I had the enormous pleasure recently of being a Hanger On to a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. Whilst I loved the truly magical experience, the incredible food as well as the pomp and ceremony of the day, what I was most excited about was the opportunity to explore the haven that is the beautiful gardens of the palace. A real slice of peace and tranquillity (well aside from the odd car horn) in the vast City of London.

The Herbaceous Border

The first section we walked through the massive Herbaceous border, said to be 156 metres long (now that’s a lot of weeding!) Perfectly mulched, with the odd splash of early colour, this border is the stuff of dreams. I love the use of natural supports throughout the border, it really adds some texture to the border.

But what really caught my eye was this stunning Hosta. I believe it’s the Halycon variety and I love how the beautiful matt blue/green colour stands out amongst the lush green backdrop.

I’ve never managed to grow a Hosta that didn’t end up looking moth eaten (or just eaten to disappearance) but this one….not a single nibble visible!

Moving on to another splash of colour, we came across this beautiful Ixias. This variety is Ixias Yellow also known as the African Corn Lily and I loved the beautifully opened faced flowers creeping around the front edges of the border.

Much more up my street is this Camilia Japonica that was just coming to the end of its flowering season. It looks a bit like the ‘Lady Campbell’ variety. I love the deep green waxy leaves in contrast to the delicate flowers. With its size rivalling and Rhododendron it was perfectly placed along the neat gravel path offering privacy and seclusion from the main lawned areas, perfect for an evening stroll.

Pretty, well manicured borders showcase an array of different plants and whilst borders with just one species can really make an impact, I much prefer the variety here. I bet they are going to look even more amazing when the summer blooms appear!

Another beautiful plant that really stood out in the Herbaceous border was this striking Indigofera Himalayensis called Silk Road.

Without tramping all over the border (which I’m pretty sure would’ve been frowned upon!) I couldn’t get close enough to get a good photo of the individual blooms, it’s delicate pinky purple flowers dappled against the mature trees and shrubs at the back of the border really helped to break up the greeness of the early growth.

As you’d expect in formal gardens there was an abundance of established Rhododendron in the garden and whilst I am not a massive fan of them, I can appreciate the beautiful shade of red in this one, known as Scarlet Wonder

One of the more seemingly random placements was this Echium Piniana, also known as Giant Viper’s Bugloss or Tower of Jewels (fitting for a palace garden!), holding its own in a relatively bland section of the garden. It’s pretty pale flowers were the only splash of colour in amongst the shrubs it towered above.

The Arboretum

Now onto trees, with it’s own Arboretum, you can see all the usual suspects from Poplar to Copper Beech. But there was on tree, nestled away in the wilder areas of the garden that took my breath away and has firmly made it onto my shopping list for when we get our forever home (not if….totally WHEN!). The amazing tree below is Acer Griseum, Paperback Maple.

These photos do it zero justice; the bark of this tree is a burnt toffee colour and it almost looks ablaze under its bright green canopy. It stood out in the wilder areas of the garden and added some real interest into what probably would have been a bit of the garden that I would’ve strolled on past.

The Rose Garden

I couldn’t talk about Buckingham Palace gardens without mentioning the Roses. Now it’s only recently that I’ve started to appreciate the beauty that a Rose can bring to a garden and this year is the first year we’ve added some to our own garden and I cannot wait to watch them scale the wall of our house. A lot of the varieties I saw didn’t have the varieties labelled so there are my best guesses as someone still very much learning, so please let me know if I’m way off!!

Love the simplicity of this Rose on the above, it reminds me of a Dog Rose with its delicate, simple single layer of petals and I particularly like the way the petals almost uniformly overlap. I believe this particular variety is a Rambling Rose called ‘American Pillar’

This next Rose was the trickiest to find a variety that seemed to match this bloom, but I simply love this looser bloom. I’ve narrowed it down to either Rosa Queen Elizabeth or Rosa Special Mum both are Floribunda Bush Varieties and from the number of blooms on this one it’s definitely value for money

I’m not normally a fan of double roses but this one known as Constance Spry I’ve made an exception for. It is simply beautiful, it was awash with these almost Peony like blooms and it’s abundant foliage would make a great hedge screen.

This beautiful Apricot bloom I believe is the gorgeous ‘Sweet Honey’, a hybrid tea shaped large bloomer. It was named Rose of the year 2020 at Hampton Court and has received praise for its amazing resistance to disease. It’s definitely on my list!

And finally….my last pick (because I could right another four posts on this at LEAST!) I couldn’t leave out Peonies. These, along with Alliums, are my favourite flowers and there were so many varieties and colours to see!! This one definitely stood out for me, Paeonia ‘Berry Berry Fine’ would be a good similarity to this one or Peonia Lactiflora Red Sarah Bernhardt would be another similar bloom type that would look amazing!

I felt so lucky to be able to have the opportunity to look around the beautiful palace gardens. My ever growing list of plants to by when we finally settle just grew that much larger, but spending time in a garden with such history and so lovingly maintained was an absolute joy!

What are some of your favourite gardens to visit?

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