Visit to Ruthall Manor June 2025

Dactylorhiza folioza, photo by Bev Harris

Neither torrential rain nor flash floods could dampen our spirits!

As I drove through torrential rain and flash foods on my way to the gardening club’s visit to Ruthall Manor in Ditton Priors, I was unsure what the afternoon would bring. The weather forecast was not good with the potential for thunderstorms, but as I arrived at the car park, there were already a number of members waiting with raincoats, wellies and umbrellas at the ready. We sheltered under an area that had been set out for us, to listen to a brief history of the house and garden from the owner Lynda Clarke. Lynda, Gerald and their family moved into the property in the 1960s and Lynda told us how she accidentally found the haha, when she fell down it when trying to retrieve her children’s ball in the garden. Together they have developed the garden over the past sixty years to produce an amazingly beautiful and mature garden. After the introduction, the rain had stopped and the sky began to brighten so we ventured out of the shelter to begin exploring the garden. The one acre plot has a stunning collection of mature architectural trees which divide the garden into individual sections which are linked by winding paths and planted in creative colour combinations.
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Throughout the garden there are some very rare and distinctive plants, so it was lucky I had my plant identifying app on my phone. The plant which drew much attention was the Dactylorhiza foliosa, a member of the Orchidaceae family. This deciduous tuberous perennial has lance-shaped leaves and dense terminal racemes of purple/pink flowers.


 

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Gardening Club members admiring the Old Horse Pond

The garden’s traditional lawn is flanked by striking, mature borders and leads onto a gravel art garden and ha-ha. The stumpery and woodland gardens contain rare specimen trees, curious artifacts and many hidden treasures. There are clematis and roses climbing through a collection of wrought-iron work, unique pottery and old farmyard machinery and tools. The highlight of the visit was without doubt the old horse pond with its vibrant candelabra primulas, iris and bog plants.
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Of course, no garden visit would be complete without tea and cake and we were not disappointed. Ruthall Manor also offers a huge collection of jigsaw puzzles which they sell for charity. This stunning garden is well worth a visit and is open on 20th July through the NGS. We certainly had a lovely time and many members said that they would be returning soon.
The next and final event of our gardening club calendar for 2025, is a visit to one of our member’s gardens this month. We are really looking forward to seeing Laura’s garden in its full summer glory! If you would like to join our small, friendly and very active gardening club, please get in touch and I can give you more details. We are always pleased to welcome new members.
Bev Harris Secretary
[email protected]