On a benign sun-warmed, July morning, a week after a particularly sad day at the funeral of a dear aunt, I visited the rose garden at Hampton Court and was delighted to find several sparrows there. Sparrows being almost totally lost to many cities in India, it was wonderful to find two of them coming to eat my crisp fried snacks! And just behind them was a rose named for Shakespeare!
With its glorious crimson petals it soaked up the numbness that surrounds any death like a dark noose. Its origin is Britain and it was introduced to the world in 1987. Its scent is sweet and tempting! It now grows all over the world, though it is susceptible to rust and blackspot.
It enthralls you with its dark red and purple floral abundance with a massive gift of tiny petals quilted and arranged around a beady eye! It grows singly or in clusters as in this picture. There you will also meet the very famous Peace Rose, which was hailed by the world with joy when it was created as the fighting died down at the end of World War II. This rose sparkles in its rouge pink and lemon yellow blooms.
Raised by a French man named Francois Meilland in 1935, it was sent to America, Germany and Italy. In Germany it got the name of Gloria, and in America it was named Peace! By 1951 over one million bushes had been sold in England! The Hampton Court rose garden, which I entered through a tall, stately gate thickly, patterned with bottle green ivy, had a large square filled with the Peace Rose. Then I found a generous dark pink stunner named for Gertrude Jekyll, one of England’s most well-known garden-designers and artist. She was also a writer, a photographer and a cat lover!
Born more than a hundred and fifty years ago, (1843-1932) she gave the world her marvelous theories, which enchanted and enriched the lives of garden lovers about decorative gardening. Many of her cats pose as gorgeously as the dahlias, roses and ivy in her garden pictures.
The Gertrude Jekyll rose fades to a pale pink at the edges. It is a sturdy rose that will grow to a height of three metres. Gertrude was also a skilled silversmith and woodworker. The rose garden also has a crimson rose called Jude the Obscure! It is a shrub rose that was introduced in 1995. It has a delicious, fruity scent and an apricot colouring, ringed with creamy white petals. Jude the Obscure is the name of a novel by Thomas Hardy. The Palace dates from about 1514 and was built by Thomas Wolsey, Henry the VIII’s Chancellor.
To go around Hampton Court, to see the famous maze and the household of the rather wicked woman hating and hateful Henry the Eighth, will cost 13-30 pounds. But this amazing little rose garden, which you enter through a tall gate thickly, encrusted with bottle green ivy, is almost free and you need half a day or more to enjoy all its rose splendor.
It costs only 4-50 pounds to see the gorgeous gardens, which include the rose garden. History and colour and scent will hold you enchanted here. This garden where many elderly people spend the whole day, chatting, having lunch and napping, alongside rose-ruffled comforters, has preserved many of the old English roses, which are heavily scented and will always coax you to stop to take in their fragrance. You can also spot the Rose Mundi here, another heart-stopper. It is a shrub rose that has stripes of ice white and dark pink painting its petals as if dressed up for a photo shoot. Hampton Court is reached by bus, the underground and by train. It is in East Molesey, Surrey and is open from 7 a.m. to dusk all year. The last admission is at 5 p.m.
It is closed from December 24 to 26. If you love roses you must spend at least one whole day in this garden, which will enfold you in its spell of old, scented roses, rose history and magic.