
‘The edges are a display of color from reds, oranges and yellows to blues, mauves and complete sensory overload. From delphiniums and phloxes to daylilies and heleniums, there are plenty of ideas for your own space.’
*Via gardeningetc