In a more relaxed age, it was possible to buy a tired old manor in Northamptonshire and divide it among friends. It is still divided, but her section feels like a very private and faraway place.
Photography by Jim Powell for Gardenista.
The front door at Glendon with its practical screen door, a device little-seen in the UK. There is a cat flap for a hard-working mouse catcher.
Uneven yet serviceable steps lead from the front of the house toward the main part of the garden.
An avenue of sumac (also known as the weed tree). The little weed trees are on their way to turning a fabulous red.
Dahlia ‘Honka Surprise’, fantastic for picking from late summer until frost blackens them.
A late michaelmas daisy (aster) on a morning of fog.
Rosa ‘Perle d’Or softens this column of local stone. Not strictly a climber, it will reach great heights if given more light and the occasional barrowload of manure.
When Rosie and family moved in, they found formal gardens with ranks of ‘American Pillar’, Vita Sackville-West’s most detested rose. The garden has softened somewhat though Rosie keeps on top of the original topiary (above).
Aster ‘Little Carlow’ glows in the dim light levels near the nursery beds.
Cercis, which Rosie planted in the early days, almost 40 years ago.
Free-style espaliered pears adorn the boundary walls at Glendon Hall.
The part of the garden which Rosie took over is large though not the largest. She uses most of the kitchen garden with its functioning glasshouse, plus walls galore.
As a customer of Glendon Nursery, I would recommend Actaea simplex ‘Black Negligée’ with its white flowers against black stem and foliage.
Black elder (Sambucus nigra) growing in the garden.
Autumn-ripening grapes mingle with the fruit of common ivy.
The entrance to the kitchen garden. Gently overhanging ivy like this is a vital food source for bees and wasps at this time of year.