Sometimes you see another person’s  garden and think, ‘Oh my word, I think I’ll rip all my stuff out and create something like this …well try to anyway.’ This is how I feel about Helen Chadwick’s garden, just up the road from me.  It is a little piece of heaven called;

House sign

If folly means madness, then Helen is rose mad in the most wonderful way. She bought her Blackheath cottage ten years ago. It was then  a rental property, with no garden whatsoever. And now? well just  look at this.  The rose is a fragrant, salmon pink climber called Ali Baba.

Arch of Ali Baba roses.

What an entrance!

There are not just roses here  of course. All the old-fashioned cottage garden plants have a place; clematis, iris, foxgloves etc.

Clematis

Iris

Iris

If this rose isn’t called Raspberries and Cream it should be.

The back yard is just as delightful. Helen was busy dead-heading when I arrived to take these photos; it encourages more blooms and maintains a state of perfection I never manage to achieve.  And unlike my poor specimens, there was not a sign of the dreaded blackspot.

Arch of red and white roses

Rose perfection.

I thought the tree on the left of the photo below was a jacaranda, which would have been a bit outside its climate range here in the Blue Mountains. But no, it’s the giant leafed paulownia.  Not one of Helen’s favourites, but I forgot to ask why.

Thanks for sharing your garden with me Helen. It gives me so much pleasure whenever I walk to the village.

Ali Baba climbing roe

Rose Folly at Blackheath

I should add that the garden is adorned with a gorgeous, pale grey and white  long haired cat.  However, both he and his mistress are rather camera shy.

3 Comments
  1. Helen’s garden is glorious! Thanks for another delightful blog, Pauline.The photos are top draw

    as per usual. Blackheath is just the most beautiful place, which buzzs with an energy that few

    country towns seem to possess.

    Warm wishes

    Lyn

  2. What a stunner, and Helen’s roses are to die for. Just an expression you understand! I also love the image you’ve captured of her clematis and iris. Not sure why Helen might not love a Paulownia. They do grow pretty tall, but in my last garden (I now have a tiny one), I used to pollard my Paulownia. To do so forfeits the flowers, but the leaves grow HUGE which was the effect I wanted. Everyone needs a garden. A great healer, and doesn’t matter if it’s not your own – as long as it’s visible for passers by to enjoy.

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