PLANTS OF INTEREST

19th August 2019

Donations are used to help fund projects. We are constantly enhancing the garden through propagation of existing stock or the purchase of new and donations make a difference

Zantedeschia aethiopica ‘Flame’ in Mrs Bateman’s Garden

Biddulph Grange Garden

A journey around the world

The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846

The Garden

In 1840 James and Maria Bateman moved to what was then a farm and grounds

which were for the most part swampy fields. Bateman was a botanist of considerable

note and he was at one time vice-president of the Royal Horticultural Society.

His great love was orchids and he wrote and published ‘Orchidaceae of Mexico

and Guatemala’ which established him as a botanist of note.

His wife Maria came from a leading Cheshire family, the Egerton-Warburtons,

with a tradition of creative gardening and her brother was the creator of the garden

at Arley Hall. Maria’s interest was in herbaceous plants, particularly fuchsias and lilies.

Together with Edward Cooke who was an architect and maritime painter, the Batemans

created Biddulph Grange Garden and the architectural features of the garden were

probably all the work of Cooke. Each area of the garden has its own microclimate

formed by the use of trees as screens and rockwork to protect plants.

The National Trust acquired the garden in 1988 and it was opened to the public

following restoration on 1st May 1991. Throughout, there are several Coalbrookdale Seats

each with a different design and although they are not original, they are Victorian

and well worth a look.

Arboretum Crataegus persimilis ‘Prunifolia’ Thorn trees lining path near Cheshire Cottage Ginkgo biloba ‘Maidenhair Tree’. Small slim tree on bank Boudoir Garden Cornus sanguinea ‘Compressa’ Small shrubs down centre of bed Echinacea purpurea ‘Cone ’. Large daisy-shaped purple Hydrangea serrata ‘Kiyosumi’ Row of small shrubs by hedge Phlox paniculata ‘Star Fire’ ‘Phlox’. Deep cherry red flowers, darkish Bowling Green and Quoits Ground Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Joseph Banks’ Quoits Ground: Hydrangea in corner facing top of steps Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Otaksa’ Quoits Ground: dome-shaped heads of blue flowers Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Tricolor’ Quoits Ground: pale lacecap flowers, variegated Hydrangea quercifolia Small shrubs under Pine with panicles of white flowers Leycesteria formosa Shrub with drooping panicles of purple bracts Nothofagus antarctica ‘Antarctic Beech’. Front of bed near Pinus montezumae Pinus montezumae ‘Montezuma Pine’. Large pine tree with long needles Pterocarya fraxinifolia ‘Caucasian Wing Nut Tree’ with long catkins (far end) Cherry Orchard Lathyrus latifolius ‘Perennial Sweet Pea’. Climber with bright pink fls on post Lonicera etrusca ‘Superba’ Yellow flowers on middle post Lonicera periclymenum ‘Graham Thomas’ On first posts nearest Verbena Parterre Lonicera periclymenum On other posts Rosa ‘Sombreuil’ Roses trained along stone wall Corridor Garden Sedum telephium ‘Purple Emperor’, Tricyrtis In the triangles at the front of the bed hirta ‘Taiwan Adbane’, Aster novi-belgii ‘Marie Ballard’, Stipa gigantea At the back of the bed Fuchsia magellanica ‘Lady’s Eardrops’. Slender red flowers, lining path Sedum spectabile ‘Ice ’. Pink flowers lining path China Acer palmatum ‘Rubrum’ ‘Red Maple’. Three trees, original plantings Adiantum aleuticum ‘Aleutian Maidenhair Fern’, black stems nr Joss House l Anemone japonica Single pink flowers, near temple and tufa beds Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Hart’s-Tongue Fern’ in Great Wall at top of China Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’ Upright shrub to right of steps to Joss House Cryptomeria japonica ‘Japanese Cedar’. Large tree near Temple Cupressus funebris ‘Chinese Weeping Cypress’ near steps to Watchtower Hemerocallis sp ‘Day Lily’ on bank over tufa beds (also in Dahlia Walk) Houttynia cordata Tufa beds, brightly variegated leaves and white flowers Inula hookeri Yellow daisy-like flowers with very fine petals Pseudolarix amabilis ‘Golden Larch’. Planted 1855, believed to be the last survivor of six brought from China by Robert Fortune. Over the bridge, leaning slightly, a young one by its side. Pseudosasa japonica ‘Arrow Bamboo’ on water’s edge near bridge Dahlia Walk Anemone x japonica ‘Honorine Jobert’ White flowers either side of path at top of the Walk Taxus baccata ‘Semperaurea’ Three new common yew plantings at bottom of Walk Eastern Terrace Prunus lusitanica ‘Portuguese Laurel’. Shaped and in stone planters Glen Dicksonia antarctica ‘Soft Tree Fern’. Fern with long ‘trunk’ Gunnera mannicata ‘Chile Rhubarb’. Large, umbrella shaped leaves Osmunda regalis ‘Royal Fern’ at water’s edge with brown spathes Phyllostachys nigra ‘Black Bamboo’. Growing near bridge Italy Bedding Main Beds Non-stop Begonias (orange,yellow), Basil ‘Red Rubin’, Fuchsia ‘Heidi Anne’ in terracotta pots Bedding Top Beds Salvia patens Urns - Fuchsia ‘Put’s Folly’ in pots at top of the steps (trailing,pale pink sepals,purple pink corollas) Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’ Slender, erect, evergreen trees Mrs Bateman’s Garden Tropaeolum speciosum Red creeper in hedge Mosaic Parterre: Coleus ‘Black Dragon’ Dark red flowers Fountain Beds: Abutilon megapotamicum variegatum ‘Trailing Abutilon’. Red bowl shaped fls, variegated leaf Alcea ‘Scarlet’ ‘Hollyhock’. Tall, erect racemes of red flowers Lilium lancifolium ‘Splendens’ Orange lilies Lobelia cardinalis ‘Scarlet’ Spikes of red flowers Potentilla ‘Gibson’s Scarlet’ ‘Cinquefoil’. Low growing plant, 5 petalled red flowers Salvia coccinea ‘Lady in Red’ ‘Cardinal Flower’. Two-lipped red flowers Tithonia rotundifolia ‘Fiesta del Sol’ ‘Mexican Sunflower’. Orange daisy-like flower Zantedeschia aethiopica ‘Flame’ ‘Calla Lily’. Orange/red funnel shaped flowers Greek Key: Platycodon grandiflorus ‘Mariesii’ ‘Balloon Flower’. Balloon , violet blue bell flowers Pinetum Abies cephalonica ‘Greek Fir’ on left facing tunnel entrance Abies pindrow ‘Himalyan Fir’. Through tunnel, on the left this tree grows between two sieboldii (Japanese Hemlock) Araucaria araucana ‘Monkey Puzzle Tree’. Bateman gave each a name Calocedrus decurrens ‘Incense Cedar’, a columnar tree near bend Cedrus deodara ‘Deodar Cedar’ on mound near Monkey Puzzles Ilex aquifolium ‘Angustimarginata Aurea’ Narrow leaved, variegated holly near Bowling Green Juniperus recurva var coxii Weeping Juniper near Cheshire Cottage Picea smithiana ‘West Himalayan Spruce’, group of three on bend Pinus cembra ‘Arolla Pine’ on mound near bend Pinus nigra ‘Austrian Pine’ with armoured bark near Monkey Puzzles Quercus agrifolia ‘California Live Oak’. Close to Calocedrus Sciadopitys verticillata ‘Japanese Umbrella Pine’. Tree near Quercus Sequoia sempervirens The ‘Coastal Redwood’ near Cheshire Cottage Taxus baccata ‘Aurea Group’ ‘Golden Yew’ near bend Tsuga canadensis ‘Eastern Hemlock’ to left of tunnel to Rhodo Ground Tsuga mertensiana ‘Mountain Hemlock’. Tree at entrance to Bowling Green Rhododendron Ground Aesculus parviflora (on Island) ‘Bottlebrush Buckeye’. Tree with erect white flowers Daboecia cantabrica purpurea and alba ‘St Dabeoc’s Heath’.Urn-shaped flowers, purple or white Fraxinus excelsior ‘Common Ash’ in circular bed by lake Rose Parterre side beds: ’Comte de Chambourd’,’Delambre’,‘Indigo’, ‘Jacques Varieties of the Portland Rose recommended by David Cartier’,‘de Rescht’,‘ du Roi’,‘The Portland Rose’ Austin for the cool, damp climate here to avoid disease Verbena Parterre Bedding (front rows to middle) Verbena ‘Lavender Star’, Verbena rigida,V. bonariensis Fuchsia microphylla Small shrubs with tiny pink flowers, also in pots nr shop Fuchsia ‘Riccartonii’ Shrub with slightly weeping habit against stone wall Wellingtonia Avenue Sequoiadendron giganteum ‘Wellingtonia’ or ‘Giant Redwood’, reddish-brown bark