GILBERT WHITE’S HOUSE AND GARDEN & THE OATES MUSEUM

Gilbert White’s Garden In May

May is the time for tulips in The Wakes Garden.  Unusual varieties of tulip in terracotta pots line the brick path to the garden beyond the shop doors.  Featured here are the striped and mottled varieties that are similar to the “broken” tulips of Gilbert White’s time. 

Many of the roses will be budding for bloom and the early flowering evergreen Banksian Rose trained against the house wall will be covered with dainty double yellow flowers.  Around Bells Library windows the sinister looking Dragon Arum, Dracunculus Vulgarus, unsheathes its 2ft long deep maroon flowers.  Pollinated by flies, it attracts them by smelling of rotten meat!  This was a rare plant in Gilbert White’s time when he went to gather some roots from his Grandfathers garden at the old vicarage next to Selborne Church.  The lovely scented sweet rocket is in flower all around it which should help to counteract unwanted odours.

In the six quarters roses are about to flower and the early flowering Aconite, Aconitum Napellus Anglicum, makes a fine show with its pale blue blooms above feathery green foliage.  In the pond garden all is becoming luxuriant and the dainty white flowers of the Bog Bean (a first record for Hampshire by Gilbert White) fill the pond.

At the end of the main lawn the laburnum tunnel bursts into yellow flower.  The brightly coloured Ranunculus should be coming into flower in their sheltered bed between the old back door and the Great parlour windows.  They have been grown according to the instructions given in Philip Miller’s Garden Dictionary-an eighteenth century gardeners bible in the possession of Gilbert White.

On Bakers Hill cowslips are in flower and the rare cinnamon rose is often blooming in one of the round flower beds or “basons” leading down to the wooden Ha Ha.  In a nearby bason the uncommon Persian Lilac, called Persian Jasmine by GW is in bloom.  It is a much more dainty bush than the common lilac which is also in flower by the Ha Ha.

In the Melonry, the melon plants are growing steadily on their “hills” in the hotbeds and a newly made bed for cucumbers has been constructed by volunteers.

The group of volunteer’s who help maintain the garden are called the “Wakes Weeders”, they are a hard working and friendly group.  If you would like to join the Wakes Weeders and help preserve this beautiful garden please drop into the museum and fill in a form or contact David Standing our Head Gardener by telephone or email davidstanding@gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk.

Gilbert White’s House & the Oates Museum is a charming 18^th Century House, home of the famous naturalist, the Rev. Gilbert White.  Over 20 acres of garden and parkland have been restored to how it would have looked in Gilbert White’s day.  Facilities include a tea parlour serving some 18^th Century fare and a museum shop stocking unusual gifts.

Gilbert White’s House and Garden & The Oates Museum, High Street, Selborne is open from 11am to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday inclusive, and daily in June, July and August

.For more information please telephone 01420 511275, or e-mail info@gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk  For a list of all our events please visit our website   www.gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk