Penshurst Place Garden Evening

Last week I was invited to a champagne reception at Penshurst Place followed by a talk with Head Gardener, Cory Furness. As I stood in the magnificent Barons Hall surrounded by paintings and tapestries displaying English pastural scenes, sipping on a never-ending supply of bucks fizz and eating nibbles (the parmesan bites were incredibly moorish),  my mind wandered to those who may have stood on the flagstones before me.  Could Queen Elizabeth I have dined in this awe inspiring hall?  Her visits to Penshurst seem to have been well documented, and a painting is on display in the house showing her dancing with Robert Dudley.  A scene that fuels the speculation of the Royal affair.  Could that image have been set in the medieval hall where I was standing?  Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had definitely visited as a painting hanging in the hall depicts her being received by Viscount De L’Isle, and of course The cast of The Other Bolyen Girl and BBC's Merlin had filmed under the impressive 60ft-high chestnut-beamed roof.  My feet could have been tracing the gorgeous Eric's Bana's footsteps.  

As for all special occasions held in this stunning fourteenth century hall, violet neon shafts of light lit up a display of antlers on the wall opposite to the Minstrels Gallery, turning the bleached branch-like structures into contemporary sculptures.  Magic!!!!! I was really enjoying the evening and 'feeling' the grandeur. 

Barons Hall

Magic under Chestnut Ceiling

After the champagne reception, we were led by the Head Gardener through the gardens and to the restored double herbaceous borders where he talked of the redesign.  Not being a gardener myself I was surprised at the complexity of producing such displays and Cory, with all his professional wisdom and enthusiasm, explained the two year process that the team had undergone to produce this renaissance of vibrant display.  The colours followed the Humphry Repton's principle that hot colours should graduate through to warm shades with the cool tints in the distance, and it works beautifully drawing the eye through the variation of colours from reds to cool blues.

Well, this really was an unforgettable evening and I learned so much about colour and structural planning of plants.  Cory's enthusiasm was infectious and  I left Penshurst Place full of aspiration and eagerness, together with glimmers to redesign my own small, but potentially beautiful, town garden.  Now where's that bottle of wine ... I need to sit outside and do some planning!!!!!

 

Cory Furness - Head Gardener

New Borders

The Hot Colours

The Blue Hues