Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Natural design

Several gardens at Tatton had cultivars of Sanguisorba* in them, and they did look very good.


But what was even better was seeing a field of Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) in a hay meadow in the Lake District, blending beautifully with meadow cranesbill, birdsfoot trefoil, and a host of grasses.


* The Latin name rolls round the mouth nicely, but actually means 'blood staunching'.

3 comments:

Helen/patientgardener said...

I bought a Sanguisorba this year expecting it to have the dark red/mauve flowers as in your photo but obviously bought the wrong one as the flowers are a pale pink. V attractive but not what I wanted for that border

Like your header making me feel hungry

Frances said...

This plant has been jumping out at me too in magazine articles and books, but the clincher was in Chicago at Millenium Park in the Oudolf gardens. S. menziesii is the object of my dream acquisition at the moment. Digging Dog lists it. But the one you show is just as lovely. Might be easier to locate locally too. Don't you just love those red fuzzies? :-)
Frances

easygardener said...

Very attractive displays, quite a tempting plant. They look very good against the white wall. It is always nice to see plants in a natural setting too given that not many of us have our very own hay meadow!