The garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden

Summer highlights in the garden

At this time of year, transformations take place week on week and the differences from one month and the next mean that there's always lots to see during the summer months.

May and June

During May the irises bloom around the garden and these colourful bulbs are a bright start to the summer as they come out in numbers. Look out for varieties such as ‘Black Douglas’ and ‘Beotie’.

Then in June, the Rose Garden comes into full bloom. Vita declared herself to be ‘drunk on roses’ and we hope that when you visit you might find the garden a little intoxicating too.

July and August

The garden is filled with contrasting colours in the height of summer. The Cottage Garden, which is renowned for fiery golden hues, stands in stark contrast to the White Garden, which shimmers with moonlit planting.

September

Towards the end of summer, the sunflowers surge skyward and many of the herbaceous plants such as Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ (sneezeweed), Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ and Hedichyum coccineum ‘Tara’ have a real presence and stature in the borders.

The Cottage Garden is at its height in September, with a jungle-like atmosphere and flowers that creep, climb and clamber through the borders. Every shade of red, orange and yellow is used to create a harmonious but lively colour scheme. Pause on the seat around the trunk of the katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) and breathe in its gloriously sweet scent of toffee. It's the perfect place to stop and take a moment to admire a sunset painted with flowers.

The White Garden

Wander through the White Garden for a refreshing contrast to the more colourful parts of the garden. Vita decided that only the colours of white, green, grey and silver were to be allowed to grow in this garden and it's now one of the most famous areas at Sissinghurst.

The origins

Vita understood that when colour is restricted, the gardener has to focus on creating interest and drama with different shapes, textures and form.

When planning the garden, Harold found some white gladioli, white irises, white pompom dahlias and the white Japanese anemones, which he and Vita both loved. Look out for evidence of his all-important structure here, too – yew and box hedging allow the white flowers and silver foliage to shine out against the dark background.

Documenting the garden's creation

In her plans, Vita imagined ‘a low sea of grey clumps of foliage, pierced here and there with tall white flowers’ and by 1953 she was able to report to her Observer readers how this vision was progressing.

She writes about various grey mounds: artemisia, the silver Cineraria maritima, grey santolina and Achillea ageratifolia. These are pierced with the upright white trumpets of Lilium regale and the white spires of eremurus, foxgloves and delphiniums.

There are shrubs to add volume and structure; Hydrangea grandiflora, a white cistus, Paeonia suffruticosa subsp. Rockii and Buddleia nivea as well as trees such as Hippophae rhamnoides, a Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’ and almond trees lining the central path. The giant Arabian thistle Onopordon arabicum surges up 8 feet into the air, whilst foamy gypsophila softens the planting.

Today, the garden team strives to maintain the White Garden in this way using a mixture of shrubs, roses, perennials and annuals to create interest and drama.

A worthwhile challenge

It was the contrast of all these plants together that created interest for the eye, despite the absence of colour. Vita seemed to relish the challenge, writing:

Delos

Experience a taste of island life as you walk through Delos, the area of the garden named after the Greek island and inspired by Vita and Harold's visits there.

The couple had wanted to emulate the feel of the island both in planting and with a ruined feel but, unfortunately, the Kent climate and the garden's north-facing position proved problematic. This, combined with their limited knowledge of Mediterranean planting, meant that it never really became all they hoped it would be.

A must-see in the garden

Regional Curator Dr Jerzy J Kierkuc-Bielinski highlights a feature of Delos that you shouldn't miss:

'The garden rooms at Sissinghurst contain a number of objects that evoke the worlds of ancient Rome or of ancient Greece. Amongst these, I think that the group of Hellenistic altars from the sacred island of Delos are the most intriguing. What ancient rites or sacrifices were performed at these altars?  

'Harold Nicolson’s ancestor Captain Hamilton fought in the Greek War of Independence during the 1820s. It was he who brought the altars from Delos to Shanganagh Castle in Ireland. From there they would eventually be brought to Sissinghurst by Harold.'