Jo's News & Views No 9 September 2026

4 hours ago

3 min read

Hello Everyone

As the drought continues the small amount of rain we have had recently just isn't enough and I think we will all face losses in our gardens this year.

However there are areas of the garden at Myddelton that have continued to do well and the bed outside the Old Conservatory is one, photo 1. Inside, the magnificent Senna septemtrionalis, the Arsenic bush, has flowered, photo 2. The flowers are a beautiful deep yellow, photo 3. Also here is this lovely Passiflora capsularis, a passionflower, photo 4. Its small delicate white flowers are vanilla scented and they are followed by reddish purple fruits, which are not edible, photo 5.

At this time of year the Colchicums are appearing around the garden, photos 6 and 7. In the border on the New River Lawn there is a clump of Arundo donax, the giant reed, photo 8. This is another plant from the Mediterranean area and seems to have enjoyed the hot summer. On the pergola at the start of the Rose Garden I found the Wisteria was flowering again, photo 9. I am not sure if knows it's September? On the Tulip Terrace the Summer bedding has continued to brighten up the border there, photo 10.

In the Hollow Lawn the leaves of my favourite tree, the Ginkgo biloba, also known as the Maidenhair tree, are just beginning to turn a soft buttery yellow, photo 11. The area around the tree is underplanted with cyclamen, photo 12.

By the Pond the Taxodium distichum, the Swamp cypress, is looking a little dejected without its usual water supply, photos 13 and 14. What I did notice though were these unusual bumps that have appeared around the trunk of the tree, photo 15. I don't think I've ever seen them before so had to research them. Apparently they are known as Cypress knees and they are believed to be a type of aerial root that forms above the roots of these trees.

I now have sad news about the garden to share with you. The liner in the Pond started leaking earlier in the year about a month or two after the warranty ran out on it. So it has gradually become drier and I don't think there's any water left, photos 16 and 17. After a Bio-diversity survey was carried out, DNA traces of the Great Crested Newt were found so any repairs to the pond can only be carried out between November and February. The cost of removing all the vegetation so the liner can be replaced is immense and not on the 'to do list' of the LV this year so we will just have to wait and see what happens next year.

The other sad news is that the two Scots pine trees in the garden have both died and have had to be removed. There was one on the drive, photo 18, and of course, the iconic tree at the far end of the Pond, photos 19, 20 and 21 (photos courtesy of Holly Curtis, LV Comms Team). This will now change the vista across the Pond as not only has the tree gone but so have the reflections in the water, photos 22 and 23. Although necessary the removal of these trees is a huge loss to the integrity of this wonderful historic garden.

Best wishes

Jo